London-listed Blencowe Resources has signed a nonbinding agreement for the offtake of natural fine flake concentrate from its Orom-Cross graphite project, in Uganda, with UK-based advanced materials manufacturer Perpetuus Advanced Materials (PAM).

The agreement covers 19 000 t of +97% total graphite carbon (TGC) fine flake graphite over an initial five-year term, representing a significant portion of Orom-Cross’s planned Phase 1 output of 10 000 t/y, Blencowe points out.

Moreover, it asserts that volumes are likely to rise further with PAM’s work in manufacturing plasma-treated, surface-engineered graphenes and submicron particles for commercial use.

PAM’s proprietary dry environment-friendly, plasma process converts fine flake graphite to industrial-scale surface engineered graphenes, currently used by manufacturers requiring lighter, stronger and more energy efficient products, Blencowe explains.

PAM’s proprietary requirement for high-quality graphite validates Orom-Cross’s product and provides Blencowe with a valuable additional western offtake partner, the company highlights.

Sales into UK markets are said to create a pathway to access specialist UK government critical mineral funding for initial project implementation, which requires domestic offtake into export-driven supply chains.

The agreement follows a recent, successful UK, US and EU marketing roadshow with further offtake discussions and testwork ongoing, Blencowe informs.

“Blencowe’s premium Orom‑Cross graphite provides a secure, high-purity feedstock required to scale our plasma surface-engineered graphene manufacturing programme and the commercial launch of our current performance tyre, fertiliser and battery storage products.

“This supply of feedstock will also fast-track our next wave of aluminium, polymer and petrochemical graphene enhanced products and enable future commercial development of our extensive panoply of ‘pre-production’ prototypes,” says PAM CE John Buckland.

“This offtake agreement is one of the most significant to date for Orom-Cross in that it provides substantial sales of fine flake concentrate into a leading western buyer. Western markets are currently paying considerably more per tonne for fine flake concentrate than Asian markets so the more western contracts we can bring in the better,” Blencowe executive chairperson Cameron Pearce says.

Fine flake sales to western markets currently attract in excess of $1 200/t.

“We understand that PAM intends to leverage its ability to produce industrial quantities of high-quality surface-engineered graphenes to innovate and develop graphene-enabled products. We hope to be providing PAM with considerable quantities of product over a long period into the future as both companies expand our respective operations,” Pearce adds.