Blencowe Resources plc (LON:BRES) has announced that core samples from its recently completed 69-hole diamond drill program (for approx. 1,950 meters), at the Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda, have been dispatched to an accredited SGS laboratory in Tanzania. The samples will now be prepared and then forwarded to SGS in South Africa to enable completion of the studies and verification by SGS ahead of inclusion in the Company’s maiden JORC Resource at Orom-Cross, expected in Q4 2020.
Additional samples will be sent to SGS in Toronto, one of the leading technical experts in graphite processing, to complete Phase Two metallurgical test work and identify optimal concentrate figures for a high quality, large flake product. These results are expected in Q1 2021.
Both the JORC Resource and the metallurgical test work are integral parts of the next stage of development and follow on from a highly successful drilling campaign in 2020 at Orom-Cross. Blencowe intends to incorporate these results to present a Feasibility Study in 2021, which will deliver first commercial outcomes for the project.
In other corporate activities, Blencowe can advise one of the subscribers in the recent admission to the standard list of the main market (“Admission”), Apul Investments, was unable to deliver on its subscription commitments. Consequently, the Board has now replaced Apul Investment’s subscription with existing and supportive shareholders at the same terms being 6p per subscription share. The CEO and COO being Mike Ralston and Iain Wearing respectively have participated in this reallocation and subscribed for £12,500 each (208,333 shares each).
Executive Chairman Cameron Pearce commented;
“We have successfully navigated the initial phase of post-acquisition work at Orom-Cross, designed to underline its size and quality as a world class graphite asset. We are now moving into the next phase where we intend to deliver commercial outcomes through 2021 and beyond.”
“Blencowe remains highly optimistic on the longer term outlook for flake graphite, particularly as a key component of the lithium-ion battery that will power electric vehicles and store renewable energy from various sources. As the world emerges from Covid-19 many analysts are forecasting an even stronger bias towards growth in renewables than ever before. Having a substantial project within our Company that will deliver a critical element of this seismic shift will be very valuable, particularly given current forecasts of a substantial flake graphite shortage from 2025 onwards.”
