REG - Blencowe Resources - Final Metallurgical Testing Programs

Blencowe ResourcesAnnouncement

16/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 7501M  Blencowe Resources PLC  16 January 2023

Date: 16 January 2023
Blencowe Resources Plc

("Blencowe" or the "Company")

 

Commencement of Final Metallurgical Testing Programs for Orom-Cross Graphite
Project as samples sent to both China and USA.

 

Highlights

·    20kgs of concentrate sent by air to technical experts Wuhan
University of Technology ("WUT") in China to begin final metallurgical test
procedure.

·    This concentrate is the end product recently produced by IMO in
Perth, which demonstrated high grade and low impurity chemical
characteristics.

·    Preliminary testing on the 20kg sample to commence immediately in
China ahead of 100-tonnes bulk sample studies, which will be sent to China in
the near term.

·    Additional 5kgs of concentrate sent to leading US graphite technical
firm American Energy Technologies Co. ("AET Co") for SPG and expandables
testing and to confirm Orom-Cross concentrate further upgrades efficiently to
a >99.95% battery grade product.

 

Blencowe Resources Plc ("Blencowe Resources" or the "Company") (LSE: BRES) is
pleased to announce it has air-freighted 20kgs of concentrate from its
Orom-Cross Graphite Project ("Orom-Cross") to WUT in China, to commence final
stage metallurgical testing.  Studies on this 20kgs concentrate, which was
recently processed through the IMO test facility in Perth, will further define
the characteristics of the Orom-Cross graphite product and is expected to
ultimately lead to identifying offtake parties and thereafter signing binding
offtake agreements for the sale of graphite concentrate.

WUT specialises in testing final concentrate products and defining their
characteristics, in order to fine tune processing options and assess
upgradability for use in batteries and other high value end applications. WUT
works in close association with Jilin Huiyang New Material Technology Company
("Jilin") who, as announced on 11 January 2023, are to receive 100 tonnes of
raw material from Orom-Cross over the next few months to process through their
existing processing facilities.  Blencowe will also send 150kgs of raw
material to Jilin by air-freight as a precursor to the main bulk sample.

By sending this 20kgs prior to the 100 tonnes bulk sample Jilin will be able
to better understand the properties and chemical characteristics of the
Orom-Cross concentrate and will be able to adjust their pilot processing
facility accordingly to take in the larger scale raw product when it arrives
later. This testing by WUT/Jilin is expected to reconfirm historic results,
which have demonstrated the concentrate from Orom-Cross is of a consistently
high quality.

Once the 100 tonnes raw material is processed through Jilin's facility it is
anticipated that ~6 tonnes of high quality concentrate will be produced. This
will represent a sample scale that is ~600 times larger than the 4Q 2022 IMO
testing done in Perth and will confirm a high quality concentrate can be
delivered in bulk from the Orom-Cross Project.  This is key to
pre-qualification and securing future offtake agreements.

Jilin is also expected to use some of the ~6 tonnes concentrate to conduct
spheronised purified graphite (SPG) testing, where the Orom-Cross concentrate
is lifted from a 96-97% LOI to a >99.95% end product.  Once this is
achieved and the OEM's complete their own testing then Orom-Cross product may
be deemed as pre-qualified and the Company will look to enter into binding
offtake agreements for sale of products.

Blencowe is also now sending an additional 5kgs of concentrate to
Chicago-based graphite specialist AET Co, which is a recognised industry
expert in SPG and expandability testing.  AET Co has been directly involved
in the upgrading of graphite concentrates for over a decade and is generally
accepted as one of the leading technical specialists in graphite worldwide.
Blencowe will have a parallel test process occurring to ensure that it
ultimately achieves the best possible outcome for upgrading concentrate to the
>99.95% SPG product.  The AET Co testing is expected to take around 3
months to complete, after which Blencowe will know its end product has been
tested all the way through to (lithium-ion) battery grade product.  Testing
will also be done on the coarse flake products to ensure they are suitable for
expandability, which will ultimately lead to offtake contracts for this
higher-value product class also.

As lithium-ion batteries are expected to be the single most important demand
pull for graphite ahead, completing QAQC to become certified as battery grade
will be a significant milestone. Blencowe is confident its concentrate will
successfully be highlighted as a low cost and pure SPG product once these
tests have been completed, thereby commanding the best pricing.

 

Cameron Pearce, Executive Chairman commented;

"We are now moving into the final stage of the Orom-Cross metallurgical work
within the Definitive Feasibility Study, where our high quality 96-97% LOI
concentrate will be upgraded to a more purified >99.95% product.  Beyond
that there is only testing as required from the OEMs themselves to verify all
data and if successful thereafter we can move to offtake agreements.  We are
confident that our Orom-Cross concentrate will be verified ahead as a
high-quality end-product and look forward to sharing the results of all of
these tests once they are completed."

 

He added "Graphite demand is lifting fast and we believe it will continue to
do so ahead.  The higher the quality of the end product the more likely we
can lock in sales agreements and the better the prices we will achieve.  We
expect graphite demand to continue to rise and shortages to unfold as there
are only a limited number of new graphite projects with suitable, qualified
end product moving into production over the medium term, and most resource
analysts are forecasting a substantial deficit from 2025 which they predict
will become even more pronounced by the end of the decade."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Blencowe Resources Plc   www.blencoweresourcesplc.com

 Sam Quinn                Tel: +44 (0)1624 681 250

                          info@blencoweresourcesplc.com (mailto:info@blencoweresourcesplc.com)

 Investor Relations       Tel: +44 (0) 7891 677 441

 Sasha Sethi              sasha@flowcomms.com (mailto:sasha@flowcomms.com)

 Tavira Financial         Tel: +44 (0)20 3192 1733

 Jonathan Evans           Jonathan.evans@tavira.group (mailto:Jonathan.evans@tavira.group)

 First Equity Limited     Tel: +44(0)20 7330 1833

 Jason Robertson          jasonrobertson@firstequitylimited.com
                          (mailto:jasonrobertson@firstequitylimited.com)

Twitter https://twitter.com/BlencoweRes (https://twitter.com/BlencoweRes)

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/72382491/admin/
(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 coarse
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
completed a successful Pre-Feasibility Study in 2022.  The Company has now
moved into 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, with only a small percentage of the overall deposit drilled
to date. Development of the resource is expected to benefit from a low strip
ratio and free dig operations, thereby ensuring lower operating and capital
costs.

 

 

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