TIDMBRES
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
Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0) 7891 677 441
Sasha Sethi sasha@flowcomms.com
Tavira Financial Tel: +44 (0)20 3192 1733
Jonathan Evans Jonathan.evans@tavira.group
First Equity Limited Tel: +44(0)20 7330 1833
Jason Robertson jasonrobertson@firstequitylimited.com
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 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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END
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