Bezant Resources (BZT ) said ten out of the eleven drillholes at the Anglisides Licence Diamond Drill programme licence have returned notable copper equivalent intercepts.
The Anglisides licence forms part of a satellite project of the Troulli Joint Venture, a JV that is focused on the Troulli Mine Development Project and other copper-gold JV targets in Cyprus.
A previous ten-hole diamond drill programme at the licence was expanded to sixteen holes and has since been completed to test the near-surface copper potential for the Anglisides Licence. The assay results for the first eleven drill holes have now been received.
The Anglisides licence, which forms part of the JV, represents a potential satellite mineral resource that could be delivered to the Troulli central processing hub, Bezant has reported.
Bezant has reported notable copper equivalent intercepts achieved for ten of the eleven holes drilled, with results validating the drill programme and confirming the presence of near-surface mineralisation that could potentially be fed into any future Troulli processing plant, it noted.
The results will now be reviewed by an external consultant. Addison Mining to determine the extent of any infill drilling required before a JORC (2012) Mineral Resource can be estimated.
Bezant says the presence of easily accessible copper mineralisation offers an opportunity to increase the global Troulli JV Mineral Resource as well as to extend the projected life of mine.
Commenting on the drill results this morning, Chairman of Bezant Resources, Colin Bird told investors: “We are pleased with the widths and the associated grades. It would appear that this material will be in general free digging and will not require its own dedicated process plant, since Troulli is a truckable distance and the proposed plant will be fit for purpose.”
He acknowledged that the addition of Anglisides suggests that the company’s original prognosis of 8,000 tonnes per year containing copper for 8 years “is very feasible.”
He concluded: “We are about to commence detailed engineering, which will include the phasing of ore types for early payback, thus maximising overall profitability.”
Commenting on the drill results, the CEO of Caerus - a JV company - Charlie Long said “Anglisides is approximately 25km from Troulli and a potential satellite operation. It is therefore important that Anglisides material is sufficiently valuable to allow for the extra trucking cost. With that goal in mind, these excellent drilling results, which show near surface mineralisation and copper equivalent grades of up to 2.36%, are very encouraging.”
He added: “The current plan envisages constructing a central plant at Troulli capable of processing various ore types.
These would include near-surface oxides such as Anglisides’ gossans, deeper sulphide ores discovered at Troulli, as well as surface material, dumped or left unprocessed when mining stopped abruptly in the 1970's.”
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Today’s announcement follows recent positive drill results reported by Bezant and Caerus Mineral Resources at the Troulli development site and joint venture in Cyprus last month. In fact, assays from 8 out of the 10 drillholes at the copper-gold site returned promising results.
Colin Bird, Chairman of Bezant Resources: “These drill results bode well for the addition of further high-grade copper to the Mineral Resource at the Troulli Project with a positive impact on the economics. As exploration work continues and results come in we are very positive about the prospects for the Troulli Project which is only one of several joint venture projects.” Shares were up 3.7% at 0.14p today after Bezant returned results from the Anglisides Licence Diamond Drill programme licence which demonstrated notable copper equivalent intercepts.
Bezant said the presence of easily accessible copper mineralisation offers an opportunity to increase the global Troulli JV Mineral Resource and to extend the projected life of mine.
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