06:49 AM EDT, 05/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Titan Mining ( TIMCF ) on Tuesday said it started constructing its commercial demonstration facility for natural flake graphite co-located at the Empire State mine in New York.

The project is expected to enable the first end-to-end production of U.S. mined and processed natural flake graphite in nearly 70 years, the company said.

The fully-permitted facility makes use of an existing zinc mill and infrastructure. Engineering is complete and procurement is underway with commissioning slated for the second half of 2025.

The facility is designed to process an initial 60,000 tonnes per year of feed from the Kilbourne graphite project, producing 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes per year of graphite concentrate. A preliminary economic assessment for the Kilbourne project is expected in the second half of 2025.

Qualification sales to U.S. defense and industrial customers is expected in early 2026.

Subject to customer demand, further technical studies and capital availability, Titan is targeting an expansion to 40,000 tonnes per year, positioning the company to become a leading U.S. supplier of natural flake graphite.