Appointment of CEO

RNS Number : 3316W

Bezant Resources PLC

30 January 2012

 



30 January 2012

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company")

Appointment of Chief Executive Officer

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed gold and copper exploration and development company operating in the Philippines, Argentina and Tanzania, announces that it has appointed Dr Bernard Olivier as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with immediate effect,having served the Company since April 2007 as Technical Director.

The appointment as CEO will enable Dr Olivier to lead the Company's future development as it seeks to maximise value from its wholly owned Eureka Project in Argentina pending the potential exercise by Gold Fields Netherlands Services BV ("Gold Fields") of its option over the Company's Mankayan Project in the Philippines.  Dr Olivier is a trained geologist and has extensive experience in developing mining companies throughout the world. He has worked on various exploration and development projects as well as active mining operations on a variety of commodities including gold, gemstones, uranium, diamonds, PGE's, base metals and coal. His experience will be invaluable in overseeing operations on the Eureka Project; comprising 11 highly prospective copper and gold exploration licences in the province of Jujuy, north-west Argentina.

Bezant has a well established track record in copper-gold exploration as illustrated by the successful development of its flagship Mankayan Project in the Philippines to a JORC reporting standard and subsequent grant, in October 2011, of an option for the potential disposal of Asean Copper Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary holding its interest in this attractive project, to Gold Fields.  Following shareholder approval for the grant of this option, a non-refundable upfront cash payment of US$7 million was paid to Bezant and a potential further cash sum of US$63 million is payable on the potential future exercise of the option by Gold Fields which expires in January 2013.  

For further information, please contact:

Gerard Nealon Executive Chairman, Bezant Resources Plc                              Bernard Olivier Chief Executive Officer, Bezant Resources Plc                                James Harris / Matthew Chandler / David Altberg Strand Hanson Limited                                                           James Maxwell / Jenny Wyllie Singer Capital Markets Limited                                               Laurence Read / Beth Harris Newgate Threadneedle (UK) or visit http://www.bezantresources.com

Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Bernard Olivier

Dr Bernard Olivier, aged 36, received his PhD in Economic Geology from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2006. He has been working as a geologist since 1998 and has worked throughout various African and Asian countries, including Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Burundi, Malawi, Namibia, Cambodia, Lao PDR and the Philippines. Dr Olivier is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has over 14 years' experience working on various exploration and mining projects over a variety of commodities. He is also currently a director of Richland Resources Ltd and LP Hill Plc (both listed on AIM) and a former director of Great Australian Resources Limited (listed on the ASX) and Kirkwood Resources Limited.

Eureka ProjectThe 11 licences comprising the Eureka Project are located in north-west Jujuy near to the Argentine border with Bolivia and are formally known as Mina Eureka, Mina Eureka II, Mina Sur Eureka, Mina Gino I, Mina Gino II, Mina Mason I, Mina Mason II, Mina Julio I, Mina Julio II, Mina Paul I and Mina Paul II, covering, in aggregate, an area in excess of approximately 5,500 hectares and accessible via a series of gravel roads.  To date, no JORC compliant or equivalent resource estimate has been established, but historic exploration activities have been conducted on the project area since the 1980s by Minera Penoles, Codelco and Mantos Blancos, with unaudited unclassified estimates in the order of, in aggregate, up to approximately 62 million tonnes grading at 1% copper and approximately 52,000 ounces of gold as credits.  The copper oxide mineralisation occurs in loosely consolidated conglomerates and is the focus of the project's economic potential.  The near surface mineralisation is amenable to heap leaching, while the carbonate content of the conglomerate is reported to be low, thereby reducing potential acid consumption.

Copper-Gold Exploration Track Record

In 2007, Bezant acquired a little known copper-gold target for approximately 5.5 million shares and US$500,000 cash. Over a period of approximately three years the Company proved up JORC Compliant Probable Ore Reserves of 189 million tonnes grading at 0.46% copper and 0.49g/t gold, resulting in total Recoverable Metal Reserves of 811,000 tonnes of copper and 2.21 million ounces of gold for an exploration cost of approximately US$5 million. On 26 October 2011, the grant of an option to Gold Fields for the potential sale of the Mankayan Project for US$63 million in addition to an upfront Option fee of US$7 million was ratified by shareholders. Bezant intends to return a significant amount of cash to its shareholders following such a disposal in due course in addition to progressing its near surface Eureka copper-gold project in Argentina.

 

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