Bezant (AIM: BZT) (“Bezant”), the copper-gold exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of an all-parties technical visit to review the Hope and Gorob Project in Namibia leading to consensus on the best way to optimise project development and more specifically the lodging of a Mining Licence application.
Highlights:
· Lead engineering consultant Practara (Pty) Limited has developed a number of recommendations to be adopted aimed at including near-surface mineralisation into the Resource Model
· Project design engineers Nurizon will review plant layout specifically to offer multiple options for presentation to the Namibian authorities for consideration
· Further guidance will be provided by specialist Namibian environmental consultants, Namisun Environmental Projects and Development, managing a consortium of local experts given the responsibility for environmental impact assessment documentation
· Plant design consultants will embark on high-level design based on feedback from the Company and consultants referencing project throughput, ore types, scheduling and life of mine
· Current 2,000 metre drill programme objectives to be realigned with the Mining Licence application process with a short-term emphasis on:
- twinning historic drill holes to provide invaluable geological data
- completion of initial geotechnical logging for engineering purposes including the siting of infrastructure and underground development
- collection of drill core for detailed metallurgical test work
- drilling to intersect near-surface copper (gold) oxide potential and to refine the geological model
Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented: “The Team had very productive site meetings and discussions with all stakeholders. The outcome was that the Project presents significant opportunity over and above previously considered mining plans.
Our work suggests that an open pit working oxides and transition materials may well be possible and as such we are fast tracking determination of the presence, mineralisation style and metallurgical suitability for leaching or similar process. What did impress the Group was the apparent occurrence of significant gold workings that were reported as exploratory but appear in actual fact to have been exploited by previous artisanal mining.
The work programme should lead to early submission of the Mining Licence application and we will keep the Market fully informed of material developments as the process continues”
A coordinated programme of action has been implemented by Bezant aimed specifically at the completion of scoping studies, preliminary design and the expansion and upgrade of the Mineral Resource model all aimed at the near-term submission of a Mining Licence application.
Work will be undertaken to include near-surface copper mineralisation in the Resource model offering scope for lower cost early years production alongside the existing underground Resource development plan, with the potential to access underground via adit development from the open pit.
Planned drill holes will be relocated specifically to achieve multiple outcomes including validation of historic drill results, provision of new geotechnical information and the collection of fresh ore samples for detailed metallurgical test work.
External engineering consultants will continue to supplement the existing scoping work with updated information to generate a more detailed study which, in turn, can then be used by the environmental consultant for the Impact Assessment.
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 1,053km 2 , 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.
For further information, please contact:
Bezant Resources Plc
Colin Bird
Executive Chairman
+44 (0) 20 3416 3695
