Blencowe Resources to deliver maiden JORC Resource in 1Q21
(BRES ) said it intends to deliver a maiden JORC Resource for the Orom-Cross Graphite Project in early Q1 of 2021 following the successful logging of core.
The development company which is currently focused on bringing the Orom-Cross graphite project into production, completed its 69 hole (1,950m) diamond drill programme into the Eastern Limb Lode and the High-Grade Camp Lode in September.
Following this, logging of core samples was completed in October with sample preparation completed in early November, at a JORC-accredited lab in Tanzania.
1,900 samples were completed at SGS in Tanzania for both grade assaying and metallurgical testing, and they have now been dispatched from Tanzania to SGS labs in South Africa for assaying of the relevant elements as well as moisture and Specific Gravity determinations.
Once completed this data will be submitted to Minrom Geological Consultants to complete the JORC Resource modelling. It is anticipated that the maiden JORC Resource will only represent a small percentage of the overall Orom Cross deposit and give ‘sufficient confidence for a minimum of 10 years mine life on which to deliver a feasibility study.’
Blencowe said it intends to incorporate these results to present a Feasibility Study in 2021, which will deliver first commercial outcomes for the project and map out first production.
Meanwhile, separate samples are being dispatched to SGS Lakefield in Canada for Phase Two metallurgical testing, using the services of one the leading graphite specialists worldwide.
SGS Lakefield, who have previously delivered test work on a significant number of major graphite projects, will identify the end product concentrate at Orom-Cross and provide the process flow models and initial plant and processing stream(s) to deliver the final product.
The company said this work stream is ‘particularly important’ for it to progress interest with industrial groups that have established an interest in the Orom Cross graphite product.
Following the metallurgical studies, the company now believes that it is better positioned to enter into more detailed conversations with potential off-takers and industrial customers.
"The continued growth of electric vehicle (EV) transport continues to accelerate particularly with the recent announcement by the UK Government to remove petrol and diesel cars from 2030,” commented Executive Chairman of Blencowe Resources, Cameron Pearce.
He added, “All EVs are currently powered by lithium-ion batteries of which flake graphite forms over 50% of Li-ion batteries, therefore, the graphite demand curve is expected to surge over the next decade.
We continue to register notable interest for the Orom Cross graphite product and look forward to delivering the metallurgical test work so that we can progress commercial discussions with these industrial groups and progress the feasibility work to underpin a robust project."
Shares in Blencowe Resources have traded within a tight range of 5.70p and 6.30p over the past two weeks to open 0.98% lower this morning at 6.04 following the announcement.
Reasons to Follow Blencowe Resources
Blencowe is a mineral resources company focused on fast-tracking its 100% owned Orom Cross Jumbo Graphite Project in Uganda to production.
Orom Cross is an advanced exploration stage project which was awarded a 21-year mining licence in October 2019.
The size and scale from exploration work that has already been completed in the licence area has clearly demonstrated that Orom Cross has the potential ‘to become one of the largest graphite projects in the world based on both size and the quality of the end product.’
Blencowe is fast tracking the project through to defining a maiden JORC-compliant resource, completing further metallurgical test work with a plan to deliver a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in Q1 2021 followed shortly after by a Pre- Feasibility Study (PFS).
Align Research describes Graphite as ‘an important battery metal’ since it represents around 50% of Li-ion batteries by mass, which uses the smaller sized flakes. In recent years there have been some racy growth rates suggested for graphite demand for lithium ion batteries.
Meanwhile, the group said demand for electric vehicles (EV) is rising on the back of green legislation being adopted by the UK, India, Germany, France, Norway and China, which is expected to lead to an increasing demand for Li-ion batteries and in turn for graphite.
Another integral factor is that Uganda’s economy is believed to hold ‘great potential’ with this whole region of East Africa viewed as a key African growth platform by the World Bank, hosting significant natural resources including copper, cobalt, gold, nickel and platinum.
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