Re Results,Trading Update and AGM
30 June 2020
Bezant Resources Plc
("Bezant" or the "Company")
Publication of Results, Trading Update & AGM
Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM quoted mineral exploration and development company, announces the following update in relation to the publication of its results for the year ended 30 December 2019, trading in relation to the company's cash position and AGM.
Publication of Results: As a result of the impact of COVID-19 in the countries where the Company has companies namely, United Kingdom, Philippines and Argentina the Company has applied for and been granted permission by Companies House in England and AIM to delay the publication of its audited accounts for the year ended 31st December 2019 by three months that is by 30th September 2020. The Company has agreed an audit completion timetable with its auditors which will enable it to meet this extended deadline.
Trading Update:
During the period 1 January 2019 to date the Company has announced amongst other matters;
· On 12 February 2019 the results of a new mining / economic study for the Mankayan project which focussed on, alternative routes to production, a possible five year lead time to production, the incorporation of off-site costs for the first time and an updated analysis that built and improved upon the historic 2014 scoping study.
· On 23 April 2019 the entering into of an option agreement for the acquisition of a 50% interest in the Buffalo Copper Gold Project in Zambia which allowed the company to undertake a low cost assessment of the project. This low cost assessment included the completion of an exploration review and Cu-Au assay work. The Company announced on 23 April 2020 that the Company has decided not to pursue the Buffalo Copper Gold Project but to instead focus on the Kalengwa Copper Gold Exploration project in Zambia which is referred to below.
· On 20 May 2019 the Company announced the updating of EIA approvals for its Eureka project in Argentina.
· On 7 October 2019 the Company announced the proposed disposal of 80% of its interest in the Mankayan Project in the Philippines to Mining and Minerals Industries Holding Pte. Ltd (MMIH) based in Singapore which was approved by shareholders at the general meeting held on 30 October 2019. As announced on 15 June 2020 MMIH's plans for a relisting of the project with Bezant retaining a minority interest, and development of the project have been delayed by amongst other factors COVID-19 restrictions in Singapore and the Philippines and the Company continues to monitor the situation
· On 5 December 2019 and the Company announced a placing a fundraising for gross proceeds of £350,000.
· On 27 April 2020 the Company announced the acquisition for aggregate consideration of US$0.75m ( US$0.25m to vendors ( US$125K on 1 August 2020 and US$125K on 1 December 2020) and US$0.5m to be invested in the project with two years) for a 30% interest in the Kalengwa Copper Gold Exploration Project in Zambia which provides access to and operatorship of a large strongly prospective exploration area surrounding the historic, high-grade Kalengwa open pit copper mine. Past third party p roduction at the Kalengwa open pit mine estimated at 1.9 million tonnes grading at 9.44% Cu and 50 g/t Ag. Historic exploration data highlights several strong geochemical/structural targets on the property, many not previously drill tested. The Initial objective of the joint venture is to fully evaluate the extensive historic exploration data in order to prioritise targets for follow-up and early drilling. Targets include partially drilled mineralisation within 2-4km of the historic Kalengwa mine and an untested 13km long copper soil anomaly aligned with the major structure.
· On 19 June 2020 the Company announced the conditional acquisition of 100% of Virgo Resources Ltd and its interests in the Hope Copper-Gold Project in Namibia, a £350,000 fundraising and the appointment of Beaumont Cornish Limited as its Nominated Adviser. The acquisition of Virgo Resources Ltd is subject to a 30 day due diligence period and the consideration is i) the issue of 422,062,525 new ordinary shares of 0.002 pence each in the capital of the Company at a deemed issue price of 0.2 pence per Bezant Share , ii) £135,000 to be settled by the issue of new Bezant Shares based on the share price on the day of settlement ; and iii) cash of £85,600.
As the Company is a pre-production exploration mining company its key performance metric is its ability to raise funds for these activities. During the period 1 January 2020 to date the Company raised £700,000.
On 31 December 2019 the Group had unaudited;
i) cash & cash equivalents of £350,000 (2018 £492,000); and
ii) trade creditors of £395,000 (2018 £73,000) of which £139,000 related to fees due to Directors & management (2018 £Nil).
Annual General Meeting: In light of current restrictions on public gatherings and to ensure shareholders can comply with the Government measures, the Company has concluded that it will call a procedural Annual General Meeting to be held on or around Monday 4 August 2020 at which shareholders will not be permitted to attend in person, it is currently intended that the AGM will be held with only the appointed chair of the meeting and two other nominated shareholders. The Company intends, government measures in relation to COVID-19 permitting, to call a general meeting later in the year at which the audited accounts for the year ended 31st December 2019 will be presented and shareholders invited to attend.
For further information, please contact:
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Bezant Resources Plc Colin Bird Executive Chairman
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+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.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
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