President Donald Trump’s drive to reclaim America’s critical mineral capacity is finally reshaping the lithium battery supply chain from the ground up.
After decades of relying mainly on Chinese sources for the graphite, lithium, and other minerals that power everything from smartphones to fighter jets, his push for aggressive domestic mining and refining is jump‑starting a new era of “in‑house” U.S. battery production. Several recent stories highlight that his plans are beginning to bear fruit.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall that China tightened export controls on graphite in 2023. Graphite is a critical mineral used in batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy storage, and other technologies.
Americans have had no graphite mine since the 1950’s. That is now changing. Titan Mining Corporation is ramping up operations at the Empire State Mine (historically a zinc mine) to produce natural flake graphite. The company plans to scale production to meet a significant portion of U.S. demand.
In New York, Titan Mining Corp. has mined a limited amount of ore from a deposit in snowy woods about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Canadian border, aiming for commercial sales by 2028. Company officials believe the geopolitical winds are at their backs to sell graphite concentrate for high-tech, industrial and military uses. That could include heat-resistant coatings in factories, anodes in large lithium-ion batteries connected to electrical grids and lubricants for military vehicles, according to the company.“We believe there is a real opportunity here,” said company CEO Rita Adiani. “We have the ability to supply a significant portion of U.S. needs. And that’s largely because you can’t see China now as a reliable supply-chain partner.”
The Titan mine is one of five active projects—two located in Alabama and one each in Montana and Alaska. In the fall, Westwater Resources announced it had engaged an engineering firm to oversee the permitting process for developing the Coosa Deposit in Alabama.
Meanwhile, Graphite One Inc.’s project in Alaska is situated at what state officials describe as the largest known large-flake graphite deposit in the country. The firm also plans to open a processing plant in Ohio.
Following nearly two years of intensive resource drilling, environmental baseline work, and engineering studies, Graphite One released a 2024 feasibility study detailing a mine capable of producing 175,000 metric tons of graphite concentrate per year over 20 years – more than triple the 53,000 mt/y envisioned in its 2022 prefeasibility study (PFS).”We will now enter the permitting process with a production rate triple what we projected just over two years ago,” said Huston. “Our proven and probable reserve and contained graphite tripled from the reserve and contained graphite disclosed in the PFS.”Concentrates from the western Alaska mine are to be delivered to a processing plant Graphite One plans to build in Ohio, where they will be refined into battery-grade anode material and other advanced graphite products.The total price tag to build the all-American supply chain is estimated at $5 billion – $3.9 billion for the processing plant to be built at a former national defense critical minerals stockpile site near Warren, Ohio, and $1.1 billion for the Graphite Creek mine.
Lithium is also a critical component of batteries used in EVs and other equipment. I noted that the Trump administration was eying a stake in a lithium mine last fall.
The mineral still needs to be processed. Tesla just opened a new lithium refinery near Corpus Christi, Texas, that will be the first facility in North America that takes hard‑rock spodumene ore all the way to battery‑grade lithium hydroxide and counts itself as one of the first large‑scale battery‑grade lithium refineries in the nation.
The refinery’s development timeline has been very impressive. The project moved from breaking ground in 2023 to integrated plant startup in 2025 by running feasibility studies, design, and construction in parallel. This compressed schedule enabled the fastest time-to-market for a refinery using this type of technology. This 2026, the facility has become operational.Elon Musk echoed the significance of the project in posts on X, stating that “the largest Lithium refinery in America is now operational.” In a separate comment, Musk described the site as “the most advanced lithium refinery in the world” and emphasized that the facility is “very clean.”
Trump’s bid to onshore America’s critical minerals is ending with a serious “foreign dependency” problem: instead of checking labels for “Made in China,” consumers are about to discover that everything in their garage is “Mined in New York” and “Processed in Texas.”
I would personally like to thank the Chinese for their help in incentivizing a return to American critical mineral dominance.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY