Category Archives: Blencowe Resources (BRES)

Highlights

· RAB Capital to invest £800,000 to become largest shareholder in Blencowe

· 16,000,000 new ordinary shares to be issued at 5p

· RAB Capital will hold 17,800,000 shares, being 10% of the enlarged share capital

· Blencowe to use funds to fast-track Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) at Orom-Cross graphite project and ongoing exploration work at Akelikongo nickel project

Blencowe Resources is pleased to announce a placing of 16,000,000 new ordinary shares at 5 pence per share (“Placing Shares”) exclusively with specialist mining investor RAB Capital (“RAB”), to raise gross proceeds of £800,000. In addition, RAB will receive 1 warrant per 2 Placing Shares, exercisable at 8p for 3 years from admission. Therefore, 8 million investor warrants have been issued to RAB as part of this placing, which was arranged by Tavira Securities Limited.

Use of Proceeds

These proceeds will be used to enhance project development at both of the Company’s projects, namely Orom-Cross Graphite Project and Akelikongo Nickel Project.

Blencowe is targeting completion of the Orom-Cross Pre-Feasibility Study by mid-2022 and these funds will assist to drive towards that goal.  Furthermore, Blencowe will shortly be underway on initial exploration work at the Akelikongo Nickel Project, with a view to finding drill targets via airborne EM (electromagnetic) work.

Holdings

RAB currently holds 1,800,000 Blencowe shares and following admission of the placing shares it will hold 17,800,000 shares, being 10% of the enlarged share capital.

This Placing is deemed a related party transaction as defined under DTR 7.3. The independent director Sam Quinn considers the terms of the Placing as fair and reasonable insofar as the Company’s shareholders are concerned.

Admission

The Company has made an application for 16,000,000 ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on the official list and the London Stock Exchange with effect from 8.00 a.m. on 19 April 2022 (“Admission”).

In accordance with the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, the Company confirms that following Admission, the Company’s enlarged issued ordinary share capital will comprise 177,929,950 Ordinary Shares. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in Treasury.

Therefore, following Admission, the above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations to determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company, under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Chief Executive Officer of RAB Capital Philip Richards commented:

“I am pleased to have taken a long-term and strategic stake in Blencowe Resources. The priority Orom-Cross graphite project is clearly of significant quality and global scale already and it can play a material role in helping to meet the expected supply deficit forecast ahead for graphite. Whilst at an earlier stage in its development, the Akelikongo nickel sulphide project also appears to carry significant promise and I look forward to the results of the ongoing exploration campaign.”

Executive Chairman of Blencowe Cameron Pearce commented:

“I am delighted that resource specialist fund RAB Capital has elected to materially increase its shareholding in the Company at this time. This is a validation of the work we have undertaken over the last few years and the subsequent value we have created. RAB Capital have confirmed they share our belief in the robust economics and investment proposition of Orom-Cross, as well as the broader outlook for global graphite demand and the expected significant supply deficit.

For further information please contact:

Blencowe Resources is pleased to announce the release of an updated presentation for the Company, highlighting ongoing work at both the Orom-Cross graphite project as well as the Akelikongo nickel project.

The presentation can be found at this link: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8784H_1-2022-4-10.pdf

CEO, Mike Ralston, will be delivering a live webinar at 12 noon Monday 11 April, where he will discuss this presentation along with the recently announced JORC Resource update, and the new strategic investment into Blencowe.

The link for this call is https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PcAeugdNQs2oZksABsUD1A

For further information please contact:

Highlights

· Total Resource increased by 50% (8.1Mt) to 24.5Mt at 6.0% TGC

· 24.5Mt at 6.0% TGC contains sufficient Measured and Indicated Resource for the first 15 years life of mine

· 340% (9.4Mt) increase in Indicated and Measured Resources to 13.2Mt, giving a higher level of accuracy and confidence in the deposits to be mined

· Grade remains consistent over the extended zones drilled at both deposits

· High-grade zones evident within the Northern Syncline, including 3.4Mt @ 8.4% TGC

· The Mineral Resource now circa three times larger than initial 8-10Mt targets for the Northern Syncline deposit.

· Drilling at Camp Lode delivers consistent outstanding high grade graphite results in the oxide zone including:

o  OREA-L1302, 11 metres at 9.73%TGC from 3 metres including 6 metres at 10.97% TGC

o  OREA-L1401, 5 metres at 10.30% TGC from surface

o  OREA-L1501, 14 metres at 11.81% TGC from 4 metres

o  OREA-L701, 19 metres at 9.78%TGC from 2 metres

o  OREA-L1201, 17 metres at 10.35% TGC from 2 metres including 7m @12.21% TGC

o  OREA-L401, 19 metres at 9.49% TGC from surface

· 100% conversion of potential mineralisation from the weathered zones in the Camp Lode into JORC Standard Indicated Resource.

· Global Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource for higher grade Camp Lode is 2.5Mt @ 7.4% TGC at a 3.5% TGC cut-off.

· Further 4.2Mt potential resource available at Camp Lode with additional drilling.

Blencowe Resources (Blencowe or the Company) is pleased to report that results for its revised JORC Standard Resource estimation for the Orom-Cross Graphite Project located in northern Uganda have substantially exceeded expectations.

A comprehensive infill drilling programme (Phase 6) was completed in 2H 2021 and the results have significantly increased the previously reported Mineral Resource to a position where sufficient ore tonnes required for the first 15 years life of mine are now available within the Indicated and/or Measured category. The modelling has also confirmed the robustness of the two higher grade zones within the main Northern Syncline deposit which surround a zone of medium grade graphite.  The Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources commence from surface outcrop to depth of current drilling at 30m, and the ore body remains open below this which represents considerable future potential tonnes into the future.

These results, which come from the weathered, close-to or at-surface zone of the deposit, highlight the quality of the Project’s mineralisation and its ability to be a low-cost producer. The nature of the ore body will enhance the commercial outcome for the early years of operations at Orom-Cross by mining this higher-grade ore.

Blencowe had initially targeted a Mineral Resource of 20Mt from Phase 6, with 10Mt in the Measured and/or Indicated categories, in order to provide the start-up ore for a 25Kt per annum operation with potential for expansion subsequent to commencement of production. The 24.5Mt overall, with 13.2Mt as Measured and/or Indicated Resources has outperformed this expectation.  The Company is happy with the initial assessment of Resources located in an area specifically targeted as close to the potential plant site within an extensive mineral field.

Furthermore, Blencowe is also looking at all options to deliver green graphite products via a Project that will utilise renewable energy and other sustainable components.  This is seen as a very important objective within the Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) and the strategy moving beyond.

All other areas within the PFS are going to plan, with work underway on all key areas including infrastructure, energy, roads, water, tailings, logistics, sales and marketing, plus plant and camp design.  Completion is targeted for mid-2022.

Executive Chairman Cameron Pearce commented;

“Our Phase 6 exploration results have added considerable further value to the Orom-Cross Graphite Project as all of the Key Performance Indicators for this latest drilling programme were either met or exceeded. 

We have now included the higher-grade Camp Lode deposit into the overall JORC Resource for the first time; we significantly increased the overall JORC Resource tonnage by 50%; we re-classified a full 13.2Mt into the higher confidence Indicated and Measured categories, and we maintained our in situ grade throughout.”

As a result of this programme we now have enough tonnes ready to mine that will cover our first fifteen years life of mine, which is an exceptional position for Orom-Cross as we head towards delivering our Pre-Feasibility Study by mid-year, and thereafter our first sale of graphite concentrates from a pilot plant from 2023 onwards.  Full production from the main plant is targeted from 2025.”

Mineralisation Zones

The Orom-Cross Graphite Project is located in the Kitgum District in north-eastern Uganda. Previous exploration activity identified and named at least five major graphite mineralised zones within the Project property which are underpinned by 21-year Mining Licence (ML) already awarded, namely:

o  Northern Syncline

o  Camp-Lode

o  Central Anticline

o  Synformal Saddle

o  Southern Anomaly

The Phase 6 Resource Delineation Programme (2021) targeted:

1.  Confirming and upgrading the resources in the Camp Lode to include within the JORC Resource.

2.  Upgrading the resource classifications in the Northern Syncline and;

3.  Completing the investigation of the near surface, free dig graphite mineralised material within a portion of the overall Northern Syncline Lode and the Camp-Lode mineralised zones.

The Phase 6 drilling was based upon each mineralised zone being divided into four sub-zones based on the subsurface level of oxidation and weathering. Field observations, phase 5 drilling and the phase 6 drilling results confirmed the initial analysis suggesting a mean global weathering depth of ~15m (with a range of ~9m to ~25m in some instances) and a transition zone approximately 6 to 10m in depth. 

The Graphitic Carbon grade population within the investigated mineralised zones indicates that thegraphitegrade for the deposit ranges from 0.01% to 24.1% GC with a mean grade of 5.6% GC and a mode of 6.0% GC.

The JORC compliant resource estimate for these two graphite mineralised areas has been completed and is based on the drill hole spacing, grade variability and geological confidence. The resultant of the modelling and estimation process is the declaration of Mineral Resources as noted.

Resource Estimates

Blencowe undertook an additional drill program (Phase 6) in August 2021 which consisted of an additional 38 holes into the Northern Syncline for 1,140 metres and 36 additional holes into the Camp Lode for 1,080 metres. Geostatistical analysis of the data allowed for both the Camp Lode and Northern Syncline to be estimated and reported according to the JORC code. 

A Resource block model was constructed for both which was dependant on the data spacing and a final block size of 10m x 20m x 3m was selected with a rotated grid to match the orientation of the graphite mineralisation zones. An Ordinary Kriged estimation was performed and resulted in the reporting of Inferred, Indicated and Measured Resources for the Camp Lode and Northern Syncline. The Resources for the Northern Syncline have been tabulated at various cut-off grades starting at 3% GC through to 10% GC.

The previous drilling at the Camp Lode was focussed on delineation of the lode and to check the presence, depth and general shape of the deposit. The majority of the Phase 5 drilling was in the central areas of the Camp Lode in a line which passed through a good patch of mineralisation but since it was the only information available at that stage it introduced a high bias on the mean grades in the reporting of the mineralisation.

With the infill drilling Blencowe defined the high-grade zone and surrounds and in so doing applied better definition on both tonnes and grade and removed the high-grade zone basis.

Table 1: Phase 6 – Revised (2022) JORC Standard Mineral Resources, Orom-Cross Project

· GC – Graphitic carbon, TC – Total carbon. 

· No geological loses applied.

· A conservative cut-off grade of 3.5% GC has been applied based on metallurgical testing & preliminary mining parameters.

· Mineralised tonnes have been rounded off and contained graphite metal tonnages have been rounded off to the nearest 1000 (Kt).

· Contained graphite has been reported without the application of cut-off grades, loss factors, or beneficiation yields.  

Potential (Additional) Mineralisation

The Phase 6 drill program was focused on a clearer delineation of the resources and an upgrade of resource classification. To this end the program was successful in being able to fully upgrade the previously reported Northern Syncline potential mineralisation of 6,995,000t, in the weathered zone into JORC 2012 reportable Resources.

The program was also successful in upgrading the full weathered potential mineralisation in the Camp Lode into reportable Resources. As the focus in the Camp Lode area was at understanding the geological complexity of the deposit and defining the graphitic carbon units this meant that the majority of drilling was in the weathered zones. A potential further mineralisation of some 4.2Mt higher grade graphite in the Camp Lode remains to be added ahead, which the Company will consider converting into JORC Standard Resource as part of the DFS works. The better understanding built from the 100% conversion of the weathered material is expected to also result in the full conversion of this remaining 4.2Mt.

Therefore, the Potential Mineralisation for both areas can be summarised as follows:

GC – Graphitic carbon, TC – Total carbon

** Mineralised tonnes have been rounded off

Competent Person’s Statement

The information in this release, which is related to Mineral Resource estimation, was compiled under the supervision of Mr JP van den Berg who is an employee of Minrom Consulting (Pty) Ltd; he is Member of the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA) and a Certified Professional Natural Scientist (Pr.Sci.Nat) with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP). 

Mr Van den Berg has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he has undertakento qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the JORC (2012) Code. Mr Van den Berg consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears

For further information please contact: