Blencowe Resources nears completion of drill campaign
Blencowe Resources () is close to completing its 6,750 metre exploration program at its Orom-Cross graphite project in Northern Uganda.
It’s hoped the drilling will help deliver a material increase in both the JORC resources and reserves at Orom-Cross.
So far, infill drilling at Camp Lode, Northern Syncline, and the Northern Syncline (West) target has been completed.
Step-out drilling at the new Beehive deposit is underway.
To date, Blencowe has encountered consistent ore intersections in all holes, with graphite continuing beyond 30 meter depth in most of them.
At Camp Lode and Northern Synclice, surface mapping during access road construction has revealed extensive areas of surface ore expressions in both deposit areas, which will translate into reduced mining costs, lower strip ratios and a quicker production ramp-up once mining begins.
The belief is that drilling success at Beehive could further validate independent geologist's estimates of 2-3 billion tonnes of graphite for the entire Orom-Cross deposit. This would make Orom-Cross one of the largest graphite deposits worldwide, with a substantial portion easily accessible at shallow depths meaning lower cost mining and extraction.
Unseasonal weather and typical mechanical issues with drill rigs have been managed without material disruption by an experienced drilling team and are not expected to impact the timing of completion of the drill programme.
Blencowe is also continuing the establishment of a permanent exploration camp marking the first physical infrastructure onsite, ahead of first production targeted for 2026, which would represent a significant achievement moving from early-stage acquisition to production in just six years.
"We are delighted to report continued success in our Stage 7 drilling program to expand and upgrade the JORC resource,” said Blencowe’s executive chairman, Cameron Pearce.
“The Beehive Lode is an exciting new step-out target that we have wanted to test with the drill bit for some time and early indications are very promising. Our independent geologists have estimated Orom-Cross to be one of the most substantial graphite deposits worldwide and success at Beehive will further enhance our confidence in that evaluation. All of this work is integral to expanding both resources and reserves and will ultimately feed into the definitive feasibility study underway."
View from Vox
The technical work currently being undertaken by Blencowe will be crucial to the delivery in due course of a definitive feasibility study for Orom-Cross, and will help provide potential strategic partners with datapoints for decision-making. So far, so good.
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