Date: 13 June 2025                                        

Blencowe Resources Plc

("Blencowe" or the "Company")

Blencowe Strengthens EU Battery Ties - Orom-Cross Graphite Outperforms in Testing

Exclusive supplier to EU SAFELOOP initiative 

Continued testing confirms battery-grade purity and performance

Blencowe Resources Plc (LSE: BRES) is pleased to report further progress on its role within the European Union's flagship Gen3 battery initiative, Project SAFELOOP, for which the Company's Orom-Cross Graphite 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, 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 Orom-Cross.  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.

Key Highlights

·    Orom-Cross remains the exclusive natural flake graphite supplier to SAFELOOP.

·    Graphite purified to 99.98 wt%C, meeting battery-grade standards.

·    New EV anode developed with over 68% Orom-Cross natural flake graphite content (typically anodes have majority synthetic graphite).

·    Pilot-scale testing completed through to anode and battery - results exceed expectations.

·    COO presents Orom-Cross project to SAFELOOP and EU stakeholders in Denmark.

·    New European offtake discussions underway with EU industrial partners as direct result of the SAFELOOP meeting.

Testing of Orom-Cross Natural Flake for SAFELOOP

American Energy Technologies Co. ("AETC") and other SAFELOOP project partners have continued their test work using the Company's natural flake graphite from the Orom-Cross project.   AETC has been designing an enhanced EV anode predominantly using natural flake graphite instead of synthetic graphite, which may have notable consequences ahead on battery makeup and flake graphite demand.

Technical Milestones Delivered (January-May 2025)

·    Battery-Grade Purity Achieved:
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 further opportunities for sales into defence applications and other niche markets.

·    Natural Graphite-Dominant Anode Developed:
AETC manufactured a next-generation electric vehicle anode with >68% natural flake graphite sourced solely from Orom-Cross-offering a greener, high-performance alternative to predominantly synthetic graphite within the anode.

For reference, EV's typically employ synthetic graphite anodes; Blencowe's natural graphite, due to its qualities, is 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 Testing Success:
Pilot plant batches of the anode were submitted to SAFELOOP industrial partners for trialling and evaluation. Testing results to date have exceeded performance benchmarks in all aspects along the battery chain evolution.

Strategic Commercial Engagement

Iain Wearing, the Company'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.

Additionally, as a direct result of this engagement, the Company is now engaged in multiple new offtake discussions with SAFELOOP consortium members and other EU-based industrial battery partners.

Blencowe Resources COO Iain Wearing together with SAFELOOP team members in Nyborg, Denmark.

Cameron Pearce, Executive Chairman commented:

"SAFELOOP is a unique and highly strategic Western offtake opportunity. 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 Orom-Cross' high quality of end product, and it would be ground-breaking within the industry as it would lead to more sustainable EV batteries produced."

"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."

Blencowe CEO, Mike Ralston, recently provided further details on two interviews:

https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/articles/q-a-with-blencowe-resources-ceo-mike-ralston-3e8564b

https://youtu.be/PWIacGG7bIc

For further information please contact:

Twitter https://twitter.com/BlencoweRes

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/72382491/admin/

Background

Orom-Cross Graphite Project

Orom-Cross is a potential world class graphite project both by size and end-product quality. The current 21-year Mining Licence for the project was issued by the Ugandan Government in 2019 following extensive historical work on the deposit.  Blencowe is now completing the Definitive Feasibility Study phase as it drives towards first production.

Orom-Cross presents as a large, shallow open-pitable deposit, with an initial JORC Indicated & Inferred Mineral Resource of 24.5Mt @ 6.0% TGC (Total Graphite Content). This Resource has been defined from only ~2% of the total tenement area which presents considerable upside potential ahead.  Development of the resource is expected to benefit from a low strip ratio and free dig operations together with abundant inexpensive hydro-electric power off the national grid, thereby ensuring low operating costs.  With all major infrastructure available at or near to site the capital costs will also be relatively low in comparison to most graphite peers.

About SAFELOOP

The program, under which AETC works as a downstream processor of graphite concentrate from Blencowe, is that of EU-Horizon's SAFELOOP, which stands for Securely Advancing Future EVs with Lithium-Ion Batteries through Optimized Pathways.

Specifically, natural graphite concentrate from Blencowe Resources has been tested in a natural-graphite-dominant composite with recycled and "healed" graphite from spent lithium-ion batteries, as well as with mesophase pitch-derived synthetic graphite, then surface coated with a carbon-based safety coating layer, allowing the resultant composite and the battery using the composite to qualify for Gen 3 EU EV Lithium-Ion battery safety standard.

Ongoing test work using Orom-Cross graphite continues to yield exceptional results in anode and battery performance within SAFELOOP.

More specifically, the Instytut Sorbtsiyi Ta Problem Endoekolohiyi Natsionalnoyi Akademiyi Nauk Ukrayiny (ISPE), Kyiv, Ukraine has optimized the performance of the resultant composite at various active material loadings and produced continuous anodes which could be balanced with NMC811 cathodes in an effort aimed at building successful lithium-ion battery prototypes which utilize the coin cell format of CR2032. Multiple electrodes were submitted to a project partner Forschungszentrum Julich GMBH (FZJ), of Julich, Germany, for the selection of optimized electrolyte, in which, Blencowe's graphite-dominant anode performance was optimized.

FZJ conducted extensive test work which resulted in recommending an optimum electrolyte for the system that contains Orom-Cross graphite. The aforementioned represents a significant development in that typically electrolyte is optimized around the cathode; this is one of the rare industry examples when the fine tuning of electrolyte composition was performed around the use of natural-graphite-dominant anode.

Thereafter, a scaled-up lot of composite anodes was produced and submitted to another partner of SAFELOOP, TUBITAK of Ankara, Turkey, which is currently in the process of assembling 2Ah pouch cells, using the aforementioned anodes and pairing them with commercial NMC811 cathodes, utilizing the scaled-up electrolyte which was identified in the studies performed by FZJ.

Two other project partners, UOULU of Finland and YUNASKO of Ukraine tested the non-spherical fines coming from Blencowe in conductivity enhancement applications of lithium-ion battery cathodes and in hybrid electrochemical supercapacitors. Positive performance was reported in both instances, with the latter going as far as 16C charge and discharge rates (e.g. 3.75-minute recharge rates), which attests to the excellent high-power performance of Blencowe's non-spherical graphite which will be used in the scaled-up cathodes.