By: African mining market

Blencowe Resources PLC chairman, Cameron Pearce, described as “excellent” the results from its biggest drilling campaign yet at the Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda.

The data confirmed the scale and quality of the deposit as the company moves closer to completing a definitive feasibility study (DFS), it said in an update on Thursday.

The Stage 7 programme saw 6,750 metres drilled across 239 holes, targeting geotechnical analysis, resource upgrades and exploration of new zones.

Results from the campaign will support a planned upgrade to the current JORC resource and contribute to the conditions of a US$5 million technical grant from the US International Development Finance Corporation.

The drilling confirmed consistent mineralisation across all holes, including at a newly identified deposit known as Beehive, located 3km from existing sites.

Deeper drilling at Beehive and the Northern Syncline deposit showed graphite mineralisation extending beyond 100 metres depth, three times deeper than in previous campaigns, with all holes ending in ore.

The programme also included infill drilling to upgrade part of the existing 24.5 million tonne JORC resource from Inferred and Indicated to Measured status. An updated resource estimate is expected in the near term.

Blencowe said the Beehive discovery could match or exceed current tonnage estimates and contribute to longer mine life and higher processing capacity.

The company continues to report high-quality graphite from the project, with concentrate grades of 96–97% and purified grades reaching up to 99.99% total graphite content.

Chairman Pearce said the latest results had confirmed the project’s potential as a “tier one graphite asset”.

“We achieved all our objectives: gathering essential geotechnical data, upgrading the existing resource, extending one deposit and discovering another,” he said.

“Our focus now turns to integrating this into the DFS to demonstrate the full commercial value of the project within the global graphite supply chain.”