Update on Kanye Manganese Project, Botswana

RNS Number : 5189F

Bezant Resources PLC

22 March 2022

 

22 March 2022

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company") 

Update on Kanye Manganese Trenching and Soil Programme, Botswana

Bezant (AIM: BZT) is pleased to provide information on recent field work completed at its' 100% owned high-grade Kanye manganese project in Botswana. 

Highlights:

· Soil sampling between the Loltware manganese occurrence and the Moshaneng Borrow Pit has confirmed a strong, continuous soil anomaly of greater than 2km lateral extent and up to 750m wide based on hand-held XRF analyses of sieved soils.

· Trenching at the Loltware prospect intersected zones of in-situ manganese mineralisation based on hand-held XRF analysis of one metre channel samples.

· Trench channel samples have been dispatched for full laboratory analysis which we would anticipate would take about 4-6 weeks to complete.

· Based on preliminary evaluation, it appears that Loltware is a distinct manganese sub-zone, with the larger target located around and southeast of the Borrow Pit.

· Once trench assay samples are received and evaluated preparations will be made for a maiden drill programme at the Kanye project.

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented :

"  We are very pleased with these initial results which have provided us with increasedconfidence that there is potential within the project area for a large manganese deposit. Once laboratory assay results for the trench channel samples are received we will proceed to a drilling programme to define the continuity and extent of the zone. "

Work Completed

Following on from the previous announcement of 31 January 2022, the Company has undertaken a programme of trenching and soil sampling across the area from Loltware to Moshaneng Borrow Pit to establish the continuity and extent of the manganese mineralised zone between the two target areas lying almost 4km apart.

Three trenches about 50m apart, totalling approximately 150m in length were dug by excavator at Loltware to look for the source of the high grade manganese boulders previously recorded in the area and to help understand the geological setting. The trenches passed from footwall quartzites, through a siliceous manganese zone, into hangingwall comprising nodular manganiferous/ferrugineous bedrock with disseminated manganese.

A total of 74 channel samples 1-2m long were collected from trenches through all zones of interest and were checked for manganese content by hand-held XRF analysis. Of particular interest was an 8m wide zone in Trench 1 with visible manganese, including some local pockets of high grade. The channel samples have been dispatched to an analytical laboratory for definitive analysis.

To test the wider extent of the manganese mineralisation in an area with limited bedrock exposure a soil sampling grid was laid out between Loltware and the Moshaneng Borrow Pit on lines 200m apart, with sample stations every 50m. The 363 samples collected were sieved and bagged to facilitate analysis by hand-held XRF. Previously planned sampling was curtailed somewhat to focus initially on the core target area and to avoid crossing cultivated farmland.

The results show a coherent soil anomaly >500ppm Mn stretching over 2,000m x 750m in a NW-SE orientation (aligned with bedrock strike) from northwest of the Borrow Pit approximately half way towards Loltware. A separate, more localised anomaly was found at Loltware.

The results confirm the possibility of a target of significant size and manganese tenor on the Kanye property which will be the focus for the next stage of work, and which is planned to include drill testing.

A soil anomaly plot is linked below for reference:

Moshaneng-Loltware Mn soil anomaly

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5189F_1-2022-3-21.pdf

Background on the Kanye Manganese Project (as previously announced)

Licences & location: The Kanye Manganese Project comprises a collection of nine prospecting licenses ("PLs") covering a total area of 4,043km², located in south-central Botswana south of the town of Jwaneng and west of the town of Kanye and 150km by road from the capital Gaborone.

Geological setting: The target for manganese mineralisation is manganiferous shale horizons located on the contact between the Taupone Group and the underlying Black Reef Formation. This geological setting is similar to that of the Giyani Metals Corp manganese occurrences on their Kwgakgwe Hill (K-Hill), Otse and Lobatse projects which are located just a few kilometres off the Kanye property. The most significant of these (K-Hill) comprises a manganese-rich black shale formation within the lower Taupone Group containing an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.7 million tonnes grading 25.7% MnO at a cut-off grade of 7.3% MnO prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (as reported by Giyani Metals Corp.in April 2021 as part of an updated PEA).

Previous exploration : Previous exploration on the Kanye property highlighted numerous manganese prospects which had not been systematically explored. These include the Moshaneng Borrow Pit where a number of grab samples assaying up to 71% MnO were reported from massive manganese mineralisation, and the Loltware Prospect, approximately 4km to the southeast of Moshaneng, where historical reports noted manganese outcrop with sample assays up to 43.6% MnO.

For further information, please contact:

Bezant Resources Plc  Colin Bird Executive Chairman	[phone]
Beaumont Cornish (Nominated Adviser)  Roland Cornish	[phone]
Novum Securities Limited (Broker) Jon Belliss	[phone]

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

The following is a summary of technical terms:

"mineralisation"	Process of formation and concentration of elements and their chemical compounds within a mass or body of rock
"MnO"	Manganese oxide
"National Instrument 43-101"	A national instrument for the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects within Canada
"PEA"	Preliminary Economic Assessment
"shale"	A fine-grained laminated sediment
"XRF Spectrometer "	Instrument to determine the chemistry of a sample by measuring the fluorescent (or secondary) X-ray emitted from a sample when it is excited by a primary X-ray source

 

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