Blencowe (BRES ) has highlighted the significant progress at its flagship Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda with Company moving towards PFS on time and on-budget.
As announced on 16 August, the Company has completed its second successful drilling program at the project with all samples now prepped and in transit to laboratories in Australia for assaying.
While the Company continues to expect a upgraded JORC Standard Resource statement in Q4 2021, work regarding the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for the initial proposed mining operation at Orom-Cross is now considerably advanced and should be completed before 30 September 2021 with public release shortly thereafter.
This PEA will be the first full commercial model for entire project and will indicate how valuable the Orom-Cross project is on a global scale.
Cameron Pearce, Executive Chairman commented:
“The Company has made considerable progress over the past sixteen months since Orom-Cross was acquired and is now about to deliver a first economic model to share with the market. We are confident that the PEA will underline the value that has been built to date and outline further upside that Orom-Cross can become a globally significant graphite project due to its scale and mineralogy.
The PEA will also begin the process of allowing investors to assess the project in the context of its global peer group and provide a robust framework for us to progress strategic discussions already initiated with a range of parties such as potential offtake agreements and strategic partnerships.”
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We understand the Orom-Cross project is now developing into an outstanding graphite project based on the Significant size and scale of the overall deposit, Highest quality 97-98% concentrate for a well advanced project with a 21-year Mining License already awarded.
Furthermore, given the stable jurisdiction and supportive Government and community within Uganda, investors should also expect a long-term mining operation with future uplifts to production levels to meet anticipated surges in graphite demand.
There is growing evidence to support the assumption that the market for graphite should mirror that of battery metals, which is forecast to grow considerably over next decade, as lithium-ion batteries become highly sought after to power exponential growth in electric vehicles.
Whilst the PEA has been built by Blencowe’s management team, we understand all key numbers within the PEA have been generated via the involvement of third party technical experts to ensure credibility and integrity.
Looking forward, there are several points of positive Newsflow for investors to consider as potential re-rating catalysts as the next step beyond PEA will be for the PFS to commence. As part of the PFS, Blencowe will be opening dialogue with potential offtake partners on quantity, quality and pricing of end products as available for sale.