REG - Bezant Resources PLC - Cyprus Joint Venture Update

Bezant ResourcesAnnouncement

27/04/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4381J  Bezant Resources PLC  27 April 2022

27 April 2022

 Bezant Resources PLC ("Bezant") & Caerus Mineral Resources
PLC ("Caerus")

Cyprus Joint Venture Update

Bezant Resources (AIM: BZT) and Caerus Mineral Resources (LON: CMRS) the
exploration and resource development companies (the "Companies") with a Joint
Venture ("JV") focused on the Troulli Mine Development Project and other
copper-gold JV targets in Cyprus, are pleased to provide Shareholders with a
further Joint Venture update on work planned and underway, historical
exploration at the Anglisides project, Troulli expansion programme and update
on metallurgical test work.

Highlights

·      Drill programme

o  10 diamond drillholes completed as part of the Anglisides programme with
visible native copper and sulphide mineralisation present at shallow depths in
all holes drilled to date.

o  Drilling contractor commissioned for a further 2,700m of drilling (40
holes)

§ Expansion of the Troulli mineral Resource (18 holes & 1,200m)

§ Extension drilling between Troulli and Kokkinapetra (14 holes & 900m)

§ Drilling of the Kokkinapetra prospect (8 holes & 600m)

·      Resources expansion drilling: Addison Mining is in consultation
with Caerus's on-site management to review the technical aspects of resource
expansion drilling.

·      Geophysics: Geophysical contractor has confirmed a start date for
the first week in May 2022, for the ground magnetic and IP surveys to be
undertaken in and around Troulli and extending to Kokkinapetra.

·      Pending drill results: Drill results for 20 holes from the
Troulli (10 holes) and Anglisides (10 holes) projects are pending assays from
external laboratories.

 

 

Colin Bird, Chairman of Bezant Resources said "We are very pleased with the
continued fast pace of progress in this exploration phase of the joint venture
on many fronts. The Anglisides Project being only a short distance from the
Troulli Project is a potentially very attractive feeder project for processing
at Troulli and we look forward to these pending drill results plus further
results from the other drill programmes we have identified."

 

Martyn Churchouse, Chief Executive Officer of Caerus said "It is important
that we keep progressing the pace of development, demonstrating to
Shareholders that the initial Mineral Resource Estimate for Troulli is merely
the beginning of the process of building a mine and that the opportunity
exists to add further to the resource from extensions as well as from the
satellite targets such as Anglisides. Jubilee test work is reaching a point
where decisions can soon be made with respect to plant design, throughput
capacity, mine planning and layout. The on-site exploration team have multiple
targets to follow up in and around Troulli which confirms Caerus' view that
there is an opportunity to expand the current Mineral Resource."

 

Anglisides Project: Current drill programme

Anglisides Project is located close to the Troulli Project and is considered a
potential satellite resource where ore could be fed into any future Troulli
plant. The Anglisides Project forms part of the Joint Venture between the
Companies.

 

Ten holes have been drilled to date by Caerus as part of the current
Anglisides drill programme for a total of 431.2 metres. The focus has been on
the near-surface southern copper-gold gossan target. A further three holes
will be drilled before the rig relocates to test the northern gossan with an
additional 4 holes.

 

The target for the current drill programme is to combine its results with the
historic data, highlights of which are summarised below, to generate an
initial Mineral Resource Estimate sufficient to allow for a Preliminary
Economic Assessment and, subject to results, the inclusion of an Anglisides
Mineral Resource in the financial modelling of the Troulli Project.

 

 

Anglisides Project: Historic exploration

Historic trenching and drilling at the Anglisides Project have returned very
encouraging grades that have motivated the current drill programme with a
focus on near-surface copper-gold mineralisation that could be treated as a
supplementary feedstock as part of the Troulli Project on the basis that
Anglisides is expected to be within an economic haulage distance of Troulli.

 

Katla Exploration explored the area by means of geochemical, and geophysical
surveys and drilling during 2011-2013. This included in 2011 channel and grab
samples which returned a peak grade from dumps of 50.1g/t Au. Equally
impressive channel samples were recorded over notable widths as shown in Table
1.

 

Table 1: Channel Sample Gold Assays - Katla Exploration 2011

 

 Channel Sample Length  Grade

 (m)                    (g/t Au)
 1.5                    3.11
 1.5                    5.85
 2.0                    4.36
 10.0                   4.02
 5.0                    11.9
 4.0                    1.59
 10.0                   6.56
 10.0                   4.72
 7.0                    0.86
 2.0                    0.18
 12.0                   3.25
 1.0                    9.6
 1.0                    6.71
 1.0                    0.75
 1.0                    2.58
 2.0                    3.26
 Weighted average       4.4

 

 

Diamond drilling has been undertaken by various parties since the 1930's with
more detailed evaluation having been completed by the Cyprus Geological Survey
(7 holes. 1970), Noranda Exploration (9 holes. 1976 - 77) and Katla
Exploration (11 holes. 2011 - 12). Table 2 is a summary of select results from
this historic drilling

 

Table 2: Drill intersections and copper - gold grades from drill programmes
undertaken by Cyprus Geological Survey, Noranda Exploration and Katla
Exploration.

 

 Hole Number  Drilled by         From   To      Intersection  Grade    Grade

                                 (m)    (m)     (m)           (% Cu)   (g/t Au)
 MR7/70       Geological Survey  3.0    6.1     3.1           0.60

                                 6.0    18.0    12.0          2.10
 MR18/70      Geological Survey  18.0   21.0    3.0           0.40

                                 24.0   36.0    12.0          0.70
 MR21/70      Geological Survey  6.0    33.5    27.5          0.63
 ANGCH1-77    Noranda            7.0    10.0    3.0                    9.03

                                 10.0   18.9    8.9           1.71     2.81
 ANGCH2-77    Noranda            18.0   28.0    10.0          0.58
 ANGCH4-77    Noranda            5.8    22.0    16.2          0.54

 Including                       5.8    9.0     3.2           0.60

                                 9.0    11.0    2.0           0.88

                                 11.0   17.0    6.0           0.48

                                 17.0   22.0    5.0           0.43
 ANRD 11-01   Katla              12.19  18.29   6.1           0.43     1.03
 ANRD 11-02   Katla              12.19  27.93   15.74         1.1      1.05
 ANRD 11-03   Katla              3.0    6.10    3.1           4.6      7.36

                                 6.1    27.43   21.33         0.45     0.72
 11 AN-02     Katla              0.0    9.9     9.9           0.52     0.62
 11 AN-03     Katla              2.5    12.9    10.4          0.63     0.64

 

More recently, in 2015, P. Von-de-Tsianos Gold Mines Limited, drilled 12
shallow holes specifically to test the gold-bearing gossans at surface.
Results were positive and are shown in Table 3.

Table 3: P. Von-de-Tsianos Gold Mines Limited - Results of shallow drilling of
gold-bearing gossans

 Drill Hole No  Drill intercept  Grade

                (m)              (g/t Au)
 BH1/18         8.0              2.12
 BH2/18         9.0              0.95
 BH3/18         8.0              1.22
 BH4/18         4.0              5.62
 BH6/18         5.0              1.00
 BH7/18         5.0              4.37
 BH8/18         8.0              1.82
 BH9/18         4.0              1.76
 BH10/18        4.0              0.84
 Weighted Average                1.99

 

Troulli Expansion Programme

Addison Mining is interacting with on-site staff to optimise drillhole
location as part of the resource expansion programme. This may include some
limited infill drilling, but the focus will be on step-out work between the
Mineral Resource Estimate for the Troulli project of a total Hard rock
resource estimate of approximately 4.9 million tonnes at 0.41% Cu and 0.2 g/t
Au for 20,000 t of Cu metal and 31,000 ounces of Au announced on 6 April 2022
and the Kokkinapetra prospect located approximately 1.5km to the east of
Troulli.

 

Mineralisation appears to dip NW and exploration is focussing on the west and
NW extensions to the defined Mineral Resource. In addition, the exploration
team will trace the mineralisation between the Gold Hill, the source of
high-grade gold oxide mineralisation and former Troulli open pit and likewise
follow up the deeper mineralisation found close to the southern bounding
fault.

 

The 1.5km extension between Troulli and Kokkinapetra, known locally as
Mavroumouti is another expansion exercise, testing the resource in all
directions with special focus to the east where Caerus-generated grab samples
announced on 13 January 2022 by Caerus returned anomalous grad sample results
for surface gold mineralisation including grades of 4.2g/t Au, 1.76g/t Au, and
0.76g/t Au

 

The planned ground magnetic and IP geophysical survey is also designed to
identify structures likely to have influenced metal distribution and other
buried sulphide targets adding to the drill targets. As a result, drilling of
Mavroumouti is likely to be scheduled for post completion of the ground
geophysical survey to allow for more accurate siting of drill collars and in
anticipation of additional blind targets that may be generated by the survey.

 

Metallurgical Test Work

The Jubilee Metals Group Plc test work has advanced to a stage where
sufficient bench-scale information has been generated to permit a move to the
next stage of the design process with the recently announced Mineral Resource
Estimate being paired with the various extraction techniques leading to
optimisation of a flow sheet.

 

 

For further information, in relation to the Companies, please visit or
contact:

                    Caerus Mineral Resources plc                                               Bezant Resources plc
 Website            www.caerusmineralresources.com (http://www.caerusmineralresources.com)     www.bezantresources.com (http://www.bezantresources.com)
 Company Contact    Martyn Churchouse                                                          Colin Bird

Executive Chairman
                    Chief Executive Officer
info@bezantresources.com (mailto:info@bezantresources.com)

                    info@caerusmineralresources.com (mailto:info@caerusmineralresources.com)   +44 (0)20 3416 3695

                    +44 (0)1249 782162

 Broker             Novum Securities                                                           Novum Securities

                    Jon Bellis                                                                 Jon Bellis

                    +44 (0) 20 7399 9425                                                       +44 (0) 20 7399 9400

 Nominated Adviser  Not applicable                                                             Beaumont Cornish

Roland Cornish

+44 (0) 20 7628 3396

About Bezant Resources: Bezant Resources is a focused on developing its
pipeline of copper gold projects to provide a new generation of economically
and socially sustainable mines and in addition to its joint venture with
Caerus Mineral Resources in relation to Cyprus has copper projects
in Namibia, Zambia, Philippines and Argentina and a manganese project
in Botswana.

About Caerus Mineral Resources: Caerus Mineral Resources is a European focused
copper-gold resource development and exploration company with a portfolio of
mineral exploration licences located in Cyprus. The Country has a
well-developed infrastructure and history of mineral exploration and
production, which has been dormant over the last 50 years and provides
significant undiscovered value and can be followed on Twitter at
@CaerusMineral.

On 6 April 2022 the Companies announced an initial Mineral Resource Estimate,
effective as of 22(nd) March 2022 for the Troulli Project comprising a total
hard rock resource estimate of approximately 4.9 million tonnes at 0.41% Cu
and 0.2 g/t Au for 20,000 t of Cu metal and 31,000 ounces of Au, including.

Indicated Gossan Resources of 260,000 tonnes at 0.18% Cu and 0.91 g/t Au for
460 t of Cu and 7,700 ounces of Au.

Inferred Gossan Resources of 180,000 tonnes at 0.14% Cu and 0.47 g/t Au for
260 t of Cu and 2,800 ounces.

Inferred Breccia Resources of 4.4 million tonnes at 0.43% Cu and 0.14 g/t Au
for 19,000 t of Cu and 21,000 oz of Au.

Inferred waste and tailings dump resources of approximately 93,000 tonnes at
0.76% Cu and 0.12 g/t Au for 710 tonnes of Cu and 360 oz of Au.

Qualified Person: In accordance with AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas
Companies, June 2009 ("Guidance Note"), Colin Bird, CC.ENG, FIMMM, South
African and UK Certified Mine Manager and Director of Bezant Resources Plc,
with more than 40 years' experience mainly in hard rock mining, is the
qualified person as defined in the Guidance Note of the London Stock
Exchange, who has reviewed the technical information contained in this press
release.

 

Qualified Person The content of this news release has been reviewed,
verified, and approved by Mr. Nigel Chapman who is the exploration manager
and now COO of Caerus. Mr. Chapman has sufficient experience which is
relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity to which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves and as a
qualified person under the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies. Mr.
Chapman is an employee of Luna Recursos Naturales SAC, an independent
geological consultancy established in 2015 and is a Member of
the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists (A.I.G.) Mr. Chapman consents
to the inclusion in this Announcement of such information in the form and
context in which it appears.

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic pursuant to the
Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310).

 

Glossary of technical terms:

 "Ag"                              silver;
 "Au"                              Gold;
 "AuEq"                            gold equivalent;
 "BG"                              basal Group, oldest rocks outcropping in the Troulli Inlier;
 "Breccia"                         rock which has been fractured or broken in-situ by processes in the earth's
                                   crust, including fracturing by hydrothermal fluids percolating the rock under
                                   high pressure or by tectonic activity;

 "CRM"                             Certified Reference Material; standards;
 "Cu"                              Copper;
 "CuEq"                            copper Equivalent;
 "Fe"                              Iron;
 "g"                               grammes;
 "Gossan"                          is intensely oxidized, weathered, or decomposed rock, usually the upper and
                                   exposed part of a mineral deposit. The weathering process can result in
                                   enrichment of immobile metals and elements and depletion of mobile metals and
                                   elements;

 "g/t"                             grammes per tonne; equal to ppm;
 "ICP"                             inductively coupled plasma;
 "Inferred resource"               that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade (or quality) are
                                   estimated based on limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological
                                   evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade (or
                                   quality) continuity. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing
                                   information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as
                                   outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes;
 "Indicated resource"              that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality),
                                   densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with sufficient
                                   confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail
                                   to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the
                                   deposit;
 "JORC"                            the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources
                                   and Ore Reserves, as published by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of The
                                   Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of
                                   Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia;
 "JORC (2012)"                     the 2012 edition of the JORC code;
 "km"                              Kilometre;
 "LPL"                             Lower Pillow Lavas;
 "m"                               metre;
 "Mineral Resource"                a concentration or occurrence of material of economic interest in or on the
                                   earth's crust in such form and quantity that there are reasonable and
                                   realistic prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity,
                                   grade, continuity, and other geological characteristics of a Mineral Resource
                                   are known, estimated from specific geological evidence and knowledge, or
                                   interpreted from a well-constrained and portrayed geological model;
 "Mt"                              million tonnes;
 "oz"                              troy ounce;
 "ppm"                             Parts per million, equal to g/t
 "Preliminary Economic Assessment  also referred to as a "scoping study", is a study that includes an economic
                                   analysis of the potential viability of Mineral Resources taken at an early
                                   stage of the project prior to the completion of a preliminary feasibility
                                   study.;

 "QA/QC"                           quality assurance/quality control;
 "ROM"                             Run of mine;
 "UPL"                             Upper Pillow Lavas;
 "Zn"                              Zinc; and
 "%"                               Percent.

 

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