Update on Kanye Manganese Project, Botswana

24 June 2021

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company") 

Update on Kanye Manganese Project, Botswana

Bezant (AIM: BZT) is pleased to provide information detailing results of recently completed reconnaissance mapping, prospecting and sampling work at its' 100% owned high-grade Kanye manganese project in Botswana. 

Highlights:

·    Up to four historic manganese occurrences were successfully located and sampled in the field within an 8km-belt

·    40 grab samples were obtained which assayed from traces up to high-grade results of 67.18% MnO occurring at the Moshaneng borrow pit and 68.01% MnO at the Mheelo prospect

·    The latter prospect is located just 6km from the Giyani Metals K-Hill manganese project where a feasibility study is due for completion in Q3 2021 (April 2021 PEA indicates an 80% IRR)

·    Bezant plans to follow-up the main targets with clearance/trenching by mechanical excavator to facilitate detailed mapping, prospecting and more systematic sampling

·    Confirmed targets will be drill tested to define lateral and depth extent of deposits

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented:

"The reconnaissance prospecting and sampling work has given exciting indications of potential for high-grade manganese deposits suitable for upgrading to high-purity for battery manufacture. The extent of the area containing manganese mineralisation at the Moshaneng Borrow Pit has been expanded considerably as a result of our work, reinforcing our original thoughts regarding the potential in that area. We now intend to to carry out a programme of pitting and trenching to lead us towards the best targets and help optimise a drilling programme."

Work Completed

Reconnaissance field visits were made to several of the known areas of high-grade manganese mineralisation on PL129/2019. The aim was to conduct initial site visits to the main prospects, several of which were poorly constrained and documented in the limited historical records, as it is about 50 years since the last significant exploration work in the area. In the interim, the recorded prospects have become overgrown and difficult to locate. Where found by the Company, preliminary mapping and prospecting was carried out and a total of 40 confirmatory grab samples was collected for laboratory analysis.

Two visits were paid to the Moshaneng borrow pit close to a main road, where material has been excavated for road construction and where previous rock sampling had indicated high manganese grades. In addition, the historical prospects at Mheelo, Loltware and near the Moshaneng talc mine were re-discovered, prospected and grab sampled. More detailed mapping and sampling was possible at the Moshaneng borrow pit where active excavation for road material had exposed new zones of interest.

In the borrow pit manganese mineralisation sits directly on top of a dolomite unit and is concentrated in erosional channels/Karst structures. A detrital manganese-rich layer of cherty boulders is also evident. Several grab samples of material from boulders and breccia zones in locations up to 400m apart assayed >50% MnO, up to a maximum of 67.18% MnO, which compares well with previously reported results.

At the Mheelo prospect, about 7km east-southeast of the Moshaneng borrow pit, a one-metre thick layer of manganese mineralisation was reported historically. The site of old exploration trenching has become heavily overgrown, however at least one 100-150m long trench was successfully re-located. Grab samples from manganiferous pebbles/boulders in the area of the trench assayed up to 68.01% MnO. Considerable clearing of scrub and further excavation will be required to facilitate geological mapping and more systematic mapping.

At Loltware prospect, half way between Moshaneng and Mheelo, there are historic reports of manganiferous chert outcrop and banded iron formation (BIF). Although the old exploration trench was not relocated during the Bezant site visit, two samples of manganese-enhanced boulders were found which assayed up to 34.73% MnO, suggesting that the source is close to the area visited.

To follow up the success of the site visits in relocating the historically recorded high-grade manganese occurrences, the Company plans to return to the sites with a mechanical excavator to clear and trench the targets in order to facilitate detailed geological mapping, prospecting and more systematic sampling, with the aim of identifying shallow drill targets. Consideration will also be given to geophysical surveying to trace the mineralised zones laterally under thin overburden/cover rock.

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 has highlighted numerous manganese prospects which have 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; the Mheelo prospect, where reports mention that "pure manganese ore to a depth of 1.8m was intersected and the base of the mineralisation was not reached". Historical channel samples on the Mheelo Prospect (located within PL129/2019) yielded grades of 53.1% to 74.2% MnO; the Loltware Prospect, approximately 4km to the west of Mheelo where historical reports noted manganese outcrop with sample assays up to 43.6% MnO; the Lowe Prospect, comprised of chert that yielded historical manganese assay results up to 58.5% MnO; a local talc mine where six large bulldozed trenches are reported with historical sample assays up to 54% MnO.

For further information, please contact:

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 by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

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: