Blencowe Resources PLC (LSE:BRES) said it commenced the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for its flagship Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda.
The move follows "outstanding” results from the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) of the project, which was presented to the market in July. The DFS is the last step in terms of major studies before the company decides whether to mine.
Earlier this month, Blencowe announced that it had terminated its agreement with SIPA Resources relating to the Akelikongo nickel project in order to focus on the Orom-Cross project.
In today’s statement, the company said it is in the final stages of selecting an engineering firm to manage and sign off on the DFS. It expects to announce the engineering partner in the near term.
"We continue to make substantial progress at Orom-Cross, having moved from project acquisition through JORC Resource drilling and Pre-Feasibility Studies and now into the Definitive Feasibility Study stage, all within just 2.5 years,” commented Blencowe executive chairman Cameron Pearce.
“The quality and value of Orom-Cross graphite continues to inspire us to move as quickly as possible towards a decision to mine but at the same time we are ensuring all key areas are thoroughly analysed including third party reviews by industry experts.
“Quality and consistency of end product remain critical to building strong buyer relationships and we will continue to test the properties of our graphite as necessary to ensure our product is considered at the highest levels compared to other graphite products available worldwide.”
The company said it is assembling a strong management advisory team to assist with key aspects of the DFS, including plant design, engineering, infrastructure, mining, operations, sales and marketing (offtake), environmental and social aspects, and all project funding.
Metallurgical test work already completed indicates that Orom-Cross can produce several high-quality end products as a 96-97% LOI concentrate. Additional metallurgical test work is anticipated in 2023, as part of the DFS, to test the expandability, spheroidisation and spherical graphite purification (SPG) properties, as the ability to cost-effectively further upgrade Orom-Cross concentrates is expected to add significant additional value to the project, Blencowe said.
"Graphite demand is growing fast as forecast and as the market becomes increasingly more aware that there are very few new graphite mines scheduled to commence production in the near term this demand-pull will potentially drive further price rises ahead, particularly for the products found at Orom-Cross,” noted Pearce.
“Blencowe owns 100% of one of the largest, high-quality graphite projects in the world and is therefore uniquely placed and significantly leveraged to take advantage of this emerging market moving forward."