Blencowe Resources interim results 2026 – what stands out for Orom-Cross investors
Blencowe Resources has used this half-year update to make one thing very clear: the story is still all about getting the Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda financed and built. The company has no trading income yet, so these results are less about earnings quality and more about whether the project is moving closer to production.
On that front, there is plenty to like. The big positives are the completed Definitive Feasibility Study, a much larger resource after the Stage 7 drilling campaign, and early commercial progress with offtake discussions. The catch is equally obvious – Blencowe still needs roughly US$45 million to kick off Phase 1 production targeted for 2027.
Key Blencowe Resources numbers from the interim results
| Metric | 31 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2025 | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating loss | £1,017,934 | £161,205 | Costs rose sharply as work intensified |
| Loss after tax | £1,041,437 | £184,568 | No revenue yet, so losses are expected at this stage |
| Cash and cash equivalents | £2,133,021 | £942 | Cash position improved after fundraising |
| Net assets | £14,452,029 | £8,249,225 | Balance sheet strengthened |
| Shares in issue | 491,920,836 | Not disclosed for 31 Mar 2025 in this note | Equity funding has diluted existing holders |
| Basic and diluted loss per share | 0.31p | 0.09p | Per-share loss widened |
Orom-Cross DFS economics look strong – and that is the heart of the investment case
The standout headline is the Definitive Feasibility Study, or DFS. This is the detailed technical and economic plan used to judge whether a mining project should actually be built, and Blencowe says Orom-Cross generated a Net Present Value 10, or NPV10, of US$1.087 billion and an Internal Rate of Return 10, or IRR10, of 96%.
Those are huge numbers relative to the stated capital expenditure of US$170 million. Management is leaning hard into the idea that Orom-Cross is low cost to build and low cost to operate versus peers, and if those economics hold up, that matters a lot because strong project returns tend to make financing easier.
There is one important caveat. The company also says the DFS remains a work in progress and that an updated version will be announced in the near term to reflect factors that have changed over the past six months. In plain English, investors should treat the DFS as highly encouraging, but not necessarily the final word.
Stage 7 drilling increased the JORC resource by 168% – that is a material upgrade
If the DFS is the value case, the drilling is the scale case. Blencowe says two new deposits, Iyan and Beehive, were discovered in the Stage 7 programme, adding 16.9Mt at 6.0% total graphitic carbon, or TGC, and 21.3Mt at 6.58% TGC respectively.
Together, that pushed the revised total JORC Resource to 64Mt at 6.03% TGC as at May 2026. JORC is the standard mining code for reporting resources and reserves. It also lifted JORC Reserves to 23.08Mt at 5.18% TGC, which matters more from a production point of view because reserves are the more mineable and economically supported tonnes.
What I particularly like here is the depth potential. Blencowe drilled six deeper holes down to 110 metres, and says all six remained in graphite mineralisation at the end of hole. That does not yet put extra tonnes into the formal reserve or resource count, but it strongly hints there could be more to come later.
Offtake progress is encouraging, but non-binding agreements are not the same as bankable sales
The company says it has already allocated all of its Phase 1 production requirements in sale agreements of up to 20,000 tonnes per annum of concentrates. It is now focused on the larger Phase 2 production amount of 70,000 tonnes per annum.
That is good news because offtake support can help unlock project funding. Buyers want supply, and financiers like to see evidence of future demand. But the wording matters – these are non-binding offtake agreements at this stage, with binding contracts expected once financing is in place and delivery is more certain.
So yes, positive. But no, this is not the same as signed, fully bankable revenue yet. Retail investors should keep that distinction front and centre.
Blencowe cash position improved, but the business is still dependent on external funding
Cash rose to £2,133,021 at 31 March 2026 from £868,284 at 30 September 2025. That improvement came because the company raised fresh equity, with net cash inflows from financing activities of £5,082,482 during the half year.
The flip side is dilution. Shares in issue increased to 491,920,836 from 369,217,077 at 30 September 2025. That is a meaningful jump, and it tells you exactly how Blencowe has been funding development work so far.
Operating cash outflow was £1,508,982, while investment in exploration assets was £2,308,763. Again, that is normal for a pre-production miner, but it reinforces the point that this is still a funding story, not a cash-generating business.
The next big hurdle is US$45 million of project finance for Phase 1 production
Management says the next hurdle is to close project financing funding of approximately US$45 million to commence Phase 1 production in 2027. That is the number investors should now watch more than any other.
The company says several interested parties are doing due diligence and that both debt and equity strategies are being considered. It also has a US$5 million Technical Assistance Grant from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, with the DFC holding a right of first refusal on commercial terms to arrange project financing. That does not guarantee funding, but it is a credible relationship to have.
My view is simple. If Blencowe can land the Phase 1 funding on sensible terms, the market will likely focus much more on execution and much less on survival funding. If it cannot, then even a strong DFS and a bigger resource may not be enough to stop further shareholder dilution.
What the Blencowe interim results mean for retail investors now
- The positive case: the project economics look strong, the resource base is much bigger, and early customer interest appears real.
- The negative case: there is still no revenue, losses are widening, and funding risk remains the central issue.
- The biggest swing factor: whether non-binding offtake and financing talks convert into hard agreements.
There is also an interesting strategic angle. Blencowe says it wants to target western markets where prices are generally higher, while also considering Asian markets. It is also testing new product lines including micronised products and industrial diamonds, and after the period end announced successful initial rocket component testing in the United States using Orom-Cross graphite concentrate. That is not yet commercial proof, but it does suggest the graphite may have applications beyond standard industrial demand.
Josh Thompson verdict on Blencowe Resources interim results
This is a good operational update wrapped inside a loss-making set of interim accounts. That is not a contradiction – it is just the reality of an exploration and development company before first production.
The DFS numbers and resource growth make the Orom-Cross project look far more substantial than it did a year ago. But for shareholders, the investment debate has narrowed: can Blencowe turn a technically promising graphite project into a financed, buildable one without giving away too much of the upside?
Right now, I would call this materially positive on project quality, but still high risk on funding execution. The next major announcement that really matters is not another encouraging drill hole. It is project finance.
