Bezant Res Regulatory News (BZT)

31 May 2018

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company")

Equity Fundraising to raise £800,000 (gross)

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has raised, in aggregate, £800,000 before expenses through a subscription and placing of, in aggregate, 222,222,222 new ordinary shares of 0.2 pence each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 0.36 pence per share (the "Issue Price") (the "Fundraising").

The Fundraising comprises a placing of 208,333,333 new Ordinary Shares (the "Placing Shares"), via the Company's broker, Novum Securities Limited, and a subscription by Colin Bird, Bezant's Executive Chairman, who has invested £50,000 to subscribe for 13,888,889 new Ordinary Shares (the "Subscription Shares"), representing 6.25 per cent. of the total Fundraising amount. Accordingly, following completion of the Fundraising, Mr. Bird will be interested in 25,000,000 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 2.5 per cent. of the Company's enlarged share capital.

Use of Proceeds

The net proceeds from the Fundraising will be principally be utilised to progress the Company's Mankayan copper-gold project, located on the Island of Luzon in the Philippines (the "Mankayan Project"), including commissioning a further update / optimisation of the historical third party scoping study, together with onsite community development work and the necessary activities to advance a drilling progamme targeting resource confirmation and potential extension. Bezant's board believes that the Mankayan Project is already a forerunner in the prospective global copper-gold arena and anticipates that the project will be enhanced and even better placed following completion of the planned work programme.

The Company will also utilise a portion of the net proceeds on activities aimed at increasing the confidence in, and decreasing risk at, Bezant's Eureka project in Argentina, which is likely to include a small-scale geophysics programme. The balance of the net proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes.

The Mankayan Project

As previously reported by the Company, the Mankayan Project was the subject of an Independent JORC Ore Reserve and Mineable Inventory Statement and conceptual study which was released in January 2011, estimating Probable Ore Reserves of 189 million tonnes at 0.46 per cent. copper and 0.49g/t gold, resulting in total Recoverable Metal Reserves of 811,000 tonnes of copper and 2,210,000 ounces of gold. The Total Mining Inventory of approximately 390 million tonnes of ore runs at an average grade of 0.38 per cent. copper and 0.42g/t gold, equating to approximately 1.4 million tonnes of copper and 3.9 million ounces of gold.

Hole BC-60, the last hole drilled by Gold Fields Netherlands Services BV ("Goldfields") (details of which were announced by the Company on 12 February 2014), returned 342m of core at an average grade of 0.6 per cent. copper and 1.01 g/t gold and this particular location is currently a key focus for Bezant in determining potential development pathways for the Mankayan Project. The eastern side of the ore body has the propensity for an increase in the resource tonnage and grade, which could potentially add further value to the overall economics of the project.

The Company is also reassessing the independent conceptual study and reports last updated in 2014, which suggested that the Mankayan Project had a potential post-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 21 per cent. and post-tax net present value ("NPV") of approximately US$793 million (at an 8 per cent. discount rate), with total post-tax net cash flows of approximately US$3.7 billion.

Further Details on the Fundraising

The Issue Price represents a discount of approximately 17.24 per cent. to the closing mid-market price of 0.435 pence per Ordinary Share on 30 May 2018 (being the latest practicable business day prior to the date of this announcement).

Application to trading on AIM 

The Fundraising is conditional on admission of the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission") and, following Admission, the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares will represent, in aggregate, approximately 22.25 per cent. of the Company's enlarged ordinary share capital. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 14 June 2018.

Following the issue of the Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares, the Company's total issued share capital will consist of 998,773,038 Ordinary Shares with voting rights. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury and accordingly there are no voting rights in respect of any treasury shares. The Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares will be fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing Ordinary Shares.

On Admission, the abovementioned figure of 998,773,038 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, Bezant under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Related Party Transaction

As Mr. Bird is a director of the Company and in light of the size of his subscription, his participation in the Fundraising is considered to be a related party transaction pursuant to Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. Accordingly, the independent directors, being Mr. Ronnie Siapno, Dr. Evan Kirby and Mr. Laurence Read, having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, Strand Hanson Limited, consider Mr. Bird's participation in the Fundraising to be fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.

Laurence Read, CEO of Bezant, today commented:

"The additional funds secured today will support the Company as it seeks to build value from a series of operational workstreams, primarily on its Mankayan copper-gold asset in the Philippines, following the recent renewal of the project's Mineral Production Sharing Agreement ("MPSA") to April 2020. Reassessment of the existing Mankayan engineering studies and a focus on the last, high-grade copper-gold intersections drilled by Goldfields will be key objectives. We shall also look to continue our assessment of the Eureka copper-gold project in Argentina and progress discussions with industrial groups in relation to the Company's asset portfolio in-country, which hosts a potential world class copper-gold resource."

For further information, please contact:

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.