UK listed Blencowe Resources is pushing ahead with its definitive feasibility study as it inks in a 15ktpy supply agreement from its graphite mine in Uganda. The JORC compliant resource is estimated at 24.5Mt at 6%, based on just 2% of the licence area currently drilled.  

UK listed Blencowe Resources is pushing ahead with its definitive feasibility study as it inks in a 15ktpy supply agreement from its graphite mine in Uganda. The JORC compliant resource is estimated at 24.5Mt at 6%, based on just 2% of the licence area currently drilled.  

The project is based on the Orom-Cross deposit in the north of Uganda and is comprised of five phases. Phase one is a 80ktpy plant to produce 5ktpy of concentrate and 1ktpy of micronised material by 2026, with a capital cost of US$15M. Phase two is a much larger 800ktpy US$80M plant to produce 50ktpy in 2027, and this will be followed by a 25ktpy uncoated spheronised purified graphite (SPG) plant in 2028. Capex for the SPG plant is put at US$35m, which will produce a 99.95% purified product. The SPG plant is not located at Orom-Cross, but further south in the country where it can take advantage of hydro-electric power, rail and road links to Mombasa Port and abundant water for processing. 

Phase 4 and Phase 5 involve raising concentrate production to 100ktpy and 150ktpy respectively, combined with incremental SPG plant output. In September 2023, Blencowe received US$5M of co-funding from the US Development Finance Corporation to cover DFS costs and has entered a partnership for potentially full project funding further down the road. 

Blencowe completed its pre-feasibility study in 2022, having been awarded a mining licence in 2019. All other permits are in place. One of the advantages of the resource is that it has a substantial percentage of large flake material, approximately 45% of the production, to sell into traditional graphite markets such as refractories. In June the company signed its first non-binding MOU for natural graphite flake offtake with Jilin New Technology Graphite Co to supply 15ktpy of blended large flake graphite for up to 3 years, which will be for large flake graphite production (+100mesh, +80mesh and +50mesh). Jilin is a processor of battery anode materials and expandable graphite based in North China. 

Interestingly Blencowe is not aiming solely at the fast growing battery anode market for all its output, but nearly 50% is aimed at more traditional sectors as well as the expandable graphite market. This follows a pattern of increased Chinese exports and supply agreements for large flake material to meet its growing domestic requirements.