29 June 2021

Bezant Resources Plc

("Bezant", the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Final Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2020,

Publication of Annual Report and Update on Timing of AGM 

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the copper-gold exploration and development company, announces its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Highlights:

Financial:

·  £1.0m loss after tax (2019:  £1.1m loss).

·  No Impairment charge (2019: £211,000) relating to the Company's Mankayan Copper-Gold Project, Philippines.

·  Approximately £1.1m cash at bank at the period end (2019: £0.3m).

Operational:

As explained in the Chairman's statement below during the year the Company remained focused on seeking to develop its existing projects through strategic alliances / joint ventures / sales and the identification and acquisition of copper-gold resources moving towards development of projects which pass the relevant criteria for investment.

Kalengwa Project: Our 30% interest in the Kalengwa copper silver project in Zambia, where Bezant acts as operator, was acquired in April 2020 and comprises a large exploration licence surrounding one of the richest open pits ever worked in Zambia. During its working life, the Kalengwa mine, produced 1.9 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 9.4% copper with over 25% of the ore mined exceeding 20% copper.  The exploration licence has numerous indications of similar geology, along with poorly tested geochemical and geophysical anomalies, which could lead to discovery of further typical Copper Belt mineralisation.  The key areas of interest include sparsely drilled copper mineralisation just 4km northeast of the main pit and a 13km strike zone of coincident geochemical and structural anomalism, which has not been drill tested. Post the year end in April 2021 we announced the provisional results of our initial two drill holes which were very pleasing and our plans for 2021 are referred to in the Chairman's statement below.

Hope Copper Gold Project: We completed the acquisition of 100% of Virgo Resources +70% interest in the Hope and Gorob licences in Namibia, in August 2020 which already have a combined Mineral Resource of 10.2Mt @1.9% Cu and 0.3g/t Au at a 0.7% Cu cut-off, reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012).  The concession has a further untested potential mineralised area of over 150km as well as additional targets for drill testing adjacent to the Hope and Gorob deposits.  Post-acquisition, archive search, showed that the values of gold at Hope were on many occasions higher than the average in the mineral resource statement, including some values over 1g per tonne.  Samples from the Gorob deposit were not assayed for gold by previous owners, thus giving the impression that no gold existed.  During the period the Company commenced a reconnaissance drilling programme to test the Gorob prospect for gold and to increase the resource base in the area surrounding the Hope property and in January 2021 announced that the result of this initial programme achieved the objective of confirming our assertion that gold should be present at the Gorob-Vendome deposit since it is present at the Hope project and our plans for 2021 are referred to in the Chairman's statement below.

Mankayan Project Philippines: In 2019 the Company sold 80% of its interest in the Mankayan copper-gold porphyry project in the Philippines to MMIH of Singapore who intend a reverse takeover or listing on the Singapore or other suitable exchange.  Post the period end on 28 April 2021 the Company announced it had served notice of termination of its transaction agreement (the "Transaction Agreement") dated 4 October 2019 with Mining and Minerals Industries Holding Pte. Ltd. ("MMIH"), a private company incorporated in Singapore, with respect to the sale of 80 per cent. of the Company's interest in the Mankayan copper‐gold project in the Philippines (the "Mankayan Project") to MMJV Pte. Ltd. ("MMJV"), a 100 percent subsidiary of MMIH, (the "Transaction") as MMIH has not met its Total Funding Commitment as defined in the Transaction Agreement. Bezant, will explore and pursue options including the possibility of re‐positioning the Mankayan project within the Company's portfolio of copper and gold assets. The Company will provide a further update(s) as and when appropriate and the termination is referred to in notes 5 & 11.1 to the accounts.

Eureka Project Argentina: The Eureka Project in Argentina has been kept in good standing. We have previously undertaken the initial desktop work, to define drilling programmes, which will test various geophysical and geochemical anomalies and, when complete, should define, the nature of the gold distribution and overall potential of the project.  Argentina has, like many countries, been adversely affected by COVID-19 but we have received expressions of interest to either joint venture or sell the project and are still considering the best route to take for the project.

Fundraising:

On 19 June 2020, the Company announced a £350,000 (before expenses) fundraising. The fundraising comprised a placing of 406,250,000 new Ordinary Shares (the "Placing Shares") for £325,000 at a price of 0.08 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Placing Price") (the "Placing") and a subscription by Colin Bird, Bezant's Executive Chairman, who invested £25,000 to subscribe for 31,250,000 new Ordinary Shares at the Placing Price (the "Subscription Shares") (the "Subscription"), representing 7.14 per cent. of the total Fundraising amount.  Each of the participants in the Fundraising also received a warrant exercisable at a 100% premium to the Placing Price for each Fundraising Share which they have subscribed valid for 2 years from Admission. The Company also issued a warrant to Novum to subscribe for 21,875,000 new Ordinary Shares exercisable at the Placing Price for a period of 2 years from Admission. 

As announced on 28 August 2020, the Company raised £625,000 before expenses from a fundraising comprising 750,000,000 new Ordinary Shares ("Placing Shares") for £600,000 at a price of 0.08 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Placing Price") (the "Placing") and a subscription by Colin Bird, Bezant's Executive Chairman, who invested £25,000 to subscribe for 31,250,000 new Ordinary Shares at the Placing Price (the "Subscription Shares") (the "Subscription"), representing 4.17 per cent. of the total Fundraising amount.  Each of the participants in the Fundraising also received half a warrant exercisable at 0.16 pence for each Fundraising Share which they have subscribed valid for two years from Admission. The Company also issued a warrant to Novum to subscribe for 37,500,000 new Ordinary Shares exercisable at the Placing Price for a period of two years from Admission.

During the period 476,875,000 of the warrants issued in relation to the two fundraisings announced on 19 June 2020 and 28 August 2020 were exercised and the Company was paid in aggregate £739,250 in relation to the exercise of these warrants. As at the year end.

2021 Annual General Meeting

In light of current restrictions on public gatherings and the uncertainty as to when and to what extent these will be lifted and to ensure shareholders comply with the Government measures, the Company will as in 2020 be calling an Annual General Meeting at which shareholders will not permitted to attend in person but arrangement will be made for shareholders to dial into the AGM and submit questions in advance of the AGM.    

The Company will hold an Annual General Meeting on or around Friday, 30 July 2021 and the wording of each resolution to be tabled will be set out in a formal Notice of Annual General Meeting to be sent to shareholders.

Shareholders who are unable to attend the Annual General Meeting and who wish to appoint a proxy in their place must ensure that their proxy is appointed in accordance with the provisions set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting.

Corporate

On 26 October the Company announced the appointment to the Board of Raju Samtani as a Finance Director and Edward (Ed) Slowey as a Technical Director of the Company.

Raju Samtani, Associate Chartered Management Accountant, serves currently as Finance Director of the AIM-listed Tiger Royalties and Investments Plc. His previous experience includes his position as a Finance Director of Kiwara Plc which was acquired by First Quantum Minerals Ltd in January 2010 and prior to that he spent three years as Group Financial Controller at marketing services agency - WTS Group Limited, where he was appointed by the Virgin Group to oversee their investment in the WTS Group Ltd.

Ed Slowey holds a BSc degree in Geology from the National University of Ireland and is a founder member of The Institute of Geology of Ireland. Ed has more than 40 years' experience in mineral exploration, mining and project management including working as a mine geologist at Europe's largest zinc mine in Navan, Ireland and was exploration manager for Rio Tinto in Ireland for more than a decade, which led to the discovery of the Cavanacaw gold deposit.  Ed is an experienced exploration geologist, having worked in Africa, Europe, America and the FSU and his experience includes joint venture negotiation, exploration programme planning and management through to feasibility study implementation for a variety of commodities. As a professional consultant, Ed's work has included completion of CPR's and 43-101 technical reports for international stock exchange listings and fundraising, while also undertaking assignments for the World Bank and European Union bodies. Ed has also served as director of several private and public companies, including the role of CEO and Technical Director at AIM-listed Orogen Gold Plc which discovered the Mutsk gold deposit in Armenia.

Post Period End:

Colin Bird, Executive Chairman of Bezant, today commented:

"During 2020 we have increased the Company's copper projects in Southern Africa by acquire a 30% interest in the Kalengwa copper silver project in Zambia and a >70% interest in the Hope Copper Gold project in Namibia which means the Company is well positioned in the gold-copper space when the demand for copper is expected to double by 2030. Post the year end we increased our position in Southern Africa by the acquisition of the Kanye Manganese Project in Botswana."

The Company's Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 has been published today and will shortly be available on the Company's website at: https://www.bezantresources.com/financial-reports 

The audited financial information contained in this announcement does not constitute the Company's full financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020, but is derived from those financial statements, approved by the board of directors. The auditors' report on the 2020 financial statements was unqualified and did not contain any statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 but did contain an 'material uncertainty' paragraph relating to going concern.  The full audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies and filed at Companies House.

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 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

For further information, please contact:

EXTRACTS FROM THE 2020 ANNUAL REPORT

Chairman's Statement

Dear Shareholder,

In last year's Chairman's letter, I mentioned the Board's move to focus on Southern Africa and during the year under review, Bezant acquired a 30% interest in the Kalengwa Copper Silver Project in Zambia, and +70% interest in the Hope Copper Gold Project in Namibia and also entered into an agreement to acquire the Kanye Manganese Project in Botswana which closed after the year end. We remained focused on seeking to develop existing projects through strategic alliances / joint ventures / sales and the identification and acquisition of copper-gold resources moving towards development of projects which pass the relevant criteria for investment.

Kalengwa Project: Our 30% interest in the Kalengwa copper silver project in Zambia, where Bezant acts as operator, was acquired in April 2020 and comprises a large exploration licence surrounding one of the richest open pits ever worked in Zambia. During its working life, the Kalengwa mine, produced 1.9 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 9.4% copper with over 25% of the ore mined exceeding 20% copper.  The exploration licence has numerous indications of similar geology, along with poorly tested geochemical and geophysical anomalies, which could lead to discovery of further typical Copper Belt mineralisation.  The key areas of interest include sparsely drilled copper mineralisation just 4km northeast of the main pit and a 13km strike zone of coincident geochemical and structural anomalism, which has not been drill tested.  Post the year end on 12^th and 22^nd April 2021 we announced the provisional results of our initial two drill holes which were very pleasing. We have identified 350m of mineralised strike to date and, in order to build up a significant copper tonnage, we intend to carry out a ground IP geophysics survey as well as drilling at least two further holes in the vicinity of the two already completed holes. We are pleased with the results to date as we have not yet tested several other targets on the large Kalengwa property, including a 13km zone of enhanced soil geochemistry along an interpreted structure. We plan to carry out initial geophysical surveying on this target while the geophysics crew is on site.

Hope Copper Gold Project: We completed the acquisition of 100% of Virgo Resources +70% interest in the Hope and Gorob licences in Namibia, which already have a combined Mineral Resource of 10.2Mt @1.9% Cu and 0.3g/t Au at a 0.7% Cu cut-off, reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012).  The concession has a further untested potential mineralised area of over 150km as well as additional targets for drill testing adjacent to the Hope and Gorob deposits.  Post-acquisition, archive search, showed that the values of gold at Hope were on many occasions higher than the average in the mineral resource statement, including some values over 1g per tonne.  Samples from the Gorob deposit were not assayed for gold by previous owners, thus giving the impression that no gold existed.  During the period the Company commenced a reconnaissance drilling programme to test the Gorob prospect for gold and to increase the resource base in the area surrounding the Hope property and in January 2021 announced that the result of this initial programme achieved the objective of confirming our assertion that gold should be present at the Gorob-Vendome deposit since itis present at the Hope project. Both copper and gold values were pleasing, and we will obviously internally rework the valuation of Gorob based on the new results. In the first half of 2021 we tested the130km of strike under license by a heli-airborne electromagnetic survey and the preliminary evaluation of this announced on 2 June 2021 showed good results as the survey covered areas suspected to be prospective and has also identified further prospective EM and magnetic targets with significant strike lengths. We are currently interrogating the raw data to refine target selection. Our focus will be on near surface anomalies and/or targets with significant strike lengths.

Kanye Manganese Project Botswana: We announced on 22 December 2020 the conditional acquisition of a 100% interest in the Kanye Manganese Project and announced the completion of the acquisition on 12 February 2021. The project comprises a collection of nine prospecting licenses, located in south-central Botswana south of the town of Jwaneng and west of the town of Kanye and 150 km by road from the capital Gaborone. The licenses cover a total area of 4,043 km2 and provide the holder with the right to prospect for Metals.  The target for manganese mineralisation is manganiferous shale horizons located on the contact between the Taupone Group and the underlying Black Reef Formation. This geological setting is similar to that of the Giyani Metals Corp manganese occurrences on their Kwgakgwe Hill (K-Hill), Otse and Lobatse projects which are located just a few kilometres off the Kanye property. The most significant of these (K-Hill) comprises a manganese-rich black shale formation within the lower Taupone Group containing an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.24Mt @ 27.3% MnO at a cut-off grade of 8.9% MnO prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101. (As reported by Giyani Metals Corp. in April 2020).  Post-acquisition the Company has in 2021 commenced an initial exploration programme involving filed work and trenching.

Mankayan Project Philippines: In 2019 the Company sold 80% of its interest in the Mankayan copper-gold porphyry project in the Philippines to MMIH of Singapore who intend a reverse takeover or listing on the Singapore or other suitable exchange.  Post the period end on 28 April 2021 the Company announced it had served notice of termination of its transaction agreement (the "Transaction Agreement") dated 4 October 2019 with Mining and Minerals Industries Holding Pte. Ltd. ("MMIH"), a private company incorporated in Singapore, with respect to the sale of 80 per cent. of the Company's interest in the Mankayan copper‐gold project in the Philippines (the "Mankayan Project") to MMJV Pte. Ltd. ("MMJV"), a 100 percent subsidiary of MMIH, (the "Transaction") as MMIH has not met its Total Funding Commitment as defined in the Transaction Agreement. Bezant, will explore and pursue options including the possibility of re‐positioning the Mankayan project within the Company's portfolio of copper and gold assets. The Company will provide a further update(s) as and when appropriate and the termination is referred to in notes 5 & 11.1 to the accounts

Eureka Project Argentina: The Eureka Project in Argentina has been kept in good standing. We have previously undertaken the initial desktop work, to define drilling programmes, which will test various geophysical and geochemical anomalies and, when complete, should define, the nature of the gold distribution and overall potential of the project.  Argentina has, like many countries, been adversely affected by COVID-19 but we have received expressions of interest to either joint venture or sell the project and are still considering the best route to take for the project. 

Market Outlook: The gold price is always difficult to predict, but in our projects where gold occurs it is secondary and has the potential for significant revenue addition particularly in Namibia.  We are particularly confident for the prospects of copper, and as I have indicated before there are forecast that the demand for copper is expected to double by 2030.  The supply fundamentals have deteriorated over the last 3 to 4 years, mainly due to do the weak financing conditions for explorers and social challenges in places such as Chile and the DRC and this has been borne out by a strong increase in the copper price over the last year.  It remains our view, that the copper industry will return to its structure of the 1990s, where small high-grade mines existed, medium sized open pit and underground mines existed and of course, the large open pits which were the key contributors. 

COVID-19 and Brexit: Following on from last year's Chairman's letter it is now 15 months or so when we all first learnt about the COVID-19 pandemic and notwithstanding success in the development of vaccinations it is still very much with us as second and third waves have emerged.  Geo-political tensions have not in the meantime got any better which has led to a very uncertain world.  The paradox against this uncertainty is sharply rising base metal prices and bullish forecast for commodities for the coming years.  We continue to believe that for the coming year uncertainties will be increased, but that the underlying strong trend in commodities will be maintained. As COVID-19 remains very much a live issue to be carefully monitored, at the corporate level we have continued to work from home.  Notwithstanding COVID-19 in the period we completed two acquisitions and two fundraisings both of which I participated in. Notwithstanding local COVID-19 requirements during the period we commenced our planned reconnaissance drilling in Namibia and post year end were able to do the same in Zambia. With no projects in Europe Brexit has had a minimal effect on the Company.

I would like to thank my fellow directors of Bezant and management, who have seen many changes during the year and have been resilient during the transition phase.

I look forward to reporting positive developments in our projects, with the Company well positioned in the copper-gold space.

Mr Colin Bird

Executive Chairman

28 June 2021

Consolidated Statement of Profit and Loss

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Consolidated Statement of Other Comprehensive Income

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

For the year ended 31 December 2020

¹ Other reserves is made up of the share-based payment and foreign exchange reserve.

Consolidated and company Balance Sheet

As at 31 December 2020

In accordance with the provisions of Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the Parent Company has not presented a separate income statement. A loss for the year ended 31 December 2020 of £878,000 (2019: £1,216,000) has been included in the consolidated income statement.

Consolidated and Company Statement of Cash Flows

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Notes to the financial information

For the year ended 31 December 2019