London-listed Blencowe has successfully completed all geotechnical holes at the Camp Lode graphite deposit in Uganda, a key requirement for finalising mining design parameters.

Logging and sampling of three holes is also complete with all four holes confirming mineralisation over the majority of the length of 70 m a hole.

The drilling programme is structured in three phases. The geotechnical drilling has now been completed. The second phase is infill drilling at the Camp Lode and Northern Syncline deposits to increment reserves.

The third phase involves step-out drilling to consider a newly identified potential higher-grade deposit to the south to increase the overall resource size.

Blencowe said on February 14 that it aims to achieve a substantial increase to Joint Ore Reserves Committee resources and reserves, positioning Orom-Cross for higher production levels as well as longer life of mine within the definitive feasibility study (DFS).

With several new potential offtake opportunities opening, including the possibility of large volumes of graphite concentrate to be sold into the EU’s Safeloop initiative, Blencowe is seeking to aggressively add to both resource and reserves at Orom-Cross to scale production. The company believes this will make a substantial difference to the DFS outcome.

Over the past week, Orom-Cross hosted officials from the Ugandan Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM), alongside a local government representative, who reviewed site progress and the overall work area. Blencowe said the DGSM expressed satisfaction with the project's advancement.

Additionally, an EU representative conducting a fact-finding mission to assess Uganda's critical mineral projects, including Orom-Cross, was hosted, which opens a new channel in relation to potential EU funding support for strategic raw materials.

"We continue to make strong progress with this drilling campaign, a critical final step in delivering an expanded DFS for Orom-Cross. The infill drilling is expected to significantly upgrade our reserves, while the step-out drilling in the south presents an exciting opportunity to materially expand our overall resource base.

We are particularly eager to test a completely new deposit in this region, which, if successful, could further demonstrate the immense scale and potential of the graphite mineralisation at Orom-Cross which has previously been estimated at two-billion to three-billion tonnes,” Blencowe executive chairperson Cameron Pearce said.

He said that, with increasing demand for graphite, particularly through initiatives such as Safeloop, expanding Blencowe’s production capacity becoame a key focus.

“Graphite is recognised as a strategic and critical mineral worldwide, and Orom-Cross is positioned to play a significant role in global supply chains. With 7 000 m of drilling planned, including 280 m completed so far, we look forward to providing regular updates as the programme advances,” Pearce said.