Wedoany.com Report-Dec.12, Titan Mining Corporation announced Thursday that ore processing has begun at its Kilbourne graphite demonstration facility in St. Lawrence County, New York, approximately 300 km northwest of Albany.

The fully permitted 1,200-tonne-per-year demonstration plant, integrated within the company's existing Empire State Mine infrastructure, is now in commissioning phase. Initial graphite concentrate production will support customer qualification testing and advance commercial offtake negotiations.

Titan stated that the project represents the first step toward re-establishing complete domestic natural flake graphite production in the United States in several decades. The company aims to scale up to a commercial facility with 40,000 tonnes per year capacity, sufficient to meet roughly half of current U.S. natural graphite demand for battery, defense and industrial applications.

"Today is a pivotal moment not only for Titan, but for US critical minerals independence," Titan CEO Rita Adiani said in a news release. "We are delivering on our commitment to re-establish a secure US supply of battery-grade natural flake graphite — a key input for energy storage, defense and strategic industries."

The milestone follows the recent Kilbourne Project Study that confirmed robust economics and additional support from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). In October, EXIM provided an additional $5.5 million in non-dilutive funding for feasibility work and issued a non-binding Letter of Interest for up to $120 million in potential project financing.

Titan discovered the graphite deposit on its property about two years ago. The current resource is defined over a tested 2,500-metre strike length within a total known strike of 7,620 metres.

The company continues to generate cash flow from its zinc operations at Empire State Mine, which it acquired in 2018 and operates with a 5,000-tonne-per-day mill. This operational revenue is funding graphite project development.

Titan expects to reach a construction decision for the full-scale plant by the end of 2026, targeting construction start in 2027. The project benefits from existing infrastructure, permitted status and proximity to North American battery manufacturing centres.