Graphite One Awards 6.6 Million Shares to Management as Alaska Permitting and Ohio Construction Timelines Converge

Graphite One shareholders approve expanded compensation and reverse stock split as stock slumps 46% YTD; Army Corps permit decision for Alaska graphite project due in September.

Graphite One’s top leadership has been handsomely rewarded despite a stock that has shed nearly half its value this year. At the company’s annual meeting on June 26, shareholders approved an expanded compensation plan, clearing the way for the board to issue roughly 2.8 million performance-based shares and an equal number of restricted shares to executives. An external consultant received another million of these equity awards. The grants underscore management’s confidence in the project pipeline even as the market remains deeply skeptical — the stock closed Friday at €0.63, still down 46.55% year to date.

That same shareholder meeting also handed the board a critical strategic tool: authorization for a reverse stock split of up to ten to one. Such a move is almost exclusively used to lift a share price above the minimum listing thresholds required by the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq. While no specific timeline for the consolidation has been announced, the approval signals that Graphite One is actively preparing for a move to a major U.S. exchange, a step that would dramatically widen its investor base for a company whose flagship asset sits in Alaska.

The next decisive catalyst for Graphite One arrives in late September, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to rule on the environmental permits for the Graphite Creek project in Alaska. A green light from the Army Corps would unlock the path to mining at one of the largest known graphite deposits in North America. Until that decision lands, the stock remains highly speculative — the recent 2.28% daily gain and 2.95% weekly advance do little to offset a 10.67% slide over the past 30 days.

While awaiting Alaska’s verdict, the company is pushing ahead with its downstream processing facility in Conneaut, Ohio. Engineering contracts have been signed with specialist firms, and initial soil borings on the site are complete. Phase one of the plant, targeting 10,000 tonnes of active anode material per year, is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2027. A second phase will add 25,000 tonnes of synthetic graphite capacity a year later. The goal is to create a fully integrated domestic supply chain that frees the United States from reliance on Chinese graphite imports.

Alaska itself is seeing broader infrastructure momentum. Senator Dan Sullivan announced on July 4 that construction on the long?contested King Cove road could begin within months, following land transfers completed last October. The road has no direct link to Graphite Creek, but the development points to a permitting environment increasingly favorable to resource projects in the state. Separately, Canada’s trade minister Maninder Sidhu traveled to Tokyo in late June to negotiate a joint strategic reserve for critical minerals, including graphite and gallium. The talks yielded trade agreements worth over C$1 billion and aim to build supply chains independent of China — indirect but welcome geopolitical tailwinds for a North?American graphite producer.

On the charts, Graphite One’s stock remains under pressure. The 50?day moving average sits at €0.70, about 10% above current levels, while the 200?day average of €0.85 implies a 26% gap. The relative strength index of 42.6 suggests neither oversold nor overbought conditions, leaving the market in a holding pattern. From the January high of €1.59, the shares have lost more than 60%.

For now, the board holds the authority to execute a reverse split and the management team has been incentivized with millions of shares. The real tests come in September with the Alaska permitting decision, and in 2027 when the Ohio plant is supposed to start producing. Until then, Graphite One remains a high?stakes bet on the future of North American graphite independence.