Domestic graphite strategy builds on prior Department of Defense support and graphite's designation as a Defense Production Act Title III material

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 19, 2026 /CNW/ -- Graphite One Inc. (TSXV: GPH) (OTCQX: GPHOF) ("Graphite One," "G1" or the "Company"), developer of the Graphite Creek Project ("Graphite Creek" or the "Project'") in Alaska, today highlighted growing awareness of the Project's potential role in strengthening U.S. graphite supply chains, following an opinion article by a former White House official on America's dependence on foreign sources of essential minerals.

In her October 16, 2026 op-ed, "America depends too much on China for essential minerals. We need to dig our future," Victoria Coates -- former Deputy National Security Advisor to the President and currently Vice President of Heritage Foundation's Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy -- identifies Graphite Creek as a resource that could help support a domestic graphite supply chain. Coates writes: "The U.S. Geological Survey has recognized it as the largest known graphite deposit in the United States and among the largest in the world, making it a national security asset… Graphite Creek represents the kind of strategic American resource that should fundamentally change the conversation about U.S. dependence on foreign sources."

Coates also emphasizes that mining alone is not enough to build a resilient supply chain: "A truly secure supply chain must extend from the resources in the ground through processing and into the advanced materials required by American manufacturers."  Coates' op-ed at FoxNews can be read in full here.

Graphite One is advancing a U.S.-based graphite supply-chain strategy anchored by the Graphite Creek Project and planned advanced graphite materials manufacturing in Ohio. The Company's strategy is intended to connect an Alaskan graphite resource with domestic processing and manufacturing capacity.

G1's efforts have previously received Department of Defense support. In 2023, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Graphite One (Alaska), Inc., was awarded a US$37.5 million Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III grant to support an accelerated feasibility study for the Graphite Creek Project. That same year, the Company received a US$4.7 million Defense Logistics Agency contract to develop a graphite and graphene-based fire suppressant. Graphite's designation as a material essential to national defense under DPA Title III provided the basis for the grant program.

"America has the resources, engineering expertise, workforce and private capital necessary to dramatically reduce its dependence on foreign critical minerals," Coates concludes. "What is needed now is the resolve to do it."

Graphite One's U.S. Supply Chain Strategy

Graphite One is advancing a vertically integrated domestic graphite strategy designed to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign-sourced graphite and establish an American supply chain extending from raw material through advanced materials manufacturing.

The Company's strategy includes:

• Mining and processing natural graphite at Graphite Creek, Alaska
• Transporting graphite materials through the Port of Nome
• Manufacturing advanced graphite and anode materials in Ohio
• Potential co-located recycling of graphite and other battery materials

This integrated approach is designed to establish a domestic supply chain spanning resource development, advanced materials manufacturing and potential recycling – supporting the development of a circular U.S. graphite materials economy and continues to remain subject to project financing.

About Graphite One Inc.

GRAPHITE ONE INC. continues to develop its Graphite One Project (the "Project"), with the goal of becoming an American producer of high-grade anode materials that is integrated with a domestic graphite resource. The Project is proposed as a vertically integrated enterprise to mine and process natural graphite and to manufacture artificial and natural graphite anode active materials primarily for the lithium-ion electric vehicle battery and energy storage markets.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Anthony Huston" (signed)

For more information on Graphite One Inc., please visit the Company's website, www.GraphiteOneInc.com

On X @GraphiteOne

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the significance of the Graphite Creek Project in strengthening the U.S. graphite supply chain, the ability to successfully establish an advanced graphite materials manufacturing facility, and the timing and availability of project funding for the Company's proposed strategy. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "proposes", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "projects", "plans", "is planning", "intends", "assumes", "believes", "indicates", "to be" or variations of such words and phrases that state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The Company cautions that there is no assurance that the Company will be successful in establishing and strengthening the U.S. graphite supply chain, executing on the Company's proposed strategy, receiving project financing, or establishing an advanced graphite manufacturing facility.  Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition or regulatory processes (including the EIS), changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Further, the Company is in an industry where political, economic, regulatory and social conditions may change over time. Changes in government policies, taxation regimes, security conditions or stakeholder expectations, particularly the dynamic nature of U.S.-China trade relations, may affect the Company's ability to meet its stated goals and objectives. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable securities laws. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedarplus.ca.

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SOURCE Graphite One Inc.