Date: 05 July 2024
Blencowe Resources Plc
("Blencowe" or the
"Company")
Conversion of 600 tonnes bulk
sample to Graphite Concentrate
Key step successfully achieved to
qualify end products for Offtake Agreements
Blencowe Resources is pleased to report it has
completed a critical step in commercial scale testing, by
converting 600 tonnes of in situ raw material into 30 tonnes of
graphite concentrate. The 600 tonnes bulk sample conversion was
undertaken by Jilin New Technology Graphite Co. ("Jilin"), a market leader in graphite
processing, with results reconfirming the attractive qualities of
Orom-Cross graphite.
Highlights:
·
Commercial Scale delivery of
concentrate: 600 tonnes of raw material shipped
to China several months ago has now been successfully upgraded to
30 tonnes of 96% concentrate.
·
Maintaining High
Quality: testing indicates that the Orom-Cross
concentrate delivered in this sample size maintains the same high
quality as previous smaller scale tests.
·
Bulk concentrate
available: Blencowe now has substantial
quantity of both large and small flake concentrate products to
apply further testing for potential offtakers.
·
Final Stage testing on Small
Flakes: Leading SPG producer Qindao Taida
Carbon Co Ltd ("Taida") to beneficiate 20 tonnes of small flake
concentrate into 10 tonnes of 99.95% uncoated SPG (spheronised
purified graphite) over the next one month as the final step in the
qualification process.
·
Ongoing Tier-One
Discussions: The bulk sample testing and
qualification process is going to plan, with the end goal
ultimately being offtake agreements with several tier one
partners.
·
Hurdle achieved for further
DFC grant funds: The completion of this stage
of the test work is one of the milestones for another tranche of
DFC grant funding to be released shortly.
Jilin
Concentrate
Jilin, who successfully completed a 100 tonne
bulk sample for Blencowe in 2023, has now completed a 600t bulk
sample to concentrates. Approximately 30 tonnes of
concentrate has been produced, which represents a substantial
sample size for the Company to use for ongoing trials at various
offtakers, for both large and small flake products.
Test results indicate a very high quality 96%
concentrate for small flake products and 96-97% concentrate for
large flake products (+100mesh, +80mesh and +50mesh). The
concentrate mix is 55/45 as small/large flakes.
Jilin has already highlighted its support for
the larger flake Orom-Cross concentrate product by signing an MOU
for 15,000tpa, which was announced to the market in May
2024.
Next Step: SPG
Production
Work has now begun at one of the most
experienced graphite beneficiation companies in the world, Qingdao
Taida Carbon Co Ltd, to deliver 10 tonnes of high quality uncoated
SPG product from the small flake concentrate. This has been
successfully completed previously via smaller scale testing but
this will be the first commercial scale delivery of SPG from
Orom-Cross to provide necessary samples for high profile tier one
offtakers to test in their own facilities. Once the OEM
testing is completed by end of the June quarter Orom-Cross will
effectively be qualified and have the ability to move to offtake
agreements for all end products used in batteries.
Taida has been producing uncoated SPG for over
two decades and has one of the most advanced facilities in China,
and is generally regarded as one of the leading experts in
anode-ready graphite products worldwide. Having Taida
expertise manage Orom-Cross concentrate through to SPG is a key
advantage as this company has the skill and prowess to deliver the
best end results.
Blencowe is developing a broader graphite
strategy to incorporate downstream processing in Uganda to deliver
99.95% SPG made in-country, and will be looking to include leading
experts such as Taida within that strategy. This proposed
facility would be the first commercial scale SPG operation outside
of China and Blencowe would produce a valuable downstream product
that other graphite mining peers cannot easily replicate. The
Company will continue to provide updates as this strategy
evolves.
Offtake
Agreements
The process to complete all necessary
metallurgical test work, including bulk sample testing, is a
pre-requisite for all graphite miners that want to sell their end
products into battery markets. End users are particularly
discerning and will not consider offtake agreements until this work
is adequately completed and qualification is therefore
attained. Blencowe has been guided through this process by
parties who have successfully completed this qualification
previously, and using experts who understand the nuances of all the
products, and how to get the best out of what Orom-Cross has to
offer.
The end target is offtake agreements for 100%
of the products that Blencowe will mine and process from
Orom-Cross, and to achieve the highest quality that builds strong
tier one relationships and delivers the highest prices. The
Company is moving swiftly towards qualification and with that the
potential for offtake partnerships with some of the leading brand
names in this business.
Funding
The completion of the conversion of raw
material into concentrate represents one of the milestones to allow
for further DFC (Development Finance Corporation) grant funds to be
released shortly.
Executive
Chairman Cameron Pearce commented:
"We have
highlighted this bulk sample test requirement as a key component of
the Definitive Feasibility Study and we have undergone this process
using some of the most experienced graphite producers in the world,
and in doing so we have opened some interesting doors for
additional value-add strategy. We will continue to press
forward to get to our goal of having tier one offtake agreements in
place as soon as possible for all of our end products, which will
underline the unique status of Blencowe Resources as a standout
graphite producer for the future."
For further information please
contact:
Twitter https://twitter.com/BlencoweRes
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/72382491/admin/
Background
Orom-Cross Graphite
Project
Orom-Cross is a potential world class graphite
project both by size and end-product quality, with a high component
of more valuable larger flakes within the deposit.
A 21-year Mining Licence for the project was
issued by the Ugandan Government in 2019 following extensive
historical work on the deposit and Blencowe is now within the
Definitive Feasibility Study phase as it drives towards first
production.
Orom-Cross presents as a large, shallow
open-pitable deposit, with a maiden JORC Indicated & Inferred
Mineral Resource deposit of 24.5Mt @ 6.0% Total Graphite Content.
Development of the resource is expected to benefit from a low strip
ratio and free dig operations, thereby ensuring lower operating and
capital costs.