Name of the Project
Hope & Gorob copper/gold mining project.

Location
About 250 km south-west of Windhoek and 120 km south-east of Walvis Bay, in Namibia.

Project Owner/s
UK-based copper/gold exploration and development company Bezant Resources.

Project Description
Bezant holds three mineral licences, which have multiple known deposits along the Matchless Copper Belt within the Swakopmund district. 

A technical report completed on the project in October 2024 focuses on the Hope deposit, and secondarily on the preliminary studies completed for the Gorob and Vendome deposits.

The latest Hope pit optimisation results suggest a potential plant feed of 2.4-million tonnes run-of-mine (RoM), which has a copper grade of 1.25% and a gold grade of 0.25 g/t and a life-of-mine (LoM) of about five years, assuming a production rate of 480 000 t/y.

The Hope deposit’s preliminary stope optimisation suggests an underground potential of 900 000 t RoM grading 2.04% copper and 0.48g/t gold. There is also additional LoM potential of just over four years when assuming an underground mining rate of 220 000 t/y.

The Gorob and Vendome deposits have a potential 1.01-million-tonne RoM, supported by the preliminary mine design and production schedule, with an average RoM copper grade of 1.28%; and providing just over two years of planned production (480 000 t/y).

Potential Job Creation
Not disclosed.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not disclosed.

Capital Expenditure
To be confirmed.

Planned Start/End Date
To be confirmed.

Latest Developments
Bezant announced in late January 2025 that it had initiated a detailed optimisation programme to assess ore sorting recoveries for various sensor responses.

A one-tonne sample of fresh mineralisation has been sent to a Namibian testing facility, where an ore-sorting unit – comparable in size, throughput capacity and sensor technology to the unit selected for Hope & Gorob – is available for testing.

Pricing meetings have been conducted on site, with selected Namibian contractors responsible for drilling, blasting, in-pit mining, haulage and outbound logistics for transporting and delivering preconcentrate to the copper concentrator for openpit mining. 

These discussions have focused on detailed costing and labour requirements, in line with the project's advanced development stage.

The company has also reached an agreement with the same contractors regarding the quantity and type of heavy plant and equipment to be used during the first four to five years of production.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Sound Mining International Limited (technical report on the near-term development of the Hope project; and updated mine design and production schedule).

Contact Details for Project Information
Bezant Resources, email info@bezantresources.com.