Name of the Project
Orom-Cross graphite project.

Location
Uganda.

Project Owner/s
Graphite, nickel and copper developer 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 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
Blencowe Resources has received approval from the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to export materials from its Orom-Cross graphite project to China-based Jilin Huiyang New Material Technology Company (JHNMTC) to allow for final bulk metallurgical testwork to be undertaken in 2023.

The export permits allow for 100 t of bulk raw ore materials to be mined immediately and sea-freighted to China, and the use of 400 ℓ of local groundwater.

This will be used to assess the metallurgical processes on a commercial scale, including differing plant components to increase the grade, recovery and flake sizing from Orom-Cross.

The addition of the groundwater sample will enable the test facilities to assess the water characteristics in terms of the reagents required under proposed site operating conditions.

Blencowe mandated JHNMTC to complete this testwork in their existing pilot plant facility, which negates the requirement to build its own bulk testing facility on site in the near term.

Ugandan mining law does not allow for the export of unprocessed raw materials.

Blencowe executive chairperson Cameron Pearce has said that China is currently the most mature graphite market, and that entering into an offtake relationship there would be “very valuable” to the company, given the “highly attractive” economics at Orom-Cross.

The miner also commissioned the testwork as a key step in the process to prequalify Orom-Cross end-products as concentrates to original-equipment manufacturers to ultimately achieve binding offtake contracts for production from the project.

Work to excavate and transport the bulk samples have started and will be freighted by sea to China to have the testing completed as quickly as practically possible.

In addition, 150 kg of the same samples will be air-freighted quicker to the same JHNMTC facility to undergo metallurgical testing and build knowledge before the larger samples arrive.

Blencowe has already shared significant data with JHNMTC, having previously completed two stages of bench-scale metallurgical testing of a 30 kg sample with SGS in Canada.

More recently, a further round of testing of a 130 kg sample was undertaken through a small pilot plant in Perth, Australia.

This next-level proposed test in China, using JHNMTC’s existing infrastructure and experience, will be done on a considerably larger scale, which will provide all parties with more knowledge of the end-concentrates that can be produced on a production scale from Orom-Cross.

Blencowe hopes this testing programme will initially lead to nonbinding memorandums of understanding for offtake, and ultimately to binding sale agreements for a substantial portion of the initial 50 000 t/y product to be produced from Stage 1 within Orom-Cross.

There may also be potential for engineering, procurement and construction, and funding contracts emanating from this relationship, potentially providing one solution to Blencowe’s capital requirement for initial stage production.

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

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