Blencowe Resources (LSE:BRES), the AIM-listed natural resources company developing the Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda, said further testing has demonstrated its graphite's performance across multiple battery technologies.
The company is working with US graphite specialists Apollo Energy Systems and American Energy Technologies (AETC) on a laboratory prototype designed to meet 4HN military battery specifications set by the US Defence Logistics Agency.
Subject to a successful prototype, the three parties plan to build a US pilot production line targeting 100 lead-acid cells per month.
The latest results follow testing that found Orom-Cross graphite improves high-rate charge acceptance, capacity and cycle life in advanced lead-acid batteries used in grid storage, data centres and off-grid power.
Crucially, the graphite tested is derived from spheroidisation rejects, the waste stream generated by Blencowe's planned uncoated spheronised purified graphite beneficiation process, which accounts for roughly 30% of the facility's end product.
Finding a higher-value market for that waste stream supports Blencowe's stated aim of maximising utilisation of the concentrates processed at Orom-Cross.
"This latest test programme with AETC and Apollo Energy opens another significant potential market opportunity for Orom-Cross graphite within the large lead-acid battery sector", said executive chairman Cameron Pearce, adding that the sector "operates outside the Chinese supply chain."
The results follow earlier SAFELOOP programme testing, where AETC recorded Orom-Cross graphite purity of 99.99 wt%C, which Pearce said was the highest performance score AETC has seen from a natural graphite project.
Blencowe holds a 21-year mining licence for Orom-Cross, granted in 2019, with a maiden JORC resource of 64.03Mt at 6.04% total graphite content.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Blencowe has demonstrated that its Orom-Cross graphite meets US military lead-acid battery specifications in joint testing with Apollo Energy Systems and AETC, with plans to build a pilot production line targeting 100 cells per month. The win is material because the graphite tested comes from spheroidisation waste (roughly 30% of planned output), converting a byproduct into a higher-value market and supporting the company's stated goal of maximising utilisation of its concentrates—a lever on project economics that was not previously monetised.
This opens a new revenue stream from waste material without competing with the company's existing P1 and P2 offtake agreements, which already cover planned concentrate sales. The lead-acid battery sector operates outside Chinese supply chains, reducing geopolitical risk to offtake. However, the pilot stage remains early; commercial viability depends on scaling from laboratory prototype to sustained production.
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