Bezant Resources has started optimisation and geotechnical drilling at the Hope & Gorob Copper-Gold Project.
The drilling follows the recent granting of a mining licence 246, subject to statutory approval and the renewal of adjoining exploration licences.
Bezant Resources holds a 70% interest in the Hope & Gorob project.
The company will drill a large-diameter diamond core to provide fresh mineralisation samples for ore sorting optimisation, modulation work, and the collection of drill core for geotechnical assessment.
Specialist consultants and subsequent reports have completed a final external review of operating facilities and are expected to confirm capital cost estimates and proposed metallurgical flow sheets.
External metallurgical engineers have also been requested to provide plant configuration and operation options to increase plant throughput capacity.
The company will advertise nationally to ensure all Namibians can apply for various employment opportunities.
Bezant Resources executive chairperson Colin Bird said they are advancing all the underlying matters required to bring a mine into production.
“We are taking the opportunity to closely define the start point for the initial pit entry onto the Hope deposit.
“The objective is to maximise early cash flow as much as possible by predicting ground conditions and associated factors that might impact mining and optimising and modulating the various ore sorting technologies that will be applied,” Bird said.
Bird added that the tasks are numerous and intensive, and the team should be complemented on the pre-licence work.
“This excellent progress has condensed and focused our programmes and, more importantly, defined critical paths.
“We also look forward to continuing exploration on our southern Matchless exploration licences that total more than 70 km strike length, 17 km of which occur within the Hope and Gorob licence,” Bird said.
Bezant Resources has also reviewed the quantum and distribution of gold mineralisation at the Hope & Gorob Project to establish the actual contribution of gold to the project’s overall economics.
A typical gold credit of 0.4 g/t Au, in line with the Hope mineral resource, at a current gold price of US$2,700 per ounce, contributes a gross value of approximately US$35 per ton of ore at this grade.
Drilling completed by Bezant in 2022 over Hope, Gorob, and Vendome reported peak gold grades for Hope, including 2.0 g/t Au over 1.35 metres, 2.57 g/t Au over 0.3 metres, and 1.54 g/t Au over 0.65 metres, and for Vendome 5.89 g/t Au over 1.76 metres.
These gold credits represent by-product values of US$174, US$223, US$134, and US$512 per ton, respectively, at a gold price of US$2,700 per ounce.
Peak historic gold intercepts achieved during drilling campaigns pre-dating Bezant include notable intercepts of copper and gold in boreholes of 20 g/t Au, 61 g/t Ag, & 16.8% Cu over 0.96 metres and 22 g/t Au, 26 g/t Ag, & 3.98% Cu over 1.01 metres.
Historic grab samples collected on outcrop at Hope, Gorob, and Vendome, as well as other prospects along strike from Hope, including Du Preez, Luigi, Gird, and Bruna, reported notable gold grades peaking at 6.76 g/t Au.
The company will attempt to model an in-house theory that some high gold values are structurally controlled and linked to remobilisation and consequent upgrading of gold values.
Successful modelling could influence future production, and targeting high gold values is often associated with equally high copper grades.
