Name of the Project
Orom-Cross graphite project.

Location
Uganda.

Project Owner/s
Blencowe Resources.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) has highlighted an exceptional long-life project that delivers considerable returns over an initial life-of-mine of 14 years.

An estimated 600 000 t/y of ore will be mined from the commissioning date and this will increase to 2.4-million tonnes a year by the time the project is fully ramped up in Year 10.

Mining will be free-dig, with no drill-and-blast required.  Initial ore will come from saprolite (clay) at about 15 m to 20 m depth on average. Both deposits (Northern syncline and Camp lode) identified in the drilling programmes will be mined and a composite blend of both will be fed into the processing plant that will be built on site.

An initial 36 000 t/y of end-product as concentrates will be delivered from the plant, which will increase in two additional stages to 147 000 t/y once the mine is fully ramped up. 

Further resources, higher production volumes and an extended mine life can all be obtained at any stage by drilling additional ready-targets. This, however, is not currently considered a priority.

The processing flowsheet comprises a flash and rougher flotation stage, followed by a primary cleaning circuit with a polishing mill and three stages of cleaner flotation. The intermediate concentrate is classified and then further upgraded in secondary cleaning circuits with stirred media mills, followed by cleaner flotation.

Orom-Cross will deliver at least five different end-products, characterised by size fractions of  +50 mesh, + 80 mesh, +100 mesh, +150 mesh and -100 mesh. These products will all have different markets and will be branded and packaged at site.

Initially, transport to port will be by road, but it is expected that a rail option might be available nearby by 2025, further reducing logistics costs.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $482-million and an internal rate of return of 50%.

Capital Expenditure
The initial capital requirement has been lowered by 23% to $62-million, since the preliminary economic assessment was announced in 2021. 

Planned Start/End Date
Blencowe will start the main operations from 2025 at an initial output of 36 000 t/y of end-product.

Latest Developments
Additional metallurgical test work on the Orom-Cross graphite project has been completed by technical specialist firm IMO, based in Perth, Australia.

Blencowe said on December 6 that the objectives of the test work had been met or exceeded in this latest round of test work. 

The test work is critical to understanding the quality of the end-product that Orom-Cross can deliver as a high-grade graphite concentrate, as well as what the process flow will look like to achieve this on a precommercial scale. 

The work also provides a significantly greater quantum of end-product for end-user testing, which is critical for the definitive feasibility study (DFS).

Blencowe appointed IMO to undertake metallurgical test work on material gathered from its drilling campaigns, which covered the Northern Syncline and Camp lode areas within Orom-Cross. The programme was designed to deliver on several objectives.

Among the objectives was the need to confirm whether a 95% to 97% total graphite content pure concentrate is possible with low impurities of thorium and vanadium and whether about 90% recovery is achievable for this concentrate, and to confirm the liberation process to maintain a high percentage of jumbo/extra-large/large flakes within the concentrate.

Further, the testwork will also confirm the process flow diagram for plant design as part of the DFS. The delivery of the bulk concentrate samples will also allow for Blencowe to initiate discussions with potential offtake partners.

“This latest set of results sets us up nicely for the bulk sample trial we will be conducting on 100 t of Orom-Cross composite in the first half of 2023, and if these same results are produced from that exercise, we will be largely prequalified in terms of end products delivered as concentrate," Blencowe executive chairperson Cameron Pearce has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Battery Limits (PFS); and IMO (technical test work).

Contact Details for Project Information
Blencowe Resources, tel +44 1624 681 250 or email info@blencoweresourcesplc.com.