REG - Blencowe Resources - SAFELOOP Testing Update

Blencowe ResourcesAnnouncement

13/06/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7536M  Blencowe Resources PLC  13 June 2025

Date: 13 June 2025
 

 

Blencowe Resources Plc

("Blencowe" or the "Company")

 

Blencowe Strengthens EU Battery Ties - Orom-Cross Graphite Outperforms in
Testing

Exclusive supplier to EU SAFELOOP initiative

Continued testing confirms battery-grade purity and performance

 

Blencowe Resources Plc (LSE: BRES) is pleased to report further progress on
its role within the European Union's flagship Gen3 battery initiative, Project
SAFELOOP, for which the Company's Orom-Cross Graphite Project in Uganda has
been selected as the exclusive supplier of natural flake graphite.

SAFELOOP is a three-year programme funded by the EU's €100 billion Project
Horizon energy transition initiative, focused on developing a next generation
lithium-ion battery that delivers improved safety, sustainability and high
performance while strengthening Europe's control over its critical mineral
supply chains.

Blencowe was invited to participate in SAFELOOP as the exclusive supplier of
all natural flake graphite due to the high quality of graphite at
Orom-Cross.  The strategic importance of Orom-Cross within SAFELOOP positions
Blencowe to secure premium offtake demand directly into the EU from 2028
onwards - one of the few bulk quantity European sales routes that is available
in the graphite sector.

 

Key Highlights

·    Orom-Cross remains the exclusive natural flake graphite supplier to
SAFELOOP.

·    Graphite purified to 99.98 wt%C, meeting battery-grade standards.

·    New EV anode developed with over 68% Orom-Cross natural flake
graphite content (typically anodes have majority synthetic graphite).

·    Pilot-scale testing completed through to anode and battery - results
exceed expectations.

·    COO presents Orom-Cross project to SAFELOOP and EU stakeholders in
Denmark.

·    New European offtake discussions underway with EU industrial
partners as direct result of the SAFELOOP meeting.

 

Testing of Orom-Cross Natural Flake for SAFELOOP

American Energy Technologies Co. ("AETC") and other SAFELOOP project partners
have continued their test work using the Company's natural flake graphite from
the Orom-Cross project.   AETC has been designing an enhanced EV anode
predominantly using natural flake graphite instead of synthetic graphite,
which may have notable consequences ahead on battery makeup and flake graphite
demand.

 

Technical Milestones Delivered (January-May 2025)

·    Battery-Grade Purity Achieved:

Orom-Cross graphite was purified to 99.98 wt%C using AETC's proprietary
Inverted Flow Sheet process.  This grade is considered premium quality within
the industry and opens further opportunities for sales into defence
applications and other niche markets.

 

·    Natural Graphite-Dominant Anode Developed:

AETC manufactured a next-generation electric vehicle anode with >68%
natural flake graphite sourced solely from Orom-Cross-offering a greener,
high-performance alternative to predominantly synthetic graphite within the
anode.

For reference, EV's typically employ synthetic graphite anodes; Blencowe's
natural graphite, due to its qualities, is positioned to replace the synthetic
and become an enabling technology which will see the natural graphite-dominant
anode commercialized in the electric vehicle market.  This is significant as
it would lead to substantially more natural flake graphite used in the anode
with Orom-Cross as a major source.

·    Pilot Testing Success:

Pilot plant batches of the anode were submitted to SAFELOOP industrial
partners for trialling and evaluation. Testing results to date have exceeded
performance benchmarks in all aspects along the battery chain evolution.

 

Strategic Commercial Engagement

Iain Wearing, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, recently presented the
Orom-Cross graphite project to the SAFELOOP General Assembly in Nyborg,
Denmark, where the project was recognised as a strategically important
resource that is aligned with the EU's critical battery minerals supply-chain
objectives.

Additionally, as a direct result of this engagement, the Company is now
engaged in multiple new offtake discussions with SAFELOOP consortium members
and other EU-based industrial battery partners.

Blencowe Resources COO Iain Wearing together with SAFELOOP team members in
Nyborg, Denmark.

Cameron Pearce, Executive Chairman commented:

"SAFELOOP is a unique and highly strategic Western offtake opportunity.
Tier-one partners such as SAFELOOP are few and far between, particularly with
the scope for offtaking large volumes at premium pricing, and we are excited
to be chosen as the exclusive supplier of graphite into a project of this
scale and this calibre.  The test work being done at present is revolutionary
as it may shift the majority of usage within the EV anode away from synthetic
to natural flake graphite.  This is entirely due to Orom-Cross' high quality
of end product, and it would be ground-breaking within the industry as it
would lead to more sustainable EV batteries produced."

"SAFELOOP's projected graphite requirements are substantial - enough to make
it a potential cornerstone offtaker for Orom-Cross as both projects ramp up to
commercial scale levels. Just as importantly, because SAFELOOP testing has
been conducted exclusively using our graphite, we are building a unique and
dedicated sales channel that peers simply cannot replicate."

Blencowe CEO, Mike Ralston, recently provided further details on two
interviews:

https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/articles/q-a-with-blencowe-resources-ceo-mike-ralston-3e8564b
(https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/articles/q-a-with-blencowe-resources-ceo-mike-ralston-3e8564b)

https://youtu.be/PWIacGG7bIc (https://youtu.be/PWIacGG7bIc)

 

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)

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. The current 21-year Mining Licence for the project was
issued by the Ugandan Government in 2019 following extensive historical work
on the deposit.  Blencowe is now completing the Definitive Feasibility Study
phase as it drives towards first production.

Orom-Cross presents as a large, shallow open-pitable deposit, with an initial
JORC Indicated & Inferred Mineral Resource of 24.5Mt @ 6.0% TGC (Total
Graphite Content). This Resource has been defined from only ~2% of the total
tenement area which presents considerable upside potential ahead.
Development of the resource is expected to benefit from a low strip ratio and
free dig operations together with abundant inexpensive hydro-electric power
off the national grid, thereby ensuring low operating costs.  With all major
infrastructure available at or near to site the capital costs will also be
relatively low in comparison to most graphite peers.

 

About SAFELOOP

The program, under which AETC works as a downstream processor of graphite
concentrate from Blencowe, is that of EU-Horizon's SAFELOOP, which stands for
Securely Advancing Future EVs with Lithium-Ion Batteries through Optimized
Pathways.

Specifically, natural graphite concentrate from Blencowe Resources has been
tested in a natural-graphite-dominant composite with recycled and "healed"
graphite from spent lithium-ion batteries, as well as with mesophase
pitch-derived synthetic graphite, then surface coated with a carbon-based
safety coating layer, allowing the resultant composite and the battery using
the composite to qualify for Gen 3 EU EV Lithium-Ion battery safety standard.

Ongoing test work using Orom-Cross graphite continues to yield exceptional
results in anode and battery performance within SAFELOOP.

More specifically, the Instytut Sorbtsiyi Ta Problem Endoekolohiyi
Natsionalnoyi Akademiyi Nauk Ukrayiny (ISPE), Kyiv, Ukraine has optimized the
performance of the resultant composite at various active material loadings and
produced continuous anodes which could be balanced with NMC811 cathodes in an
effort aimed at building successful lithium-ion battery prototypes which
utilize the coin cell format of CR2032. Multiple electrodes were submitted to
a project partner Forschungszentrum Julich GMBH (FZJ), of Julich, Germany, for
the selection of optimized electrolyte, in which, Blencowe's graphite-dominant
anode performance was optimized.

FZJ conducted extensive test work which resulted in recommending an optimum
electrolyte for the system that contains Orom-Cross graphite. The
aforementioned represents a significant development in that typically
electrolyte is optimized around the cathode; this is one of the rare industry
examples when the fine tuning of electrolyte composition was performed around
the use of natural-graphite-dominant anode.

Thereafter, a scaled-up lot of composite anodes was produced and submitted to
another partner of SAFELOOP, TUBITAK of Ankara, Turkey, which is currently in
the process of assembling 2Ah pouch cells, using the aforementioned anodes and
pairing them with commercial NMC811 cathodes, utilizing the scaled-up
electrolyte which was identified in the studies performed by FZJ.

Two other project partners, UOULU of Finland and YUNASKO of Ukraine tested the
non-spherical fines coming from Blencowe in conductivity enhancement
applications of lithium-ion battery cathodes and in hybrid electrochemical
supercapacitors. Positive performance was reported in both instances, with the
latter going as far as 16C charge and discharge rates (e.g. 3.75-minute
recharge rates), which attests to the excellent high-power performance of
Blencowe's non-spherical graphite which will be used in the scaled-up
cathodes.

 

 

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