Approval for Environmental Impact Assessment
30 May 2013
Bezant Resources Plc
("Bezant" or the "Company")
Approval for Environmental Impact Assessment, Eureka Copper-Gold Project, Argentina
Highlights:
· Approval received for the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") submitted in respect of the Company's wholly owned Eureka Project from the appropriate Provincial Directorate of Mining and Energy in Argentina
· EIA has been approved for 10 of the 11 Licences, covering approximately 3,400ha of the total 5,500ha Eureka Project area:
o Approved area covers the entire historically known mining area plus all of the prospective exploration areas identified by the Company
o UNESCO designated Laguna Biosphere Reserve section excluded from the approved EIA area, which has never formed part of the Company's current or anticipated future exploration or mining plans
· Bezant will now proceed to implement its exploration strategy for the Eureka Project:
o Intention to define maiden independent JORC compliant resource estimate
o Development of near surface, low cost mining model for potential copper-gold extraction
Bezant remains well funded to support an efficient and sustained exploration work programme, following the previously announced return of capital to shareholders expected to take place on or around 30 May 2013.
Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed copper-gold exploration and development company operating in the Philippines and Argentina, announces that it has received all of the requisite formal documentation from the relevant authorities in respect of the approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") for its wholly owned Eureka Project located in the Jujuy province, Northern Argentina.
With the EIA now approved, full-scale exploration works can now commence on the Mining and Exploration Licences that constitute the Eureka Project save for the environmentally protected Leguna Biosphere Reserve section, which is non-core to the Company's plans. Exploration activities will be focused on the near surface copper-gold mineralisation in the licence areas that have historically hosted small-scale mining operations. The Company believes that the Eureka Project has the potential to be developed into a low-cost copper-gold mine and welcomes the support received from the local authorities to date in relation to its initial exploration activities.
As part of the EIA, Bezant undertook a range of geophysical and geochemical tests in order to establish a cost effective exploration programme. Rock samples collected, including from areas without clearly identifiable copper seams, returned copper values ranging from 27ppm to 4.48%. The average copper value for all of the 18 surface rock samples equated to 1.7%Cu, eleven of which returned values in excess of 1% Cu namely, 1.1%, 1.2%, 1.8%, 2.1%, 2.3%, 2.35%, 2.8%, 3.5%, 4.0%, 4.2% and 4.5%Cu. The samples containing 1% or more copper were taken along a 1,000 metre strike extent of identifiable copper mineralisation outcropping on surface.
Over 2,800m of vertical electrical sounding, using a Schlumberger array, was also carried out by ITAGH Consulting Group at both known outcrops of mineralisation and also alongside new exploration trenches across the Eureka I Mine tenement area. The results of the geophysical interpretations included:
· An increase in the thickness of mineralised copper layers from the south (around 35 metres) to the north (>60 metres) - Eureka North Area;
· The identification of mineralised paleochannels (ancient inactive and buried channels) trending SSE/NNW; and
· Mineralised lenses which, appear to increase in thickness along a SSE/NNW direction. The direction appears to be related to a regional reverse fault with the same orientation.
Bernard Olivier, Chief Executive Officer, of Bezant commented:
"We thank all levels of the Argentinian Government for their support in approving our EIA for Eureka as part of a larger initiative to support local mining in Jujuy and the ongoing cross-border investments being made into the country to develop natural resource projects. Such approval means that we can now commence full-scale exploration works on the Eureka Project site.
This exciting project offers Bezant an opportunity to prove up a near-surface, low cost deposit, which the Directors believe has a number of development options to ultimately achieve commercial production. I look forward to beginning our JORC work programme and replicating the cost-effective delineation success that Bezant has demonstrated on Mankayan in the Philippines at Eureka."
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Notes to editors:
Eureka Project
The 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 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 the little known Mankayan copper-gold target in the Philippines 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 Netherlands Services BV for the potential sale of the Mankayan Project was ratified by the Company's shareholders and such option was subsequently amended and extended to 31 January 2014. Bezant is currently in the process of returning approximately £5.2 million to its shareholders and intends to return a further significant amount of cash to its shareholders in due course, subject to the option being exercised, in addition to progressing its near surface "Eureka" copper-gold project in Argentina.
This information is provided by RNS
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