LONDON (Alliance News) - Bezant Resources PLC said Thursday it has sold its platinum and gold licences located in the Choco region of Colombia for USD500,000 in order to focus on copper and gold assets located in Philippines and Argentina.
The mineral exploration and development company has signed an agreement to sell subsidiary Ulloa Recursos Naturales Naturales SAS, which holds the alluvial platinum and gold licences FKJ-083 and HCA-082, to Auvert Mining Group Ltd.
"The board has held discussions with a number of parties in relation to various strategic options for the Choco project, including project financing, joint venture and disposal opportunities, concluding that the disposal to Auvert is in the best interests of shareholders. Bezant will now pursue a strategy foccussed on building value from its copper gold assets comprised of the Mankayan project, Philippines and the Eureka project, Argentina," the company said.
The company expects to record a loss of GBP1.5 million in respect of Ulloa. Proceeds from the sale will be used by Bezant to progress its copper-gold strategy and for general working capital purposes.
"As previously announced, following a full review of the groups operations the board believes future value for the company should be driven from the current portfolio of copper gold assets. The USD500,000 disposal of Choco to Auvert, a company specialising in alluvial mining, allows Bezant to focus on a series of assets in two commodities likely to be subject to significant supply shortfalls. We look forward to updating the market in detail on our copper-gold review shortly," Chief Executive Laurence Read said.
Shares in Bezant were trading 1.9% higher at 0.43 pence.
Bezant Res (BZT)