Blencowe Receives Global MSP Accreditation Opening New Investment Avenues
Blencowe announced late last week that they have received MSP Accreditation for the Orom-Cross Graphite project in Uganda - What does this mean?
Blencowe Resources announced last week that they had received Global MSP Accreditation enrolling it's Orom-Cross graphite project into an elite group of Critical Minerals projects.
A by-product of this according to the company is that this should also open up new funding channels given that one of the MSP's objectives is to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable critical energy minerals supply chains through working with host governments and industry to facilitate targeted financial and diplomatic support for strategic projects along the value chain.
South Korea, the current MSP Chair, proposed Orom-Cross for full accreditation at the MSP Members Forum meeting in New York in September 2024 where the proposal received unanimous approval.
What does this mean for Blencowe?
The news seemed to skip by the market as seems to be the current theme right now but this accreditation seems to be another significant de-risking step for the project given the MSP along with the DFC (US Development Finance Corporation) are the second significant Tier-1 party to be backing Blencowe.
A look at the US Department of State's website gives a good overview of the MSP and it's key objectives, namely bringing critical minerals supply chains to market in an accelerated fashion and graphite is one such critical mineral joining the likes of lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, rare earth elements, and copper.
Projects supported by the MSP will adhere to rigorous ESG standards throughout the project lifetime as part of the "Principles for Responsible Critical Mineral Supply Chains" and this would have been a key consideration in Orom-Cross's selection.
Under these basic principles, the MSP will support projects that:
Demonstrate responsible stewardship of the natural environment;
Engage in consultative and participatory processes regarding land access and acquisition;
Commit to meaningful, ongoing consultation with communities;
Ensure safe, fair, inclusive, and ethical conditions in the community and the workplace;
Provide economic benefit for workers, and local communities; and
Ensure transparent, ethical business operations.
Accreditation provides international exposure at the highest level, along with enhancing the project's credibility with tier-1 off-takers, thus enabling access to potential new funding sources.
Orom-Cross stands out as one of the world's largest estimated graphite deposits with a unique mix of several key competitive advantages that will enhance its chances of success, including lowest percentile operating costs, low capital startup requirements, and proven (through an extensive large bulk sampling test-program), very high quality of end products, both as concentrates and purified battery ready 99.95% SPG (spheronised purified graphite).
These qualities align with the MSP's goals of securing high quality, long-life graphite supplies outside of China, crucial to meeting accelerating demand for graphite in lithium-ion batteries.
Blencowe report that the accreditation immediately elevates Orom-Cross status within all 14 MSP member countries and their networks.
Blencowe will now work closely with MSP members, and specifically the Government of South Korea, to explore new funding avenues, off-take agreements, and additional opportunities to advance the project.
Few Mining projects 'make the cut' but Blencowe's world class Orom-Cross graphite project is starting to get some serious attention on the global-stage.