Blencowe updates on advances at Project SAFELOOP, which may put Orom-Cross at the heart of new EV technology
Blencowe Resources () has provided details of further progress in regard to its role within the European Union’s flagship Gen3 battery initiative, Project SAFELOOP, for which the company’s Orom-Cross project in Uganda has been selected as the exclusive supplier of natural flake graphite.
SAFELOOP is a three-year programme funded by the EU's €100 billion Project Horizon energy transition initiative. It’s focused on developing a next generation lithium-ion battery that delivers improved safety, sustainability and high performance while strengthening Europe’s control over its critical mineral supply chains.
Blencowe was invited to participate in SAFELOOP as the exclusive supplier of all natural flake graphite due to the high quality of graphite at its Orom-Cross project in Uganda.
American Energy Technologies (AETC) and other SAFELOOP project partners have continued testing using Blencowe’s natural flake graphite. AETC has been designing an enhanced EV anode predominantly using natural flake graphite instead of synthetic graphite, which may have notable consequences on battery makeup and flake graphite demand.
Orom-Cross graphite was purified to 99.98 wt%C using AETC's proprietary inverted flow sheet process. This grade is considered premium quality within the industry and opens up further opportunities for sales into defence applications and other niche markets.
AETC has also manufactured a next-generation electric vehicle anode using more than 68% natural flake graphite, itself sourced solely from Orom-Cross. This offers a greener, high-performance alternative to the use of predominantly synthetic graphite within the anode.
EVs typically employ synthetic graphite anodes, but Blencowe’s natural graphite, due to its qualities, is now positioned to replace the synthetic and become an enabling technology which will see the natural graphite-dominant anode commercialized in the electric vehicle market.
This is significant as it would lead to substantially more natural flake graphite used in the anode with Orom-Cross as a major source.
Pilot plant batches of the anode were submitted to the SAFELOOP industrial partners for trialling and evaluation. Testing results to date have exceeded performance benchmarks in all aspects along the battery chain.
All of which bodes very well for Blencowe. The strategic importance of Orom-Cross within SAFELOOP positions Blencowe to secure premium offtake demand directly into the EU from 2028 onwards — one of the few bulk quantity European sales routes that is available in the graphite sector.
Iain Wearing, Blencowe’s chief operating officer, recently presented the Orom-Cross graphite project to the SAFELOOP General Assembly in Nyborg, Denmark, where the project was recognised as a strategically important resource that is aligned with the EU's critical battery minerals supply-chain objectives. As a direct result of this engagement, the company is now engaged in multiple new offtake discussions with SAFELOOP consortium members and other participants in the EU-based industrial battery space.
“SAFELOOP is a unique and highly strategic Western offtake opportunity,” said Cameron Pearce, Blencowe’s executive chairman.
“Tier-one partners such as SAFELOOP are few and far between, particularly with the scope for offtaking large volumes at premium pricing, and we are excited to be chosen as the exclusive supplier of graphite into a project of this scale and this calibre. The test work being done at present is revolutionary as it may shift the majority of usage within the EV anode away from synthetic to natural flake graphite. This is entirely due to OromCross’ high quality of end product, and it would be ground-breaking within the industry as it would lead to more sustainable EV batteries produced.”
He added: "SAFELOOP's projected graphite requirements are substantial — enough to make it a potential cornerstone offtaker for Orom-Cross as both projects ramp up to commercial scale levels. Just as importantly, because SAFELOOP testing has been conducted exclusively using our graphite, we are building a unique and dedicated sales channel that peers simply cannot replicate.”
View from Vox
The future importance of the SAFELOOP connection to Blencowe can’t be overstated. It’s a tier one off-take partner into one of the world’s key markets, and it now looks as though SAFELOOP’s own partners have developed a technology that could render Orom-Cross a key player in new technological advances. The next really big news item will be the definitive feasibility study, but there’s plenty going on in the meantime – drilling results are due. For more on this announcement, the drilling, and with thoughts on the valuation of Orom-Cross, see our interview with chief executive Mike Ralston here - https://we.tl/t-iBN5pufC6R
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