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(Alliance News) - Blencowe Resources PLC on Tuesday said 600 tonnes of bulk sample graphite mined at its Orom-Cross project have been shipped to China for testing, and reported that it expects a grant funding from the US to complete soon.
Blencowe Resources is a London-based graphite miner operating the Orom-Cross project in northern Uganda.
The sample of graphite was mined at the end of 2023 to offer more product for commercial scale testing, the company said.
Testing will be carried out in the first quarter of the year, and the resultant concentrate will then be further processed to 99.95% purified product for original equipment manufacturing testing, it added.
Additionally, Blencowe said it is near to delivering on the next milestone for further grant funding from the US Government Development Finance Corporation. This comes after Blencowe said in September it had received a USD5 million grant from the US government's Development Finance Corp for its Orom-Cross graphite project.
Chair Cameron Pearce said: "We have a unique value proposition at Orom-Cross, with low operating costs, low capital costs and high grade of purity for all end products, which together provide a very compelling case for this project moving into production ahead of most of its peers. We will also continue to explore downstream processing options as this can potentially take Orom-Cross to yet another level and we will report to market as we progress this. All in all we envisage an exciting year ahead as we complete the [definitive feasibility study] and move the project towards a decision to mine."
On Tuesday London-based and Brazil-focused miner Jangada Mines PLC noted Blencowe's announcement, in which it holds a 10% interest.
Chair Brain McMaster commented: "Since nearly all of global graphite anode material came from China last year, which implemented a new policy to regulate the export of some graphite products in December 2023, diversity of supply has become increasingly important to support the energy transition worldwide. This places Blencowe, which is developing Orom-Cross, a potential world class graphite project both by size and end-product quality, in a very strong position."
Shares in Blencowe were down 10% at 4.30 pence each in London on Tuesday morning, while Jangada shares were up 7.3% at 1.69 pence each.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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