Exploration at Hope Copper-Gold Project Commences
1 October 2020
Bezant Resources Plc
("Bezant" or the "Company")
Commencement of Exploration at the Hope Copper-Gold Project, Namibia
Bezant (AIM: BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the commencement of exploration work, including drill target testing, over the Hope Copper-Gold Project in Namibia (the "Project").
Highlights
· Preparation under way for geophysical surveying and drilling at high-grade Hope copper-gold massive sulphide project in Namibia
· Recently identified 3km Hope North geophysical target adjacent to Hope deposit earmarked for drilling
· Drilling at Gorob-Vendome prospect aimed at establishing untested gold grade within previously delineated copper resource
· Further ground EM surveying planned at Gorob-Vendome to trace down-plunge continuation of known mineralisation
Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented :
" The Namibian copper/gold Hope and Gorob project represents an exciting acquisition in the right metals since we are very optimistic for the fortunes of copper for the immediate future and world general volatility should maintain gold prices. From our desktop work gold appears to be underestimated especially at Gorob and we will be testing for the presence of gold as one of our key missions. The immediate area around Hope and Gorob deposits contains many anomalies and we will be doing reconnaissance drilling on those anomalies. We will also carry out geophysical EM to identify further extensions of both deposits. This work will precede geophysical test work over the 150km of extrapolated strike which has the potential to increase the overall size of our copper and gold holdings. The work should commence during the coming weeks and we will keep shareholders updated on our results as they arise. "
Exploration Plan Summary
This first phase of work by Bezant will focus on exploration licence EPL5796 hosting the Hope and Gorob-Vendome massive sulphide deposits, part of a combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource within three closely spaced deposits 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). The aim is to drill test a geophysical anomaly immediately north of the Hope deposit and to drill confirmatory holes at Gorob-Vendome, primarily to establish the gold tenor at that deposit and thereby add significant value to the Project resource. Previous drill core at this prospect was not checked for gold.
Review by the Company of previous Natural Source Audio Magneto-Telluric (NSAMT) geophysics data at the Hope deposit indicates the presence of an untested, sub-parallel conductor a short distance to the north. This may suggest the presence of a hidden second or multiple shoot system over 3km of strike. 2-3 diamond drill holes are planned to test this target, with further drilling to follow if mineralisation is confirmed.
The Hope Deposit portion of the Mineral Resource Estimate has the highest gold grade (0.84g/t Au) but also has the majority of historic drill holes that have been assayed for gold (from the most recent drill programme in 2009). In contrast, most of the drill holes at the Gorob-Vendome Deposit are from older programmes (late 70's and early 80's) and were not assayed for gold. The lack of gold grade information from the copper mineralised intersections within the drill holes at the Gorob-Vendome Deposit is interpreted to have resulted in the gold grade of that portion of the Mineral Resource Estimate being much lower (0.04g/t Au). Bezant proposes to twin two of the historic holes, primarily to obtain detailed gold grade and distribution information to enhance the value of the currently estimated mineral resource.
In addition, previous geophysical surveying and structural interpretation at Gorob highlights possible along-strike and down-plunge continuation of the deposit to the northeast. It is planned to carry out a further ground EM survey here to better define the target prior to possible drill testing.
Hope Project Background
The Hope Copper-Gold Project comprises three exploration licences, EPL5796, EPL6605 and EPL7170 (under application) covering over 1,200 km2 of the highly prospective Matchless Copper Belt within the stable, safe and mining friendly jurisdiction of Namibia . This Belt hosts 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.
The Bezant project area contains a series of copper deposits, of which three make up the combined mineral resource reported above, namely Hope, Gorob-Vendome and Anomaly. The Hope deposit itself has an Indicated Mineral Resource of 3.09Mt @ 2.53% Cu and 0.84g/t Au at a 0.7% Cu cut-off reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). Historic drill intersections include 23.31m @ 1.59% Cu & 0.23g/t Au from 464.09m, including 9.68m @ 3.18% Cu & 0.42g/t Au from 477.17m (hole HDD82) and 10.12m @ 5.72% Cu & 0.56g/t Au from 525.57m (hole HDD91). Gold is an important accompanying mineral to the copper deposits of the Matchless Belt. This was not always recognised previously, leaving scope for adding value to many of the prospects along the Belt, including Gorob-Vendome.
Metal recovery during previous ore processing tests was excellent. Metallurgical test work at the Hope project indicated recoveries of 96% copper and 84% gold to a 28% Cu grade concentrate via conventional flotation.
Apart from extensions to the known deposits, further strong exploration potential is recognised along the substantial strike continuation within the Bezant property, as much of the prospective ground has never been tested by EM geophysical surveying which is the most effective method of identifying buried massive sulphides.
Technical Sign-Off
Technical information in this announcement has been reviewed by Edward (Ed) Slowey, BSc, PGeo, a technical advisor to Bezant. 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.
For further information, please contact:
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Bezant Resources Plc
Executive Chairman |
+27 726 118 724
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Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser)
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Novum Securities Limited (Broker) Jon Belliss
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+44 (0) 20 7399 9400
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or visit 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 Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
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
"Mt" million tonnes
"kt" thousand tonnes
"g/t" grams a tonne
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