Blencowe Resources (LSE:BRES), the LSE-listed graphite developer, has selected and secured an option to purchase a 100-acre site approximately 35 kilometres north of Gulu in Northern Uganda for downstream processing operations tied to its Orom-Cross Graphite Project.
The agreed purchase price is $70,000, with a 30% deposit payable to secure the option, which runs for an initial six months with a further three-month extension available.
The site provides direct access to national grid infrastructure connected to Uganda's hydroelectric network, including the Karuma Falls Hydropower Station, as well as a permanent water source, both of which are material requirements for cost-competitive graphite beneficiation.
The planned facility is intended to produce spheronised graphite and expandable graphite, moving Orom-Cross beyond concentrate sales into higher-value upgraded products positioned within Western, non-China supply chains.
Blencowe describes the project as what it believes would be the first spheronisation and expandable graphite processing facilities of their kind in Africa.
"Securing a preferred downstream processing site near Gulu is an important step in Blencowe's strategy to build Orom-Cross into more than a conventional graphite concentrate project," said Executive Chairman Cameron Pearce.
The company is now progressing an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the site alongside infrastructure costings.
