Blencowe has kicked off the first quarter of 2026 as it left off in 2025— moving the Orom-Cross project forwards at pace as the company closes in on Phase 1 Financing.

JORC Resource Increase 

Following a significant drill program at its recently discovered deposits (Iyan and Beehive), Blencowe has announced a JORC Mineral Resource at its Iyan deposit of 16.9 Mt @ 6.0% TGC (Inferred) at a 3.5% TGC cut-off.

The JORC Resource comprises:

• Measured Resource:20 Mt @ 5.13% TGC
• Indicated Resource:41 Mt @ 5.7% TGC
• Inferred Resource:40 Mt @ 5.82% TGC

The resource at Iyan remains open along strike and at depth with many holes still in meralisation meaning the deposit itself could still hold plenty of further resource upside. 

The Iyan Mineral Resource provides a 66% increase in Blencowe's overall JORC Resource which should substantially increase the initial 15 year mine-life. 

With further assays from Beehive still to come, the overall JORC resource could well exceed 50 million tonnes showing potential partners and financiers that Orom-Cross is a world class resource and at a time when there is a huge focus on Critical Minerals, especially projects outside of China.

Building on a Robust DFS

The latest news on the Resource Upgrade follows the delivery of an outstanding DFS (Definitive Feasibility Study) back in December which highlighted robust economics including an NPV of nearly $1.1Bn, an IRR10 of 96% and low Capital Cost of $160M.  You can read more detail on the DFS in our previous blog Blencowe Delivers Outstanding DFS and gears up for Phase 1 Financing

Funding And Next Steps

In parallel, the company are progressing finance discussions for Phase One, with the company having made several visits to the US.  This could include a funding partnership with but not limited to the US DFC (Development Finance Corporation) who Blencowe already has as a strong working relationship with and previously received a $5M non-dilutive development grant for the DFS.

The company has stated several times now that there is strong interest in Orom Cross, especially from Western Markets and the US.  The race is on to secure non-Chinese Critical Minerals, graphite being one of them. 

Blencowe also continues to showcase its graphite with potential off-takers, most recently the company reported that test work showed its graphite from Orom-Cross can be used to manufacture synthetic industrial diamonds — an application many hadn’t expected.  You can read more here 

Unique Position

Blencowe finds itself in a unique position having transitioned from explorer to developer with first production now firmly in sight—a feat few junior mining companies can achieve.

Orom Cross is emerging as a world class asset with a sizeable resource based upon just 2% of the project being drilled. Blencowe has also repeatedly demonstrated the high purity and high quality of its Orom Cross graphite, completing large scale testing that has brought a number of interested off takers and potential partners to the table. 

A combination of exceptional project economics, large resource, high purity, high quality product and with few new graphite projects coming to market —Blencowe is well placed to capitalise on the ever-increasing requirement to source non-Chines graphite with production anticipated to start within the next 12-15 months.

The stock currently trades at a deep discount to Broker Oak Securities 33.7p price target.