11 November 2014

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant" or the "Company")

Final Results for the Year Ended 30 June 2014

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed copper-gold exploration and development company operating in the Philippines and Argentina, announces its audited final results for the year ended 30 June 2014.

Highlights :

Corporate :

·     £3.9m profit after tax (30 June 2013: loss of £1.4m)

·     £2.4m cash at bank at the period end (30 June 2013: £3.8m)

Mankayan Copper-Gold Project, Philippines (the "Mankayan Project") :

·     Formal notification received from Gold Fields Netherlands Services BV ("Gold Fields") that it would not be exercising its exclusive option over our Mankayan Project (the "Option")

o  Gold Fields had previously paid Bezant a total of US$9.5 million, to initially secure and subsequently extend its Option

o  Gold Fields subscribed for US$7.5 million of new equity in Bezant at a price of 25.97 pence per share in January 2013 and remains a substantial shareholder

·     Gold Fields decided to lapse its Option due to its internal restructuring and need to refocus on its producing assets

·     Bezant received all technical data generated by Gold Fields in respect of its due diligence work:

o  Borehole BC-60 drilling and assay results

o  Over 780 new multi-element assay results confirming Bezant's previous results

·     Re-engagement with pre-existing and new potential acquirers and/or joint venture partners for the project. Potential adverse changes to the Mining and Tax Laws in the Philippines serving to hamper discussions

·     Bezant supporting the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines in its opposition to the Mining Industry Coordinating Council's tax proposal. 

Eureka Copper-Gold Project, Argentina :

·     Exploration work programme and expenditure scaled back to better focus resources on the potential sale/joint venture of the Mankayan Project

·     Internal geological work ongoing

·     Assessing potential cost effective exploration and development options to progress the project towards potential future production

Post Period End :

·     Edward Nealon appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of the Company on 1 September 2014

·     Two new independent financial and technical review reports on the historic 2011 conceptual study on the Mankayan Project have identified significant cost reductions and improved the project's economic viability

Bernard Olivier, Chief Executive Officer of Bezant, commented :

" Whilst the current global mining markets and uncertainty over the Philippines tax situation remain significant challenges, we have ensured that Bezant is on a secure financial footing with time to leverage value from its assets.

"The Board continues to work on ways forward to build long term value in the Company based on its proven track record of cost effective project development and we look forward to reporting further progress in respect of our asset portfolio in the year ahead ."

For further information, please contact :

Chairman's Statement

I am pleased to present the Group's final results for the financial year ended 30 June 2014 and report on our subsequent on-going activities to the date of this statement, having assumed the role of Non-Executive Chairman on 1 September 2014.

For the financial year ended 30 June 2014, the Group made a profit after tax of £3.9m (2013: loss of £1.4m).The Group had approximately £2.4m cash at bank at the year-end (2013: £3.8m) and remains well funded to continue its ongoing activities. The profit reflects the non-refundable payments received from Gold Fields Netherlands Services BV ("Gold Fields") for both the original option and option extension over our flagship Mankayan project ("Mankayan") in the Philippines (the "Option"). The appropriate accounting treatment was to capitalise such receipts as a deposit/deferred income on the balance sheet until such time as the Option was exercised or lapsed. Accordingly, the receipts were recognised in this reporting period following the lapsing of the Option as detailed further below. The profit achieved for the year reflects the deduction of all the Group's expenditure including corporate costs and the cost of its ongoing activities in Argentina and the Philippines.

The extended Option granted to Gold Fields was exclusive until 31 January 2014 and, on 21 January 2014, we received notification from Gold Fields that they would not be exercising it due to their internal restructuring and the need to focus on their producing assets, such as their Yilgarn assets in Western Australia which they acquired in 2013. Bezant continues to maintain a regular dialogue with Gold Fields' representatives, with Gold Fields remaining a significant shareholder in Bezant and a large stakeholder in the Far South East Project, located next to Mankayan. Following lapsing of the Option, Bezant received all data generated by Gold Fields on the Mankayan project, including their drilling and assay results. We were pleased to report that Gold Fields' own data confirmed and supported Bezant's technical studies and results on the project to date, demonstrating that Mankayan is a major potential source of copper with highly robust economics. 

Since receiving the abovementioned notification from Gold Fields that they would not be exercising their Option, we have been actively re-engaging with those parties who previously expressed interest in Mankayan prior to us signing the exclusivity and Option agreement with Gold Fields. We have also initiated discussions with respect to the potential sale or joint venture of the project with new additional third parties in the mining and industrials sectors. Regrettably, our discussions are currently being hampered by potential adverse changes to the Mining and Tax Laws in the Philippines. As previously stated, we firmly believe that both the community and country in which a mining project is located should benefit from any future mining activities and that mining must be conducted in a responsible and sustainable manner. However, the tax structure and fiscal regime of the host country should be of a reasonable nature and internationally competitive in order to attract and maintain the requisite foreign investment. The Board therefore continues to fully support the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines in its opposition to the Mining Industry Coordinating Council's proposal and we await further developments. 

Following due consideration, the Board decided to reduce the Company's Argentinian work programme and its associated costs during 2014 in order to better focus on the potential future sale or joint venture of Mankayan. Despite reducing the Eureka copper-gold project's ("Eureka") exploration activities, the Board continues to believe that Eureka represents an undervalued asset. Eureka has near surface mineralisation, which has historically supported basic mining operations, with significant potential for realising future value in a major, well established, copper-gold province in Argentina. Bezant will continue to pursue cost effective exploration and development options for Eureka.

In May 2013, Bezant returned approximately £5.2m (8 pence per share) to its shareholders (other than Gold Fields) and we will continue to endeavour to secure value from the group's assets in the current difficult market environment. The Board remains focussed on efficient capital outlay and the careful consideration of the best means to achieve value for shareholders from its corporate and operational decisions.

In September 2014, to facilitate our abovementioned discussions with third parties in respect of Mankayan, we commissioned two independent review reports from GHD Group Pty. Limited ("GHD") and Mining Plus Pty. Limited ("Mining Plus") on the historic 2011 conceptual study. The purpose of the independent reviews was, inter alia , to review the project's conceptual design details and assumptions in the context of recent trends in porphyry copper/gold ore mining and processing, update the capital and operating cost estimates, incorporate any improved design elements and identify possible areas for achieving cost savings. In addition, an update to the historic financial model was to be generated to incorporate the revised cost estimates and possible savings identified, as well as reflecting current metals prices . 

In early November 2014, we announced that Mining Plus' updated financial model had identified a US$307 million potential cost reduction compared with the original 2011 study with a recommendation for an up to 20 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") block caving operation over an estimated 28 year mine life. At current metals prices and a 20Mtpa production rate the project has an estimated post-tax internal rate of return of 21 per cent. The independent financial and technical reviews have therefore identified significant cost savings and improved the economics for what we believe is already a highly robust copper-gold project.

I would like to thank all our shareholders for their continued loyalty and support during this period and look forward to reporting further progress in respect of our projects in the year ahead.

Mr Edward Nealon

Non-Executive Chairman

10 November 2014

Review of Operations and Activities

Philippines - Mankayan Copper-Gold Porphyry Project

The Group's Mineral and Production Sharing Agreement covers a total of 534 hectares in the Guinaoang area of the Philippines (the "Mankayan Project"). The Mankayan Project is located in the Mankayan-Lepanto mining district, an area of porphyry copper belts in the Philippines, and is similar to several other deposits that have already been developed by third parties, such as the St Thomas deposit near Baguio City. The project site is situated adjacent to the copper/gold mine owned and run by Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company. The Mankayan-Lepanto area has been mined for centuries and is 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.  From late 2007 to mid 2009 the Company completed a 9,778 metre drill programme over 9 holes along the full strike length of the deposit in order to expand upon, and test the validity of, the historical drilling results and to provide samples for density and metallurgical testwork.

On 17 December 2010, the Company announced maiden independent JORC Ore Reserve and Mineable Inventory Statements, commissioned from international expert consultants as part of a conceptual (technical and economic) study on its Mankayan Project (the "Study"), comprising Probable Ore Reserves of 189 million tonnes at 0.46% copper and 0.49g/t gold and resulting in total Recoverable Metal Reserves of 811,000 tonnes of copper and 2,210,000 ounces of gold. The total Mining Inventory is approximately 390 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.38% copper and 0.42g/t gold, equating to approximately 1.4 million tonnes of copper and 3.9 million ounces of gold, the latter relating to all of the indicated and inferred material incorporated by the mine design.

In January 2011, the Company announced the full results of the completed Study. The conceptual mine design completed for the Study utilised a block caving mining method. Block caving is considered to be an appropriate and common method to mine large deposits, such as that encountered at Mankayan, provided the characteristics of the rock mass lend the ore body to be suitable for caving. The Study applied the general principles of block cave mining to the Mankayan deposit and considered the distinct characteristics of the ore body. It presented an overall mine layout in accordance with the highest industry standards.

The 2011 Study calculated that approximately 95,000 metres of operating development and 2.5 million metres of longhole drilling would be undertaken during the project's development. The total capital infrastructure costs over the project's life was calculated at approximately US$1.2 billion, with a total revenue per tonne of US$33.72 and total costs per tonne of US$21.01.

During 2013, Gold Fields continued to conduct its due diligence work on the Mankayan Project which included the diamond drilling of hole BC-60, positioned to intersect the eastern part of the deposit at greater depth, as well as the review and verification of all of our pre-existing technical data on the project, including the re-logging and re-assaying of certain drill core.

In late January 2014, the Company received formal notification from Gold Fields that it would not be exercising its exclusive option over the Company's subsidiary, Asean Copper Investments Limited, which holds the Mankayan Project. Gold Fields stated that this was due to its internal restructuring and the requirement for it to focus on its producing assets, such as the then recently acquired Yilgarn assets in Western Australia.

Accordingly, the Board re-initiated the extensive process undertaken prior to entering into exclusivity with Gold Fields in 2011, seeking to achieve the potential divestment of the Company's interest in the Mankayan Project. Forming a long term commercial or joint venture partnership to finance and/or assist with the further evaluation and development of the Mankayan Project remains a possible option, although, as in 2011, the Company continues to believe that an outright sale of the project is the most suitable and least risky objective for the Company as this would maximise the potential return to its shareholders. The Board has therefore re-engaged in discussions with those parties who have historically expressed an interest in the project, as well as identifying new potentially interested parties within the mining and industrials sectors. Bezant has also re-assumed responsibility for funding the ongoing licence commitments in respect of the Mankayan Project.

As part of its agreement with Gold Fields, following lapsing of its Option, Bezant received all technical data generated by Gold Fields in respect of its due diligence fieldwork. Diamond drill hole BC-60 was drilled by Gold Fields to a total length of 1,491m and 312 multi-element assay results were returned for a total of 841m of mineralised core, covering the interval from 650m to 1,491m, with an average result for the entire 841m of intersections of 0.38 per cent. Cu and 0.548 g/t Au. Hole B C-60 also contained 342m of higher grade mineralisation for the interval from 692m to 1,034m with an average grade of 0.6 per cent. Cu and 1.01 g/t Au.

Hole BC-60 represents the longest hole drilled to date on the Mankayan Project and extends the known depth of the mineralised zone on the eastern side of the deposit by more than 200m. Gold Fields also observed that the higher grade mineralised section of hole BC-60 generally coincides with similar levels of higher grade mineralisation encountered in historical holes.

In addition, the Company received all the survey data , digital logs, plans, sections, diagrams and assay results for drill hole BC-60.

Gold Fields also verified the Company's existing database through the digital re-logging of the historical drill core and re-assaying of holes BC-50, BC-54, BC-55 and BC-57, which returned over 780 new multi-element assay results. This verification and digital re-logging exercise confirmed and supported Bezant's previous results and all of the aforementioned additional data received has been incorporated into the Company's already comprehensive project database.

In late September 2014, the Company announced the findings of a high level independent review report, undertaken by GHD Group Pty. Limited ("GHD"), in respect of the historic 2011 conceptual study completed by TWP Australia Pty. Limited ("TWP") and Mining Plus Pty. Limited ("Mining Plus")on the Mankayan Project. GHD's reporting scope was, inter alia , to review the project's conceptual design details and assumptions in the context of recent trends in porphyry copper/gold ore mining and processing. In a ddition, capital and operating cost estimates were to be considered and updated to reflect current local costs in the Philippines and to incorporate likely opportunities for any improved design elements identified. Its report utilised the unit rates from Philex Mining Corporation's well established Padcal mine at Padcal, Tuba, Benguet to indicate capital estimates and was supported by carrying out peer analysis on other major block caving mines both in the Philippines and Australia.

GHD's review identified, outlined and recommended two key changes to the development plans with the potential for significant associated cost savings. The revisions reflect recent developments in high-tonnage underground mining and can be summarised as follows:

·   a change from vertical shaft ore haulage to conveyor decline haulage; and

·   improved mine ventilation to avoid the capital and operational costs for a refrigeration plant.

In addition, the Company separately commissioned Mining Plus to provide a supplementary review report focused, inter alia , on identifying other possible areas for achieving cost savings and, specifically, to provide an update to its historic financial model to incorporate the revised cost estimates and possible savings identified by GHD's report, as well as reflecting current metals prices.

The key findings from Mining Plus' supplementary review and updated financial model were announced in early November 2014 and are briefly summarised below:

·     US$307 million potential cost reduction compared with the original 2011 study

o   Change in mine design to a decline access plus conveyor decline for material haulage from the previous decline and shaft haulage configuration

·     Recommendation for an up to 20 million tonnes per annum ("Mtpa") block caving operation over an estimated 28 year mine life

·     At current metals prices (US$3.00 per pound of copper and US$1,250 per ounce of gold) and a production rate of 20Mtpa, the project returns an estimated:

o   post-tax NPV of approximately US$739 million at an 8% discount rate

o   total post-tax net cash flow of approximately US$3.7 billion

o   post-tax IRR of 21%

·     Total estimated costs of US$17.31 per ore tonne, at a production rate of 20Mtpa, inclusive of all royalties, taxes, capital costs, equipment ownership, operating and processing costs, and administrative and technical services costs

·     Total capital infrastructure costs of approximately US$1 billion over the duration of the project at a production rate of 20Mtpa

·     Additional studies recommended to further investigate production levels in excess of 20Mtpa and optimisation of the mine design

Argentina - Eureka Copper-Gold Project

The Eureka project comprises a package of 11 highly prospective copper and gold licences. The 11 licences are located north-west of Jujuy near to the Argentine border with Bolivia and cover, in aggregate, an area in excess of approximately 5,500 hectares, accessible via a series of gravel roads. Historic exploration activities have been conducted on the project area since the 1980s by Minera Penoles, Codelco and Mantos Blancos, with unaudited unclassified estimates in the order of, in aggregate, up to approximately 62 million tonnes grading at 1% copper and approximately 52,000 ounces of gold as credits. The copper oxide mineralisation occurs in loosely consolidated conglomerates and is the focus of the project's economic potential.  Bezant believes that gaining an understanding of the geological model to assess the economic viability of delineating a JORC standard resource at Eureka can be accomplished with low levels of exploration expenditure.

On 16 October 2013, the Company announced the results of its Phase One trenching and sampling programme. A total of 17 trenches were excavated and 68 samples selected and dispatched for analysis with 50 samples selected on the Eureka I Mine tenement over a strike extension of over 2.5km. The remaining 18 samples were taken at various localities along the potential extent of the mineralised zone. Samples were prepared on site and then dispatched to ALS Geochemistry, Mendoza, Argentina, for copper and multi-element analysis. 

The samples returned a very encouraging average copper value of 1.68 per cent for all of the 68 samples analysed. Copper assay values ranged from 0.23 per cent. to as high as 6.09 per cent. with 46 samples returning Cu values in excess of 1 per cent. 

Initial indications are that this lithological makeup is well suited to copper extraction by way of heap or dump leaching.  Agglomeration to prevent fines migration might not be necessary due to the low clay mineral content. Furthermore, the low carbonate content suggests the potential for very low acid consumption in leaching.

During the trenching process the samples breakdown into naturally coarse and fine fractions with virtually all of the copper reporting to the fines.  This behaviour will be investigated further by simple testwork as it could form the basis for concentrating copper values by a simple minerals processing operation.

As announced on 23 June 2014, eight samples of copper mineralisation were selected during a technical site visit to the project area.  Bezant's geologists supervised sampling activities from the pre-existing trenching work and ensured that the mineralisation was broadly representative of the property. ALS Metallurgy in Perth, Australia, conducted laboratory work including chemical analyses and mineral analysis. Chemical analyses produced an average grade of 3.85 per cent. total copper with 3.72 per cent. being acid soluble copper. Accordingly, 96.6 per cent. of the total copper in the samples occurred as acid soluble minerals.

Mineral analysis by semi-quantitative X-ray Diffraction ("XRD") identified the minerals present in the samples.  Copper minerals present in order of predominance were malachite, azurite, cuprite, atacamite and tenorite.  Alpha quartz was the dominant gangue mineral, with smaller amounts of mica, clinochlore, plagioclase and titanium minerals.  The test results also showed that the content of clay type minerals was relatively low at approximately 7 per cent. The entire mineral composition appears well suited to heap leaching.

Samples crushed to 12mm were subject to 14 days of intermittent bottle roll leaching with sulphuric acid addition to a pH of 1.5.  Excellent results were obtained with over 95 per cent. copper dissolution achieved in 10 days.  Acid consumption was low and over 70 per cent. of the acid added for leaching was consumed by copper dissolution. 

The Eureka Project was originally identified by Bezant as being a potential low cost source of copper for a future mine developer. In addition to the mineralisation being encountered near surface, the abovementioned test work provides a strong indication that the copper mineralisation in the project area is suitable for an inexpensive acid heap leaching process. 

Dr. Bernard Olivier

Chief Executive Officer

10 November 2014

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

For the year ended 30 June 2014

Consolidated S tatement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 30 June 2014

Consolidated Balance Sheet

As at 30 June 2014

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

For the year ended 30 June 2014

Notes to the financial information

For the year ended 30 June 2014