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 an average depth of about 15 m to 20 m. 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 will be delivered from the plant as concentrates, 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 using stirred media mills, followed by cleaner flotation.

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

Initially, transport to port will be by road, but it is expected that a rail option might be available 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 indicated that it aims to complete the definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the project by the second quarter of next year.

The Orom-Cross resource currently comprises 24.5-million tonnes grading 6% total carbon, based on only 2% of the total deposit drilled to date; therefore, further drilling conducted in future can incrementally increase the resource size.

The project has already attracted a $5-million grant from the US government through the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to assist with the DFS costs.

A combination of debt and equity will fund Orom-Cross project implementation, with the majority being debt financing. It is envisaged that, once the DFS is completed, the DFC will cornerstone a funding solution through debt and one or more other financial institutions to deliver the remaining debt and equity. 

Discussions are under way on this, with several interested parties to deliver this strategy.

Blencowe has invested substantial funds to date in the development of Orom-Cross and has conducted multiple geological exploration programmes, technical evaluation and economic studies, which all consistently highlight the quality of the project. 

More than 6 000 m of drilling have been completed in two phases, with a further programme under way.

Significant metallurgical testwork has confirmed the very high quality of the end-products – as concentrates and as more purified graphite. 

Over the past 15 months, Blencowe has conducted bulk sample testing of all products at commercial-scale facilities in China – first using 100 t of raw material, followed by a sample of 600 t – to become prequalified and provide substantial samples of end-products to original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

This critical step to obtaining offtake agreements and successful bulk-scale testing has enabled the company to transition to memoranda of understanding and sale agreements. 
The project has all major infrastructure in place, including roads, rail, hydroelectric power off the national grid, water and communications, which all lower the capital cost significantly.

There is a need for Blencowe to include value-adding products, such as downstream processing, where graphite is further purified, and where returns can be maximised.

Blencowe has successfully formed an alliance with a spheronised purified graphite (SPG) producer to build and operate an SPG facility, in Uganda, within a joint venture (JV), to deliver upgraded 99.95% SPG. 

As one of the first operations of this kind in the world outside of China, this proposed facility already has huge interest from OEMs that want to derisk their acquisition of purified graphite solely coming from China.

This SPG facility will become an offtaker for life for about half of Orom-Cross's output as concentrate and will be located near the mine, thus substantially reducing the transport cost of moving lower-value concentrate all the way to the end-user as previously anticipated.

In addition to requiring an experienced partner to succeed, this SPG facility is highly energy intensive and requires, therefore, abundant low-cost power, which Uganda provides. Hence, another advantage to locate this facility in-country.

Furthermore, Blencowe will benefit from half of the profits of the SPG facility as a JV partner, providing significantly improved returns for investors.

This strategy sets the company apart because it will deliver higher-value products and greater returns, and other graphite peers will struggle to replicate this elsewhere.

Another factor underpinning the future success of the company is its partnership with one of the largest and most experienced spherical graphite producers in the world to produce purified graphite in Uganda.

In September this year, Blencowe was awarded full accreditation by the Minerals Security Partnership, an influential, high-level, quasi government body that aims to overcome dependence on China for all critical minerals through tangible support programmes.

“This is a rare and very prestigious award and it highlights the value of Orom-Cross and its potential role in the global energy transition ahead,” Blencowe has stated.

Meanwhile, the DFS strategy has been optimised to incorporate two important value-adding components – downstream processing to further purify graphite beyond concentrate, and a drill programme to increase the current resource to provide important geotechnical information for mine designs and further infill to add to current reserves. 

These value-adding components are included in the DFS to maximise the potential value of the project.

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

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