Blencowe Resources (AIM:BRES) said it has made ‘good progress’ and is nearing completion of its phase 1 drilling programme at the Orom-Cross Graphite Project in Northern Uganda.
Drilling recommenced in May after test work, which began at the start of the year, was placed on hold in March after a nationwide lockdown was enforced to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The drill program has been designed to delineate around 8 to 10 million tonnes to a JORC (2012) Indicated standard, which would provide the initial resource for 10 years of mining. Currently, the area targeted represents less than 1% of the Project.
Since the restart of operations, drilling has focused on the western anomaly, which includes a newly identified 'high-grade' zone, with 57 holes now completed and 2 remaining.
Out of those 57 holes completed, 50 have already been logged and sampled, with the first batch of 20 holes due for assaying in the nearest JORC accredited independent laboratory in Mwanza (Tanzania). The second batch will be dispatched next week, the group stated.
To date all drilling has gone according to plan with visible graphite showing in all areas, including larger flakes as targeted by the company, this morning’s statement said.
Shares in Blencowe Resources closed at 7.6p on Wednesday afternoon.
In order to further test the identified high-grade zone close to the camp site, a second drill rig has now been mobilised to site and drill-out of this lode will commence this weekend.
Blencowe said these extra holes are expected to fall within its existing 2020 drilling budget given the efficiency of operations to date, and expects the full drill programme to be completed by late July, with all remaining samples dispatched to the Mwanza lab at a similar time.
The group said drill-hole sites will be rehabilitated as part of the outlined work program.
The next phase of the programme will focus on assaying and samples from this drilling campaign which will be sent to technical experts to recommence metallurgical test work in Q4 2020.
"We are pleased with the quality and speed of execution for the current drilling program at Orom-Cross, as well as all preliminary indications,” said Executive Chairman of Blencowe, Cameron Pearce.
The group is using Orom-Cross to ramp graphite production as demand soars for lithium-ion batteries which is “coupled with a supply chain that remains relatively stagnant, particularly for larger flake and higher value projects such as those expected from Orom-Cross.”
“We believe that Orom-Cross production will coincide neatly with this anticipated shortfall of graphite in world markets,” added Pearce.
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