Namibia

HOPE COPPER-GOLD PROJECT ACQUISITION

On 19 June 2020 Bezant announced the acquisition of 100% of Virgo Resources Ltd and its interests in the Hope Copper-Gold Project in Namibia. Virgo Resources Ltd is incorporated in Australia (ACN 626 148 347) (“Virgo”). The acquisition of Virgo completed on 14 August 2020. Virgo, through its 100% owned Australian subsidiary Hepburn Resources Pty Ltd (ACN 624 189 162), owns i) 70% of Hope and Gorob Mining Pty Ltd incorporated in Namibia which owns EPL5796, ii) 80% of Hope Namibia Mineral Exploration Pty Ltd Incorporated in Namibia which owns EPL6605 and EPL7170. The balance of the project is held by local Namibian partners. Licences EPL6605 and EPL 7070 are under renewal.

HOPE COPPER-GOLD PROJECT UPDATED MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE

On 27 October 2023 Bezant announced an updated Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate for the Hope and Gorob copper project situated within EPL 5796 (“the “Project”) in Namibia, completed by independent consultants Addison Mining Services Ltd (“Addison” or “AMS”). Bezant Resources holds a 70% interest in the Project.

Highlights

  • The updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) has been completed by Addison Mining Services Ltd., an independent consultancy based in the United Kingdom and is reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). Resources are of Indicated and Inferred categories and include:
    • A Total Mineral Resource of 15 million tonnes gross at 1.2 % Cu for 190 thousand tonnes of Cu estimated across the Hope, Gorob Vendome and Anomaly deposits and comprising:
      • Total Indicated Resources of 1.24 million tonnes at 1.6% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au at the Hope deposit.
      • Total Inferred Resources of approximately 14 million tonnes at 1.2% Cu across the Hope, Gorob, Vendome and Anomaly deposits, including approximately 3 million tonnes at 1.7% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au at Hope.
  • The resource estimation has ignored gold content for all prospects other than the Hope target on the basis that many historic boreholes (pre-dating Bezant’s involvement) were not assayed for gold and as such Addison could not include gold in the resource compilation. Based on the Bezant drilling programme Addison concur that it would not be unreasonable to anticipate average grades of 0.2 to 0.4 g/t Au. The Company are considering a programme to twin certain holes to give the independent consultant the data to include additional gold in the resource estimate.
  • The MRE identified significant potential for open pit extraction with an open pit resource of 2.4 million tonnes and the potential, assuming favourable Cu grades from further drilling, of increasing the size of the practically open pittable resource for further 700,000 to 1 million tonnes postulating an open pit that could support five years mine life at an annual rate of 500,000 tonnes per year.
  • The MRE identified that deeper parts of the orebody had the potential to be mined underground, utilising a former concrete lined shaft with additional access from the base of the open pit.
  • Total tonnes of contained copper in Mineral Resource Estimate of approximately 190,000 tonnes. AMS postulate that this could be significantly increased by the drilling of untested areas where mineralization is projected and a drilling programme targeted toward increased gold credit, thereby increasing the overall copper equivalent grade.
  • Addison has noted that there is significant exploration potential with extensions to the existing open pit resources being extremely likely and only omitted from the Resource Estimate due to a historic low drill density that precludes conversion to a JORC Resource. Although there are no guarantees, extension drilling could result in further addition to the updated Mineral Resource.
  • The metallurgical results from direct test work are currently in progress and as such Addison have not considered them during the MRE study. The Addsion MRE considers reasonably assumed metallurgical inputs from historic testwork and prior studies. Any new metallurgical testwork will inform future MRE updates and technical studies.

Table 1: Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate for the Hope and Gorob Project, Namibia. *Gross representing 100% estimated Resources – Bezant has a 70% interest in the Hope and Gorob Project

Area Cut-off Type Tonnes Density CuEq% Cu% Au g/t Ag g/t Cu t Au ozt Ag ozt
  INDICATED
HOPE 0.25 Open Pit 290,000 3.0 1.6 1.4 0.30 4.7 4,100 2,800 44,000
0.70 Underground 950,000 3.0 1.9 1.7 0.40 6.7 17,000 12,000 210,000
Subtotal Indicated 1,240,000 3.0 1.8 1.6 0.4 6.2 21,100 14,800 254,000
INFERRED
0.25 Open Pit 140,000 3.0 1.2 1.1 0.30 3.1 1,500 1,400 14,000
0.70 Underground 2,800,000 3.0 2.0 1.7 0.43 6.1 49,000 39,000 550,000
Subtotal Inferred 2,940,000 3.0 2.0 1.7 0.4 6.0 50,500 40,400 564,000
INDICATED PLUS INFERRED
Subtotal Open Pit 430,000 3.0 1.5 1.3 0.3 4.2 5,600 4,200 58,000
Subtotal Underground 3,750,000 3.0 2.0 1.7 0.4 6.3 66,000 51,000 760,000
Subtotal Hope 4,200,000 3.0 1.9 1.7 0.4 6.0 71,000 55,000 810,000
  INFERRED
GOROB 0.25 Open Pit 800,000 3.0   1.1 0.1   8,700 2,000  
0.70 Underground 5,100,000 3.0   1.2 0.1   58,700 18,000  
Subtotal Gorob 5,900,000 3.0   1.2 0.1   67,400 20,000  
VENDOME 0.25 Open Pit 310,000 3.0   1.6     5,000    
0.70 Underground 3,300,000 3.0   1.0     35,000    
Subtotal Vendome 3,610,000 3.0   1.0     40,000    
ANOMALY 0.25 Open Pit 850,000 3.0   0.6     5,300    
0.70 Underground 680,000 3.0   0.9     6,000    
Subtotal Anomaly 1,530,000 3.0   0.7     11,300    
TOTAL 0.25 Open Pit 2,400,000 3.0   1.0     24,600 6,200 58,000
0.70 Underground 12,800,000 3.0   1.3     165,700 69,000 760,000
Grand Total 15,200,000 3.0   1.2     190,300 75,200 818,000
Total Indicated 1,200,000 3.0 1.8 1.6 0.4 6.2 21,100 14,800 254,000
Total Inferred 14,000,000 3.0   1.2     169,200 60,400 564,000

Notes relating to Mineral Resource Estimate

  1. The independent Competent Person for the Mineral Resource Estimate, as defined by the JORC Code (2012 edition), is Mr. Richard Siddle, MSc, MAIG, of Addison Mining Services Ltd since November 2014. The effective date of the Mineral Resource Estimate is 30th of May 2023 and was signed on the 29th of August 2023. Mr Siddle has completed a site visit between 27th April and 28th April 2023.
  2. No mineral reserve estimates have been undertaken. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this Mineral Resource Estimate are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as Indicated or Measured, however it is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration and verification including infill drilling, further verification of legacy drillholes via twin drilling and metallurgical testing. Following further exploration it may be possible to convert some of the Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resources.
  3. Copper Equivalent is based on assumed prices of US$9,000 per tonne Cu, US$1,800 per oz Au and US$20 per oz. recovery and selling factors (see below) were incorporated into the calculation of Cu Eq values. It is the Company’s and Competent Persons’ opinion that all the elements included in the metal equivalents calculation (copper, gold and silver) have a reasonable potential to be recovered and sold.
  4. Cu Eq% is calculated as Cu% + (Au×0.512)
  5. Cut off grades assume a Cu price of $9000 per tonne and Au price of $1800 per troy ounce at 85% and 90% payability respectively, a treatment charge of $183.35/t of Cu metal is also applied. Process recovery is assumed as 88% for Cu and 65% for Au. Operating costs are assumed as $14/t for processing and $1.5/t for G&A, $30 for underground mining and $2.5 to 3 for open pit mining. An additional allowance of $0.5 is made for ROM transport assuming a shared processing facility.
  6. Indicated and Inferred mineral resource categories set out in the table above at cut-off grades >0.25% CuEq/Cu for open pit and 0.7% CuEq/Cu for underground mining comply with the resource definitions as described in the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. The JORC Code, 2012 Edition. Prepared by: The Joint Ore Reserves Committee of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia (JORC).
  7. Numbers are rounded to reflect the fact that an Estimate of Resources is being reported. Rounding of numbers may result in differences in calculated totals and averages. All tonnes are metric tonnes.
  8. Pit slopes were assumed as 45 degrees in overburden and fresh rock. No geotechnical studies have been completed to support this assumption and the requirement for shallower pit slopes may serve to materially reduce the open pit mineral resource.
  9. The absence of metallurgical results from direct test work currently underway in relation to Hope & Gorob are not incorporated in the report due to delays in receiving them from the laboratory. Their non-inclusion is not considered material for the purpose of reporting updated resources in accordance with JORC (2012).
  10. The Mineral Resource Estimate set out above are quoted gross with respect to the Project. Bezant Resources has 70% interest in the Project and accordingly the Net attributable to the Company is 70% of the quoted gross.

HOPE COPPER-GOLD PROJECT EXPLORATION

  • On 9 August 2022 Bezant announced it had submitted a mining licence application for the Hope-Gorob copper-gold project area to the Namibian authorities
  • The Mining Licence application is based on an updated Scoping Study completed in May 2022 by external consultants incorporating historic mineral resource estimates which did not yet include additional near-surface copper-gold resources generated by the Company's shallow drill programme completed in early 2022 – see new MRE detailed above.
  • Downhole assay peak intercepts from the shallow drill programme included
    • 4.6% Cu, 2.80g/t Au over 3.81m from 39.32m depth in hole VED001
    • 2.4% Cu, 0.36g/t Au over 14.28m from 25.2m depth in hole HPD003
    • 1.90% Cu, 0.36g/t Au over 9.30m from 33.80m depth in hole HPD005
    • 1.49% Cu, 0.23g/t Au over 16.97m from 15.50m depth in hole HPD004
  • Continuous copper and gold mineralisation has been intersected in drill intercepts over substantial downhole widths of up to 29.74m.
  • Gold values typically return grades of approximately 0.3g/t Au providing a significant potential by-product value addition.
  • The Scoping Study indicated that the potential for the development of a surface and underground copper mine exists at the Hope and Gorob deposits and recommended completion of the additional work required for optimisation of mine development plans including the work necessary to obtain granting of environmental permits.
  • The drill programme was successful in confirming the presence of shallow mineralisation at three prospects to date. Results are sufficiently encouraging to warrant further drilling along strike to evaluate an estimated additional linear 10km or more of projected mineralisation never previously tested.

HOPE COPPER-GOLD PROJECT DRILL PROGRAMME PICTURES OCTOBER 2022

  • Figure 1: Drilling at Hope 2022

    Figure 1: Drilling at Hope 2022

  • Figure 2: Drilling in the Namibian desert 2022

    Figure 2: Drilling in the Namibian desert 2022

  • Figure 3: Vendome hole VED001 42m - semi-massive chalcopyrite mineralisation

    Figure 3: Vendome hole VED001 42m - semi-massive chalcopyrite mineralisation

  • Figure 4: Mapping copper mineralisation at Gorob

    Figure 4: Mapping copper mineralisation at Gorob

  • Figure 5: Gorob shallow drilling hole GRD003 - green malachite copper mineralisation

    Figure 5: Gorob shallow drilling hole GRD003 - green malachite copper mineralisation

Table 2: Selected 2022 Shallow Drilling Assay Results for Holes VED001 - 02 (Vendome) and HDP001 - 008 (Hope)

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Mineralised
Width (m)		 Grade (% Cu) Grade (g/t Au) Grade CuEq%*
VED001 39.32 43.13 3.81 4.60 2.80 6.40
VED002 53.72 61.17 7.45 1.40 0.22 1.54
HPD003
Including
and		 19.85
19.85
25.20		 39.48
23.10
39.48		 19.63
3.25
14.28		 1.81
0.27
2.40		 0.28
0.09
0.36		 1.99
0.33
2.60
HPD004

Including
and		 11.72
15.50
15.50
28.33		 12.42
32.47
20.72
32.16		 0.70
16.97
5.22
3.83		 0.35
1.49
4.19
0.79		 0.41
0.23
0.59
0.20		 0.61
1.64
4.57
0.92
HPD005 33.80 43.10 9.30 1.90 0.36 2.13
HPD006
Including
and
and		 45.82
45.82
54.98
68.82		 75.56
50.32
58.97
75.56		 29.74
4.50
3.99
6.74		 1.26
5.04
1.28
1.32		 0.22
0.63
0.31
0.30		 1.40
5.45
1.46
1.49
HPD007 Results Pending
HPD008 50.21 51.89 1.68 0.47 0.32 1.98

*CuEq: Copper equivalent grade is based on a copper and gold equivalent using a copper price of US$9,000 per tonne and a gold price of US$1,800 per ounce. No account has been taken of relative recoveries for the two metals.

HOPE COPPER-GOLD PROJECT TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Project Area: The Hope Cooper-Gold project EPL5796 (345 km2) and adjacent tenures EPL6605 (570 km2) and EPL7170 (310 km2) cover an area of approximately 1,200km2 in central Namibia, approximately 100km to the south-west of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and about 120km to the south east of the major African port of Walvis Bay. The tenures are located in the Namib Desert of Namibia within the Swakopmund District, Erongo Region, accessible by well-maintained gravel roads.  The project area lies within the highly prospective Matchless Copper Belt which hosts multiple high-grade copper-gold Besshi Type massive sulphide deposits, such as the historically mined Otjihase Copper-Gold deposit (>16Mt @ 2.2% Cu & 1.2g/t Au) to the northeast of the Hope property.

Regional Geology: 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.

JORC Resource: On 27 October 2023 Bezant announced an updated Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Hope and Gorob copper project situated within EPL 5796 in Namibia, reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012) completed by independent consultants Addison Mining Services Ltd (“Addison” or “AMS”), an independent consultancy based in the United Kingdom. Bezant Resources holds a 70% interest in the EPL 5796.

The MRE includes:

  • A Total Mineral Resource of 15 million tonnes gross at 1.2% Cu for 190 thousand tonnes of Cu estimated across the Hope, Gorob, Vendome and Anomaly deposits and comprising
    • Total Indicated Resources of 1.24 million tonnes at 1.6% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au at the Hope deposit.
    • Total Inferred Resources of approximately 14 million tonnes at 1.2% Cu across the Hope, Gorob, Vendome and Anomaly deposits, including approximately 3 million tonnes at 1.7% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au at Hope.

Metal Recovery Test Work: Metal recovery at the Hope project during previous ore processing tests was excellent, indicating recoveries of 96% copper and 84% gold to a 28% Cu grade concentrate via conventional flotation.

Further Exploration Potential: As reported on 27 October 2023 when the updated Mineral Resources Estimate was announced there is significant exploration potential on the Project with opportunities to add tonnes at all prospects and realize an improved Au credit across the Gorob, Vendome and Anomaly prospects which have seen little in the way of assaying for Au. Upside potential amenable to open pit mining is presented in Table 3 below. The numbers and ranges are conceptual in nature and may not be realized. Further discussion of the exploration potential follows.

At the Hope deposit the transition to the selected pit and underground mining much of the resource is informed by drilling completed by JCI, (Figure 1). This drilling was selective in its sampling, with sporadic sampling of the upper overturned limb of the plunging fold which hosts the mineralization. The dominant direction of drilling from south to north does not adequately test this upper limb and as a result, potential exists to expand the selected open pit under favourable stripping ratios by drilling from the north of the structure, twinning the JCI drillholes and systematically sampling the drill core. Approximately 3500 m of drilling is recommended and should results be favourable Cu grades may improve by approximately 0.1-0.3 % while increasing the size of the practically open pittable Resource to a range of 700 kt to 1 mt. Additional drilling targeting the overturned limb further down strike has the potential to add additional underground Resource tonnes by approximately 20% to 30% of the current underground Resource tonnes.

At Gorob, Vendome and Anomaly, the potential to add additional open pit tonnage is limited in the modelled areas, however along strike potential exists at all deposits. There has not been systematic sampling of Au, Anomaly has no gold assays, Vendome has only 16/273 assays for Au and Gorob 113/466. Clearly there is potential for additional gold credits in all deposits which may be expected to be in the region of 0.2 to 0.4 g/t with locally higher grades in excess of 1 g/t. Extension drilling also has potential realize to mineralized tonnes in the open pit and underground Resources.

Table 3: Exploration potential summary across all prospects.

Area Extension (m) Thickness (m) Down Dip Depth (m) Volume (m3) Density (t/m3) Tonnage
(t) +/- 25%		 Cu (%) +/- 25% Cu
(t) +/- 25%		 Au
g/t
Anomaly NE 200 3 50 30,000 3 90,000 0.6 540 0.2-0.4
Anomaly SW 200 9 50 90,000 3 270,000 0.6 1,620 0.2-0.4
Gorob NE 200 4 80 64,000 3 192,000 1.2 2,304 0.2-0.4
Vendome NE 200 2.5 60 30,000 3 90,000 1.4 1,260 0.2-0.4
Vendome SW 200 6 40 48,000 3 144,000 1.4 2,016 0.2-0.4
Hope       165,000 3 500,000 1.3 6,500 0.3-0.6
Grand Total           1,286,000 1.11 14,240  
Figure 6: Exploration potential at Hope

Figure 6: Exploration potential at Hope

Gold is an important accompanying mineral to the copper deposits of the Matchless Belt. Core was not always assayed for gold during previous drilling campaigns, leaving scope for adding value to many of the prospects along the Belt, including Gorob-Vendome. Bezant tests for gold as a standard procedure during its exploration programmes.

Elsewhere in the Project Area the Niedersachsen deposit cluster includes three previously discovered copper prospects (Niedersachsen, Aros and Kobos) within EPL 6605 and one copper prospect situated in EPL7170 (Schlesien, situated close to the north-eastern border of EPL 6605). While the primary historic exploration focus has been on the known prospects, but this has left the vast majority of the 1,200km2 area unexplored, especially by modern exploration techniques.

HOPE COPPER-GOLD TRANSACTION INFORMATION

Bezant acquired 100% of Virgo Resources Ltd, incorporated in Australia (ACN 626 148 347) (“Virgo”) (the “Acquisition”) on 14 August 2020. Virgo through its 100% owned Australian subsidiary Hepburn Resources Pty Ltd (ACN 624 189 162) owns i) 70% of Hope and Gorab Mining Pty Ltd incorporated in Namibia  which owns EPL5796, ii) 80% of Hope Namibia Mineral Exploration Pty Ltd Incorporated in Namibia which owns EPL6605 and EPL7170.

The share and cash consideration payable by Bezant at completion of the Acquisition was i) the issue of 422,062,525 new ordinary shares of 0.002 pence each in the capital of the Company (“Bezant Shares”) at a deemed issue price of 0.2 pence per Bezant Share  (“Ordinary Shares Consideration”), ii) £135,000 settled by the issue of 113,333,333 new Bezant Shares of which 79,333,333 have been issued and 34,000,000 are to be issued on 15 February 2020 (the “Asset Sellers Consideration”); and iii) cash of AUD157,021 (approx.. £86,600 (the “Consideration”).  

Ownership and location: The tenures are located in the Namib Desert of Namibia within the Swakopmund District, Erongo Region accessible by well-maintained gravel roads. EPL5796 is held by Hope and Gorob Mining (Pty) Ltd  which is 70% owned by Hepburn Resources Pty Ltd (100% owned subsidiary of Virgo) and 30% owned by a local partner. EPL6605 and EPL 7170 are held by Hope Namibia Mineral Exploration (Pty) Ltd, which is owned 80% by Hepburn Resources Pty Ltd and 20% by a local partner.

EPL Licences: Exclusive Prospecting Licences such as EPL5796 and EPL6605 allow searching, whether by way of excavations or otherwise, for minerals or group of minerals with a view to delineating or evaluating deposits or concentrations of any such a mineral or group of minerals. EPL 5796 is for base and rare metals and precious metals and EPL 6605 is for base and rare metals: dimension stone, industrial minerals; precious metals. An EPL is issued for 3 (three) years and may be renewed twice for a period of 2 (two) years per renewal and shall not expire during a period when an application for renewal has been lodged no later than 90 days before the expiry date. 

Option Consideration: Bezant issued 98,361,250 unlisted Options which vested on 1 August 2021 and expired on 31 August 2023 with an exercise of 0.30 pence which represented a premium of 150 per cent. to 0.12 pence being the closing middle market price on 18 June 2020 when Bezant entered into an agreement to acquire Virgo and through it the Hope Copper Gold project. 

Deferred Consideration: The deferred consideration of £400,000 potentially due to the vendors of Virgo is not due as there was not within 36 months of completion of the Virgo transaction a total Mineral Resource (as defined in the JORC code (2012 addition)) (Mineral Resources) on any of the current or future projects of Virgo of 400,000 tonnes of contained copper,

9 November 2023