Blencowe Resources (LON:BRES) has seen “a very active and successful” quarter since the company acquired the Orom-Cross Graphite Project in April and recommenced LSE trading.
The UK-based mineral exploration firm said it has already reached a number of milestones in regards to the project this year with the balance expected to be completed by year end despite the various challenges faced due to COVID-19 restrictions in both Uganda and UK.
The group outlined to investors that it had successfully planned, executed and completed a 69-hole (1,950m) diamond drilling programme which it hopes will deliver enough resource to support an initial mine life of over ten years. It said initial results were ‘looking positive’.
The group discovered a new high-grade lode of graphite, which it then drilled within the original drilling budget and is expected to boost the overall JORC Resource estimate while
Drilling also reconfirmed BRES’ belief that most of the Orom-Cross deposit contains larger flake size graphite, which commands a significant premium in terms of pricing per tonne.
Due to the vast size and scale of the asset, the initial JORC is expected to be just 1% of the deposit, however, it represents ‘a key step forward’ and is expected to provide sufficient resources to deliver the project into first production with a mine life of more than ten years.
Shares in Blencowe Resources have traded consistently over the past 10 days and opened this morning at 5.75p following the announcement.
Logging of core has now been completed and samples are in transit to JORC-accredited labs in Tanzania ahead of the delivery of a maiden JORC Resource before the end of the year.
BRES said samples will be sent to Canada for metallurgical testing by the graphite specialist SGS, who have done similar work for many other graphite projects worldwide, to both reconfirm the data from Tanzania and identify what the exact end product will look like.
Following this process, BRES will be able to look to enter into discussions with potential off-takers and industrial consumers to aid with the financing of the ultimate development.
Meanwhile, the group said it has continued positive meetings and discussions with senior Government officials. Blencowe highlighted that their ongoing support is ‘crucial in terms of long-term viability of the Project and its subsequent impact on the local economy.’
The group said it has raised significant cash in order to deliver the programme while an experienced management team is now in place to deliver on all programmes ahead.
"The Board has no doubt that Orom-Cross is a world class graphite deposit, given its size and expected grades and flake sizes,” said Cameron Pearce, Executive Chairman, adding “We have a clear strategy to move the asset forward as rapidly as possible towards production."
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