Blencowe Resources PLC (LSE:BRES) said it has commenced its final metallurgical testing programs for the Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda, with samples now sent to both China and the USA.
Specifically, twenty kilogrammes of concentrate has been sent by air to technical experts at the Wuhan University of Technology in China to begin the 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 is to commence immediately in China ahead of 100-tonnes bulk sample studies, which will be sent to China in the near term.
Furthermore, an additional five kilogrammes of concentrate has been sent to leading US graphite technical firm American Energy Technologies for SPG and expandables testing and to confirm Orom-Cross concentrate further upgrades efficiently to a greater than 99.95% battery grade product.
As lithium-ion batteries are expected to be the single most important demand pull for graphite in the years to come, completing quality assurance and quality control 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 product once these tests have been completed, thereby commanding the best pricing.
"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 greater than 99.95% product,” said Blencowe chairman Cameron Pearce in a statement.
“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.