REG - Bezant Resources PLC - Hope and Gorob Project Update

Bezant ResourcesAnnouncement

09/08/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 3252V  Bezant Resources PLC  09 August 2022

9 August 2022

 

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company")

Hope and Gorob Project Drilling Update and Mining Licence Submission

 

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, is
pleased to provide shareholders with an update on the Hope and Gorob
near-surface drill programme targeting copper - gold mineralisation and to
provide notice of the submission of both a Mining Licence Application and an
Exploration Licence Renewal Application.

 

Assay results for a further nine diamond drillholes at the Hope and Vendome
prospects have been received following on from the encouraging results
achieved and announced to the Market on 14 June 2022 for the near-surface
drill programme completed at Gorob.

 

 

Highlights:

 

·    Bezant has submitted a Mining Licence application together with an
Exploration Licence Renewal Application to the Namibian authorities covering
the Hope and Gorob Project.

 

·    The Mining Licence application is based on an updated Scoping Study
completed by external consultants in May 2022 incorporating historic mineral
resource estimates but excluding any subsequent additional resources to be
generated from the Company's recent shallow drill programme.

 

·    The Scoping Study indicated that the potential for the development of
a surface and underground copper mine exists at the Hope and Gorob deposits
and recommended completion of the additional work required for optimisation of
mine development plans including the work necessary to obtain granting of
environmental permits.

 

·    The Scoping Study also recommended that further exploration work
continues to fully define resource potential at these deposits.

 

·    Recently completed shallow drilling has continued to extend the
strike and up-dip extension of mineralisation at both the Hope and Vendome
prospects. The current drillholes have added more than 1.5km to the
mineralised strike length, with the potential to add significantly to the
previously estimated mineral resource.

 

·    Continuous copper and gold mineralisation has been intersected in
drill intercepts over substantial downhole widths of up to 29.74m.

 

·    Downhole assay peak intercepts include:

 

o  4.6% Cu, 2.80g/t Au over 3.81m from 39.32m depth in hole VED001

o  2.4% Cu, 0.36g/t Au over 14.28m from 25.2m depth in hole HPD003

o  1.90% Cu, 0.36g/t Au over 9.30m from 33.80m depth in hole HPD005

o  1.49% Cu, 0.23g/t Au over 16.97m from 15.50m depth in hole HPD004

 

·    Gold values typically return grades of approximately 0.3g/t Au
providing a significant potential by-product value addition.

 

·    The drill programme has proven successful, confirming the presence of
shallow mineralisation at three prospects to date. Results are sufficiently
encouraging to warrant further drilling along strike to evaluate an estimated
additional linear 10km or more of projected mineralisation never previously
tested.

 

 

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant commented "The completion of the
Scoping Study and submission of the Mining Licence application for the
Hope-Gorob project represents a significant project milestone. The Study
indicates the potential for the development of a surface and underground
copper mine at the Hope and Gorob deposits. The Company will continue refining
and finessing all the engineering required to bring the project forward
towards production.

 

The latest drill assay results from this programme are very encouraging and in
advance of our expectations. The implication is that clearly the near-surface
area potentially contains enough mineralisation over good widths sufficient to
support open pit mining, providing an opportunity to accelerate development of
our mining plans. It should be noted that these results can be expanded beyond
the immediate vicinity of the recent drilling and towards other areas where
there has been no historic drilling or any systematic exploration. We are very
excited at the potential offered by these results to add to the Project's
copper and gold base resource and further effort will be directed towards
significant growth of Hope and Gorob and nearby targets."

 

 

Strike Extension Drilling Update

 

Assay results have been received for 2 holes drilled at Vendome and 7 out of 8
holes at the Hope prospect, as detailed in Table 1. Two drillholes, HDP001 and
HDP002 were drilled for geological purposes, not with the aim of intersecting
mineralisation and hence are not included in Table 1 below. Results for HPD007
are still pending.

 

 

Table 1: Selected Drill Assay Results for Holes VED001 - 02 (Vendome) and
HDP001 - 008 (Hope)

 Hole ID     From    To      Mineralised Width  Grade    Grade      Grade

             (m)     (m)     (m)                (% Cu)   (g/t Au)   CuEq%*
 VED001      39.32   43.13   3.81               4.60     2.80       6.40
 VED002      53.72   61.17   7.45               1.40     0.22       1.54
 HPD003      19.85   39.48   19.63              1.81     0.28       1.99

 Including   19.85   23.10   3.25               0.27     0.09       0.33

 and         25.20   39.48   14.28              2.40     0.36       2.60
 HPD004      11.72   12.42   0.70               0.35     0.41       0.61

             15.50   32.47   16.97              1.49     0.23       1.64

 Including   15.50   20.72   5.22               4.19     0.59       4.57

 and         28.33   32.16   3.83               0.79     0.20       0.92
 HPD005      33.80   43.10   9.30               1.90     0.36       2.13
 HPD006      45.82   75.56   29.74              1.26     0.22       1.40

 Including   45.82   50.32   4.50               5.04     0.63       5.45

 and         54.98   58.97   3.99               1.28     0.31       1.46

 and         68.82   75.56   6.74               1.32     0.30       1.49
 HPD007      Results Pending
 HPD008      50.21   51.89   1.68               0.47     0.32       1.98

*CuEq: Copper equivalent grade is based on a copper and gold equivalent using
a copper price of US$9,000 per tonne and a gold price of US$1,800 per ounce.
No account has been taken of relative recoveries for the two metals.

 

21 angled diamond drillholes were completed in the shallow drill programme for
a total of 1,371.47m. Holes were collared at the Hope, Gorob, Vendome, Anomaly
and Du Preez prospects. Drilling commenced at the Gorob prospect where 8 holes
were completed with assay results reported to shareholders in June of this
year. The Gorob drill intercepts extended mineralisation near-surface over a
strike length of more than 500m, returning peak downhole intercepts of 2.16%
Cu, 0.35g/t Au over 2.4m in hole GRD006 and 2.03% Cu, 0.18g/t Au over 5.5m in
GRD003. Corresponding gold grades at Gorob were low compared to the consistent
presence of gold in drill results to date for Hope and Vendome.

 

Assay results from Hope and Vendome continue to confirm the Company's
hypothesis that copper - gold mineralisation extends close to surface.
Discovery of near-surface mineralisation provides the scope for the extension
of the existing mineral resource estimate upwards from a variable depth of
between 100m and 60m below surface where the current model typically
terminates due to an absence of drilling in the intervening zone to surface.

 

The programme aims to generate sufficient drill data including assay results
and detailed geological logs to allow external resource consultants to update
both the geological model and the mineral resource estimate. An updated
Scoping Study completed in May 2022 noted that near-surface drilling at Hope
and Gorob could be expected to add significantly to the current resource.
Based on the recent drill intercepts in respect of both grade and mineralised
widths, the Company believes that the eventual additional resource tonnes
derived from near-surface mineralisation may exceed the preliminary
estimate.

 

Mining Licence Application & Exploration Licence Renewal Application

 

Bezant has submitted a Mining Licence ("ML") application together with an
Exploration Licence ("EPL") renewal application covering the Hope and Gorob
Project as the Company believes that sufficient exploration has been completed
to warrant the application. The accompanying Environmental & Social Impact
Assessment is also underway. The ML application is based on an updated Scoping
Study ("Study") completed by external consultants in May 2022 incorporating
existing and upgraded internal mineral resource estimates but excluding any
subsequent additional resources to be generated from the current drill
programme. The ML application covers a specific area of the original Hope and
Gorob licence related to future planned mining activity.

 

The Study undertaken covered the following areas:

 

Environmental and Permitting

Geological Setting and Mineralisation

Mineral Resources

Hydrogeology

Mining

Production

Project Infrastructure

Mineral Processing

Market Analysis

Financial Assessment

Key Success Factors and Project Risk

Further Work Required

 

The Study concluded that the potential for the development of a surface and
underground copper mine exists at the Hope and Gorob deposits and recommended
further engineering and optimisation work to be undertaken to advance the
Project to a Feasibility level study to finalise the development option for
Hope and Gorob. The Study also recommended that further exploration work be
continued to fully define resource potential at the deposits.

 

The total area covered by the renewal application for EPL 5796 has been
reduced by approximately 25% as required by licence regulations. The EPL
renewal, if granted, will provide the Company with the ability to continue to
test strike extensions and further up-dip copper-gold mineralisation that can
in time be included in an updated JORC-compliant mineral resource.

 

 

Background Historical Data Compilation

 

Historic drilling was focussed on defining a resource at downhole depths
ranging from 100m to >300m below surface. Historical resource estimates
undertaken prior to Bezant ownership identified a combined mineralised 6.4km
of strike length associated with the Hope, Gorob, Vendome, Luigi and Anomalies
West, Central and East prospects. Previous drilling was frequently
wide-spaced, making no attempt to confirm continuity both along strike or
up-dip towards surface from the typically deeper intercepts. Bezant is
targeting similar grades in the up-dip extension of this mineralisation at or
near-surface.

 

The Hope shaft, sunk by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co Ltd, in the
late 1970's to a vertical depth of 140m intersected high-grade mineralisation
with notable intersections achieved in both drilling and channel sampling.
Mineralisation exposed in the shaft sidewalls and two drives excavated at the
100m and 140m levels was not projected up-dip to surface. This will be tested
in due course by diamond drilling by Bezant. The close proximity of the shaft
to the Hope mineralisation as well as multiple other high quality targets
including Luigi, Du Preez, Anomalies West, East and Central and the up-dip
extension of all other mineralisation defined by diamond drilling at depth
provides the opportunity to utilise the shaft infrastructure for future
mining. Development of drives from the current 140m level for example,
effectively reduces the requirement for further underground drive development
to access mineralisation by approximately 900m, representing a considerable
reduction in future infrastructure capital cost.

 

 

Hope and Gorob Copper-Gold Project Background Information

Project Area: The Hope Copper-Gold project comprises three exclusive
prospecting licences, EPL 5796 (Bezant interest = 70%), EPL 7170 and EPL 6605
(Bezant interest in both = 80%), totalling approximately 1,053km(2), located
in central Namibia approximately 100km to the southwest of Windhoek, the
capital of Namibia.

Regional Geology and Mines: The area covered by the Hope Copper-Gold Project
is characterised by superficial quaternary sand and gravel overlying the
Swakop Group of the Damara Supergroup. The area is dominated by massive mica
schists of the Kuiseb Formation of the Pan-African Damara Orogen. These
lithologies host multiple high-grade copper-gold Besshi Type massive sulphide
deposits, such as the historically mined Otjihase Copper deposit (>16Mt @
2.2% Cu & 1.2g/t Au) to the northeast of the Hope property.

JORC Resource: The Hope Copper-Gold Project covers a significant portion of
the highly prospective Matchless Copper Belt. The Bezant project area contains
a series of copper deposits, of which three (Hope, Gorob-Vendome, and Anomaly)
make up a combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 10.2Mt @ 1.9% Cu
and 0.3g/t Au at a 0.7% Cu cut-off, reported in accordance with the JORC Code
(2012), containing 192kt of Cu metal and 3,190kg of Au. Approximately 30% of
the Mineral Resource tonnage is classified in the "Indicated" Mineral Resource
category with the balance in the "Inferred" Mineral Resource category and the
estimate was based on 339 drill holes for a total of 63,855 metres.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 Bezant Resources Plc

+44 (0) 20 3416 3695
 Colin Bird

 
 Executive Chairman

 Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser)    +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Roland Cornish

 Novum Securities Limited (Broker)

 Jon Belliss                             +44 (0) 20 7399 9400

 

 

Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser)

Roland Cornish

 

+44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Novum Securities Limited (Broker)

Jon Belliss

 

 

+44 (0) 20 7399 9400

 

or visit http://www.bezantresources.com (http://www.bezantresources.com)

 

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

 

Qualified Person:

Technical information in this announcement has been reviewed by Edward (Ed)
Slowey, BSc, P.Geo, technical director of Bezant Resources Plc . Mr Slowey is
a graduate geologist with more than 40 years' relevant experience in mineral
exploration and mining, a founder member of the Institute of Geologists
of Ireland and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules.  Mr Slowey has
reviewed and approved this announcement.

 

Glossary

 

A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of solid material of
economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade (or quality),
and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic
extraction. The location, quantity, grade (or quality), continuity and other
geological characteristics of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated, or
interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge, including
sampling. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological
confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.

 

An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is 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.

 

An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated on the basis of 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.

 

"Au"                      Gold

"Cu"                       Copper

"Chalcopyrite" A copper-iron sulphide mineral, CuFeS(2), often found in copper
ores

"EPL"                     Exclusive Prospecting Licence

"g/t"                      grammes per tonne

"kt"                        thousand tonnes

"Malachite"        A green copper carbonate mineral
(Cu(2)(OH)(2)CO(3)) which forms by alteration of copper sulphide minerals

"Mt"                      million tonnes

 

 

 

 

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