Result of General Meeting

RNS Number : 8748Q

Bezant Resources PLC

26 October 2011

 



26 October 2011

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company")

Result of General Meeting

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed gold and copper exploration and development company operating in the Philippines, Argentina and Tanzania, is pleased to announce that the ordinary resolution, which requires the approval of a simple majority of votes cast, put to its Shareholders at the General Meeting held earlier today has been approved by Shareholders, with approximately 91 per cent. of the proxy votes cast being in favour of the resolution as follows:

For	Against	Abstain	Total
25,083,536	2,260,765	110,350	27,454,651

Today's General Meeting approved the grant of an option (the "Option") for the disposal of Asean Copper Investments Limited ("Asean") to Gold Fields Netherlands Services BV ("Gold Fields") pursuant to the terms of an option agreement entered into between, inter alia, Bezant, Asean and Gold Fields on 4 October 2011 (the "Option Agreement"). Asean holds Bezant's entire interest in its flagship copper-gold Mankayan Project in the Philipinnes. In summary, the Option Agreement delivers a non-refundable upfront cash payment of US$7 million to Bezant and a potential further cash sum of US$63 million payable, on exercise of the Option by Gold Fields, to acquire the entire issued share capital of Asean.The Option may be exercised by Gold Fields at any time until 31 January 2013.

Commenting today Gerry Nealon, Chairman, of Bezant Resources said:

"In 2007 we acquired a little known copper-gold target for approximately 5.5 million shares and US$500,000 cash. Over a period of approximately three years we have 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. Today's General Meeting confirms the agreement between ourselves and Gold Fields for the potential sale of Mankayan for US$63 million in addition to an upfront Option fee of US$7 million. We look forward to potentially returning a significant amount of cash to our Shareholders in due course and will continue to progress our near surface "Eureka" copper-gold project in Argentina."

For further information, please contact:

Gerry Nealon Executive Chairman, Bezant Resources Plc                              Bernard Olivier Technical Director, Bezant Resources Plc                                James Harris / Matthew Chandler / David Altberg Strand Hanson Limited                                                           James Maxwell / Jenny Wyllie Singer Capital Markets Limited                                               Laurence Read / Beth Harris Threadneedle Communications (UK) Email: [e-mail]  or visit http://www.bezantresources.com

Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

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 Sur Eureka, 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.

 

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