26 April 2017
Bezant Resources Plc
("Bezant" or the "Company")
Exercise of Option over two alluvial, platinum
and gold licences in Colombia
Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM quoted mineral exploration and development company, announces that, further to the recent completion of its scoping study and the results of technical work concluded to date, the Company has now exercised its existing option over two platinum and gold licences located in Choco, Colombia.
Highlights:
· Option exercised over two alluvial platinum and gold licences, FKJ-083 and HCA-082, in Colombia (the "Licences") (the "Option")
· Under the terms of the agreements relating to the acquisition of Leeward Islands Exploration LLC in January 2016, which holds the Option via its subsidiary Ulloa, the exercise price payable by Ulloa to acquire the Licences is, in aggregate, US$300,000, of which:
o US$100,000 has been paid on notice of exercising the Option; and
o US$200,000 is payable on or before 5 December 2017
· Following completion of the Option exercise, Bezant via Ulloa will hold a 100 per cent. interest in the Licences, which cover a total area of approximately 2,659ha
· Decision to exercise the Option follows the positive results of the Independent Scoping Study announced on 8 March 2017 and other technical work conducted on the FKJ-083 licence area
Ed Nealon, Non-Executive Chairman of Bezant, today commented:
"We are pleased to confirm that, further to this Option exercise over two mining title licences in Colombia, we remain on target to acheive first production in H1 2017 at FKJ-083 and look forward to establishing a low cost alluvial mining operation. In due course, we plan to establish additional mining operations in the Choco region of Colombia, which has historically been a source of significant alluvial platinum and gold production."
Further Information
Bezant, via its wholly-owned Colombian subsidiary Ulloa Recursos Naturales S.A.S. ("Ulloa"), has yesterday exercised its pre-existing option over the FKJ-083 and HCA-082 licences. The decision to exercise the Option was made following review of the independent scoping study, details of which were announced on 8 March 2017 (the "Independent Scoping Study"), and the technical work conducted to date, including the phase 2 recovery results announced on 3 April 2017. Under the terms of the option agreement and associated transaction documents entered into when Bezant acquired Leeward Islands Exploration LLC in January 2016 which holds the Option via Ulloa, the exercise cost is, in aggregate, US$300,000, of which US$100,000 has been paid and a further US$200,000 is payable on or before 5 December 2017.
The Licences, which cover a combined area of approximately 2,659ha of prospective platinum and gold bearing alluvial gravels, have been assigned to Ulloa and will now be registered in Ulloa's name with the Colombian National Mining Agency. Mining licence FKJ-083 was the primary focus of the Independent Scoping Study and will be the location of the Company's initial mining operations and processing plant ("Stage 1 Development"). Once Stage 1 Development is complete and the plant on producation, the Company will thereafter seek, the requisite community and regulatory approvals to develop further mining operations in the Choco region.
In summary, the Option exercise enables Bezant to progress with the rapid development of its first alluvial platinum and gold mining operation on mining licence FKJ-083, which remains on track to be in production in H1 2017.
As referred to in the Company's announcement of 16 November 2015, the Company retains via Ulloa, a further option in respect of licence HGE-082 in the Choco region ("Option 2"), covering approximately 91ha, which remains under evaluation. A further update in respect of Option 2 will be provided in due course.
For further information please contact:
Bezant Resources plc Bernard Olivier Chief Executive Officer Laurence Read Executive Director / Communications Officer Strand Hanson Limited (Nomad) James Harris / Matthew Chandler / James Dance Beaufort Securities Limited (Broker) Elliot Hance or visit http://www.bezantresources.com |
Tel: +61 40 894 8182 Tel: +44 (0)20 3289 9923 Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494 Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300 |
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.
