6 September 2023

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company") 

Results from Phase 2 Metallurgical Test Work on Kanye Manganese Sample, Botswana

and Update on Hope and Gorob Project, Namibia

Bezant (AIM: BZT) is pleased to provide information on further positive results of Phase 2 metallurgical testing carried out by Wardell Armstrong International ('WAI') on a sample from its' 100% owned Kanye manganese exploration project in Botswana. The primary objectives of the testwork were to optimise the leaching conditions to achieve high manganese recoveries at more economical conditions relative to the previous phase of testwork and to benchmark the project against other manganese projects.

Highlights:

·    Phase 2 work followed on from previous metallurgical testing conducted by WAI, and reported in July 2023, aiming to optimise manganese recovery from the 'Moshaneng' sample whilst minimising the reagent consumption rates to improve process economics.

·    Sulphuric acid leaching optimisation testwork found that manganese recoveries of 99.5% were achievable at moderate process conditions, specifically 60°C leaching temperature, 300kg/t of sulphur dioxide addition, and 284kg/t of sulphuric acid consumption.

·    Grind size had minimal influence on the final manganese recovery with 88.0% and 88.3% manganese recovery achieved for feed material particle size distributions of 80% passing 200µm and 80% passing 150µm respectively.

·    Leaching temperature had negligible effect on the final manganese recovery with 88.0% and 89.5% manganese recovery achieved for leach temperatures of 60°C and 90°C respectively.

·    Leach kinetics of manganese recovery were dependant on the sulphur dioxide addition rate. Sulphur dioxide introduced incrementally, demonstrated a staged manganese recovery.

·    A Benchmark Project Review was carried out on three recent manganese projects which were identified as having a similar geographical location and/or producing final products of a similar specification.

o  Giyani Metals K.Hill Project Botswana;

o  Manganese X Energy Corp. Battery Hill Project Canada;

o  Euro Manganese Inc. Chvaletice Project Czech Republic;

·    The Kanye manganese deposit demonstrates an excellent overall manganese recovery using moderate leaching conditions compared with benchmarked projects.

·    The Kanye deposit composite showed a negligible increase in manganese leaching performance at elevated temperatures, which is a favourable outcome from an OPEX perspective.

·    Having established that the Kanye mineralisation is potentially suitable for processing to high purity manganese, the Company will now press on with planning for further exploration at the project to expand the footprint of the deposit and advance towards resource definition. Further metallurgical test work will be considered at a later stage of project advancement.

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, commented:

"WAI Group was engaged to carry out this work, the results of which are pivotal to the Kanye manganese project. The results in essence verify that manganese can be extracted from the deposit to produce leach solutions with high manganese concentrations via standard leaching processing technologies with extremely high recoveries.

This is an excellent result and we will now fast track our preliminary economic assessment, whilst progressing our resource definition by further drilling and modelling. We will keep the market updated as results are received"

Kanye Phase 2 Metallurgical Test Work

Wardell Armstrong International (WAI) was commissioned by Bezant Resources Ltd to undertake a second phase of metallurgical testing on a manganese sample from the Kanye manganese deposit, Botswana.

This work followed on from previous metallurgical testing reported by WAI in July 2023 to assess the amenability of a single manganese sample to sulphuric acid leaching, where manganese recoveries of up to 99.4% were achievable at high reagent addition rates.

The primary objective of the testwork was to optimise the leaching conditions to achieve high manganese recoveries at more economical conditions relative to the previous phase of testwork. Encompassed within these leaching tests was the evaluation of the amenability to leach a variety of other elements that will influence the flowsheet economics of producing high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate.

Testing was undertaken on the same sample used during the first phase of testwork, to optimise reagent consumptions during the acid leach. Additionally, a larger suite of elements were tracked over the course of the kinetic leach to benchmark impurity levels for downstream purification economics. Finally, a benchmark review of other manganese projects was conducted to determine how the project sits from a metallurgical perspective on a global scale. A benchmark data review was conducted on the results obtained from both the first and second phase of testwork against a variety of other manganese projects with the intention of producing final products of similar specifications.

Many manganese projects in the African region tend to produce a manganese concentrate which is subsequently transported to a manganese refinery. These projects were not chosen to be referenced in the benchmark review as the flowsheet would not be comparable.

Head Assay

In addition to chemical analysis carried out in the Phase 1 testwork, further analysis was performed on the sample to determine the grades of a range of elements that were deemed to affect the operational cost of  a battery grade manganese product purification flowsheet. The analysis was performed on a representative sub-sample which had been crushed and pulverised to 100% passing 75µm. The analysis was conducted by an aqua regia digest with an ICP-OES finish for manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc, and iron. For aluminium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium analysis was conducted by a lithium borate fusion with an ICP-OES finish.

A summary of the head assay data is given in the Table below:

Leaching Testwork

Sulphuric acid leaching testwork was conducted on the 'Moshaneng' sample to optimise manganese recovery whilst attempting to reduce the reagent consumptions. Solid and aqueous sample streams were subjected to manganese analysis via ICP-OES, with a combination of aqua regia and lithium borate digestion as the sample preparation methods for the solid phase.

A summary of the whole ore acid leaching test results is given in the following Table:

* Sodium metabisulphite was added at eight hourly intervals as opposed to a single addition at the beginning of the leaching experiment.

Benchmark Metallurgical Review

A benchmark review of global manganese projects was conducted to determine how the metallurgical performance compares to other projects. The Kanye deposit demonstrates a comparable manganese recovery to other manganese projects.

A summary of the leach conditions and results is given in the Table below:

WAI Conclusions

Sulphuric Acid Leach Testwork

·    Sulphuric acid leaching optimisation testwork found that manganese recoveries of 99.5% were achievable at moderate process conditions, specifically 60°C leaching temperature, 300kg/t of sulphur dioxide addition, and 284kg/t of sulphuric acid consumption;

·    Grind size had minimal influence on the final manganese recovery with 88.0% and 88.3% manganese recovery achieved for feed material particle size distributions of 80% passing 200µm and 80% passing 150µm respectively. The same relationship is observed for most of the other elements tracked during the testwork;

·    Leaching temperature had negligible effect on the final manganese recovery with 88.0% and 89.5% manganese recovery achieved for leach temperatures of 60°C and 90°C respectively. The same relationship is observed for most of the other elements tracked during the testwork;

·    Leach kinetics of manganese recovery were dependant on the sulphur dioxide addition rate. Sulphur dioxide introduced incrementally, demonstrated a staged manganese recovery. This is consistent with phase 1 testwork that showed manganese recovery was dependant on the sulphur dioxide addition;

·    Other elements were less dependent on sulphur dioxide addition, due to lack of requirement to be oxidised, specifically copper, nickel, iron, and magnesium. Calcium, potassium, and aluminium still showed a positive leaching performance by adopting a staged sulphur dioxide addition rate; and

·    Acid consumption is directly related to the sulphur dioxide addition rate. Sulphur dioxide is consumed to oxidise manganese, and acid is then consumed to form the aqueous manganese sulphate salt. A strong relationship is observed between all these variables.

Benchmark Project Review

·    Three recent manganese projects were identified as having a similar geographical location and/or producing final products of a similar specification.

§ Giyani Metals K.Hill Project Botswana;

§ Manganese X Energy Corp. Battery Hill Project Canada;

§ Euro Manganese Inc. Chvaletice Project Czech Republic;

·    The primary mineralogical component of the Kanye manganese deposit is quartz with the primary manganese component pyrolusite. The two primary mineralogical phases of the K.Hill manganese deposit are manganese mineralisation in the form of cryptomelane and bixbyite. The primary mineralogical phase of the Battery Hill manganese deposit across two locations is manganese-iron silicates. The Chvaletice manganese project is different due to the project being a tailings facility so the primary mineralogical phase is quartz with the main manganese component being albite;

·    The Kanye manganese deposit demonstrates an excellent overall manganese recovery using moderate leaching conditions compared with benchmarked projects;

·    Sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid consumption is slightly higher than the K.Hill project however is carried out at a significantly lower leaching temperature;

·    Acid consumption with a global comparison falls within the 'moderate' classification, however, sulphur dioxide addition is high on a global comparison;

·    Kanye PLS impurity concentrations were similar to the K.Hill and the Chvaletice for copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc. Iron and aluminium concentrations were lower compared to the K.Hill deposit. Finally, base metals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium showed higher concentrations than the K.Hill project. However, potassium products have good commercial value and have the potential to be isolated and sold as a by-product for additional value; and

·    K.Hill and Chvaletice flowsheet demonstrate alternative processing circuits for producing manganese products. Chvaletice uses magnetic separation to pre-concentrate prior to acid leaching whereas the K.Hill flowsheet does not. The Chvaletice flowsheet produce two saleable manganese products, high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate and high-purity electrolytic manganese metal, whereas K.Hill opts to produce high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate only.

Update on the Hope and Gorob project in Namibia

The Company has received the final draft of a revised mineral resource statement in relation to the Hope and Gorob project from Addison Mining Services and is working with Addison Mining Services on an announcement regarding the revised mineral resource statement which it anticipates announcing shortly.

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 pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310).

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: