Hope and Gorob Project Interim Drilling Update
15 March 2022
Bezant Resources Plc
("Bezant" or the "Company")
Hope and Gorob Project Interim Drilling Update
Bezant (AIM: BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, is pleased to provide Shareholders with an update on the Hope and Gorob drill programme targeting previously untested near-surface copper - gold mineralisation.
Highlights:
· Historical data compilation has identified a total of 8 known targets for immediate drilling in the prospective Matchless Copper Belt. A total of 2,000m of drilling has been allocated to test the up-dip extensions to known mineralisation previously drilled at depth by other exploration companies
· Eight diamond drillholes have been completed at the Gorob Prospect for a total of 395.96m, (out of the 2,000m programme), with drill holes consistently intersecting visible copper mineralisation at, and near-surface
· The drill rig has now moved along strike to the Vendome prospect and will aim to test strike continuity within that zone
· A 140m deep vertical shaft which was excavated in the 1970's has been located at the Hope prospect - investigation of the shaft and its alignment with known and projected near-surface mineralisation indicates scope for a high-grade near-term production opportunity
· The shaft location, in relation to drilled mineralisation and the latest surface projections is expected to significantly reduce future capital expenditure on underground development
Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented : "The exploration programme for Hope and Gorob has been directed towards testing for the presence of near surface sulphides and oxides. To date there has been very little oxide but we are very pleased that all holes drilled include sulphide zones of reasonable thickness. The intersections have been as close as 20m from surface and visual inspection suggest that copper values will be consistent with deeper intersections. The photographs enclosed suggest strong mineralisation and the programme is designed to develop a resource at less than 150m deep, a portion of which will be open pit-able, thus minimising our time to get in to production. The shallower ore programme will be spread across various points along the 17km separating Hope & Gorob with a view to test the continuity of mineralisation."
Strike extension drilling Update
Eight angled diamond drillholes have been completed to date for a total of 395.96m out of the 2,000m programme. Drilling was initiated at the Gorob Target and extended over a strike length of more than 500m. Visible copper mineralisation, both oxide and sulphide, has been intersected at depths ranging from 20m downhole to 50 - 60m downhole. The drill rig has relocated to the Vendome Target for a short programme before moving onto other priority surface and near-surface targets including Hope, Luigi, Anomaly West, Central and East, Du Preez and the Shaft area. The programme has been designed to generate sufficient high quality drill data to allow external consultants to prepare a more reliable estimate of the extent of copper mineralisation at or near-surface and the high-level estimation of possible tonnage, grade and contained copper metal. Bezant considers the historic estimate of cumulative mineralised strike length between the Hope and Gorob mineralisation to be conservative and based almost exclusively on deep drilling (400 - 600m) targeting a high-grade continuous mineralised body assumed by previous explorers.
The current programme is provisionally expected to include approximately 2,000m of drilling. Additional personnel have been recruited to deal with the logging and sampling of drill core and samples are expected to be dispatched for analysis for copper and gold by an independent laboratory in the next few weeks.
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. Historic 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.
Hope Shaft exploration and development
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, EPL 7170 and EPL 6605, totalling approximately 1,053km2, located in central Namibia approximately 100km to the south west 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.
Plan Map of the Hope & Gorob Licence
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7315E_1-2022-3-14.pdf
Photograph of New Drill Core with Abundant Chalcopyrite
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7315E_2-2022-3-14.pdf
Hope Gorob Surface Expression of Copper Malachite Mineralisation
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7315E_3-2022-3-14.pdf
Drill core Sample Displaying Copper Sulphide Mineralisation
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7315E_4-2022-3-14.pdf
For further information, please contact:
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Bezant Resources Plc Colin Bird Executive Chairman |
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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 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, PGeo, 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, CuFeS2, often found in copper ores
"EPL" Exclusive Prospecting Licence
"g/t" grammes per tonne
"kt" thousand tonnes
"Malachite" A green copper carbonate mineral (Cu2(OH)2CO3) which forms by alteration of copper sulphide minerals
"Mt" million tonnes
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