Update re Eureka Copper-Gold Project, Argentina

RNS Number : 3147S

Bezant Resources PLC

29 November 2012

 



29 November 2012

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company")

Update re Eureka Copper-Gold Project, Argentina

EIA Scheduled for Final Approval in December 2012

Highlights:

·      Final assessment of the Company's Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") by the provincial authorities scheduled to occur in December 2012.

·      EIA approval will ensure that the existing licenses, in respect of the Eureka Project, are fully compliant with all federal and regional mining codes.

·      Strong local support for the Company's wholly owned Eureka Project in the Jujuy province, north-west Argentina which offers new opportunities for the region's potential development.

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed gold and copper exploration and development company operating in the Philippines and Argentina, announces that a final approval meeting for the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") in respect of its wholly owned Eureka Project, in the province of Jujuy, north-west Argentina, has now been scheduled to be held in December 2012 by the Provincial Environmental Agency in the Jujuy Province, being the Unit of Mining Environmental Management ("UGAMP").

The Eureka Project is focused on a near surface copper-gold mineralisation and currently comprises 11 copper and gold licences. The project area contains evidence of historic small-scale mining operations. Bezant's representatives and appointed consultants have worked closely with both the local indigenous communities and the provincial government authorities in order to progress the Company's comprehensive EIA which was submitted for review in April 2012. The Company believes that the Eureka Project affords the opportunity to potentially develop a low-cost copper-gold mine in the Jujuy province of Argentina and welcomes the support received to date in relation to its initial exploration activities.

Upon final approval of the EIA the project's existing licenses will meet all the relevant criteria for mining development and production under local and federal law.  Following approval, Bezant will therefore be permitted to proceed with the next phase of its initial exploration work programme and can fully assess all appropriate development options and field activities.

Gerry Nealon, Executive Chairman of Bezant commented:

 "Working closely with the provincial authorities in Jujuy we have now progressed our EIA to the final approval stage. The support of the local indigenous communities is very important to us and we look forward to swiftly receiving a positive decision to enable us to further evaluate the significant copper-gold potential of this deposit with the support of all the key stakeholders.

Our main phase of exploration work will seek to establish a maiden JORC compliant resource estimate and assess the project's economic potential with the near surface mineralisation believed to be amenable to heap leaching and situated close to established infrastructure."

For further information, please contact:

Gerry Nealon Executive Chairman, Bezant Resources Plc                              Bernard Olivier Chief Executive Officer, Bezant Resources Plc                                Laurence Read Director / Communications Officer, Bezant Resources Plc James Harris / Matthew Chandler / David Altberg Strand Hanson Limited                                                           James Maxwell / Jenny Wyllie N+1 Singer                                               or visit http://www.bezantresources.com

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

Notes to editors:

Eureka Project

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 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.

Copper-Gold Exploration Track Record

In 2007, Bezant acquired the little known Mankayan copper-gold target in the Philippines for approximately 5.5 million shares and US$500,000 cash. Over a period of approximately three years the Company 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. On 26 October 2011 the grant of an option to Gold Fields Netherlands Services BV for the potential sale of the Mankayan Project for US$63 million in addition to an upfront Option fee of US$7 million was ratified by the Company's shareholders. Bezant intends to return a significant amount of cash to its shareholders in due course in addition to progressing its near surface "Eureka" copper-gold project in Argentina.

 

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