Bezant Resources PLC Regulatory News (BZT)

15 Jul 2008 07:00



Bezant Resources Plc ("Bezant" or the "Company")

ASSAY RESULTS FOR DRILL HOLE BRC-53 MANKAYAN PROJECT, PHILIPPINES

Highlights:

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed gold and copper exploration and development company operating in the Philippines and Tanzania, today announces assay results for the fourth completed diamond drill hole (BRC-53) at its Mankayan Project, located 260km north of Manila in the Philippines. This is the fourth hole completed in the current ten hole (approximate 11,000m) drilling programme, presently being conducted at the Mankayan deposit.

Drill hole BRC-53 was drilled to a depth of 1,077m and assay results have been returned for a total of 549m of mineralised core, for the interval 528m to 1,077m, with the average assay results for the entire 549m of intersections being as follows:

The hole, BRC-53, was drilled approximately 230m south-east of hole BRC-51 and 112m south-east of the historic drill hole THM-20. The latter drill hole (THM-20) has historically been the most south-easterly located hole and the results from hole BRC-53 have, therefore, significantly extended the known south-easterly boundary of the deposit.

The highlighted intersections shown in Table 1 (below), comprise the 105m of composite intersections, with weighted average grades of 0.52% Cu, 0.43g/t Au, 0.90g/t Ag and a weighted average CuEQ* grade of 0.76%.

The current drilling programme at Mankayan continues to be aggressively pursued with drill holes BRC-54 and BRC-55 (the fifth and sixth holes in the programme), currently at depths of 883m and 550m respectively. Each of these holes is still in highly mineralised zones.

Gerry Nealon, Executive Chairman, today commented:

"This fourth completed hole in the current 11,000 metre Mankayan drilling programme has expanded the mineralization boundary of the deposit with a positive copper-gold intersection to the south-east. Following the completion of drilling and subsequent data analysis, I look forward to communicating our first clear interpretation of the ore body. 

To view the full Table 1: Highlighted Intersections within BRC-53, paste the following link into your web browser:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0598Z_-2008-7-15.pdf

*Copper equivalent values are estimated using long-term metal prices including: Cu at USD$1.2 per pound and Au at USD$450 per ounce. CuEQ equals Cu per cent. plus Au grams per tonne times 14.47 / (1.20 (x) 22.05). Metallurgical recoveries are not considered and adjustment factors to account for differences in relative metallurgical recoveries for gold and copper will depend upon the completion of definitive metallurgical testing. It should also be noted that silver values were not included in the CuEQ calculations.

Dr. Bernard Olivier has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this press release in his capacity as a competent person, as required under the AIM rules. Dr. Olivier is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. 

For further information, please contact:

Gerry Nealon

Executive Chairman, Bezant Resources Plc

Tel: +61 417541873

Bernard Olivier

Executive Director, Bezant Resources Plc

Tel: +61 40 894 8182

James Harris / Matthew Chandler

Strand Partners Limited

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494

Laurence Read/Beth Harris

Threadneedle Communications (UK)

Email: Laurence.Read@threadneedlepr.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)20 7936 9696

Mob: +44 (0)7979 955 923

or visit http://www.bezantresources.com

Notes for editors:

The Mineral and Production Sharing Agreement covers a total of 534 hectares in the Guinaoang area of the Philippines (the "Mankayan Project"). This is located in the Mankayan-Lepanto mining district, an area of porphyry copper belts in the Philippines and is similar to several deposits that have already been developed, such as the St Thomas deposit near Baguio City. The site is adjacent to the copper/gold mine owned and run by Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, with the Mankayan-Lepanto area having been mined for centuries and being readily accessible by both road and air. The Mankayan deposit was discovered in the early 1970s and since then has been extensively drilled, with four historical programmes being completed covering more than 45,000 metres of diamond drilling over 48 holes. The historic resource estimate is in the order of 166.5 million tonnes, at approximately 0.52% copper and 0.54 g/t of gold.