Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
The Coosa Project mine is set back several miles from County Road 29 near Rockford.
Graphite, a critical mineral in the green economy accounting for 200 pounds of the weight of a Tesla, currently sits untapped a stone's throw from Coosa County Road 29.
The location is one of two graphite deposits in the United States currently being developed for commercial use — one in a craggy landscape 40 miles north of Nome, Alaska and the other just northwest of Rockford. Colorado-based Westwater Resources owns exclusive mineral rights to that 42,000-acre tract, dubbed "The Coosa Project."
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Siri Hedreen / The Outlook
The Coosa Wildlife Management Area trail climbs through a stretch of Alabama's graphite belt.
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Siri Hedreen / The OutlookÂ
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Graphite mining company Westwater Resources has already cracked the surface in western Coosa…