"Executive chairman Gerry Nealon says Bezant's flagship Mankayan project in the Philippines has the potential to become a world class mine."

Bezant is a global AIM-listed company specialising in natural resource exploration and development. It is backed by an experienced team of geologists, metallurgists, engineers, chemists and commercial specialists.

Bezants principal focus since it began operation in 2007 has been on early-stage ventures in key commodity sectors. Currently, it has interests in two global assets: The Mankayan Project (a copper/gold porphyry project in the Philippines) and the gold enterprise Mkurumu Project in Tanzania. Bezant Resources has a 40% stake in the Mankayan copper-gold project on the Philippine island of Luzon and an option to acquire the remaining 60% for US$40,000. In Tanzania, it has a 46% stake in a joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti, and other exploration tenements.

It also recently announced the acquisition of highly prospective copper and gold exploration licences in the Jujuy Province of northwest Argentina (the Eureka Project).

Bezant Resources has revealed a maiden 189 million tonnes JORC ore reserve for the Mankayan copper/gold project in the Philippines.
The ore reserve and Mmneable inventory statements - prepared by Mining Plus Pty - reveal:
* Probable ore reserves of 189 million tonnes at 0.46% copper and 0.49g/t gold
* Total recoverable metal reserves of 811,000 tonnes of copper and 2,210,000 ounces of gold
* Mineable inventory increased to 389 million tonnes at 0.38% copper and 0.42g/t gold
* Total mineable inventory of 1.4 million tonnes of copper and 3.9 million ounces of gold

RNS
12 January 2011 07:00 Bezant Resources PLC (BZT) Change of Broker

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed gold and copper exploration and development company operating in the Philippines, Argentina and Tanzania, announces the appointment of Singer Capital Markets Limited as Corporate Broker to the Company with immediate effect

From the RNS of 17 December 2101, it was stated that a further announcement would be made in the early part of the New Year, in which case we will not have long to wait.

"The addition of this Ore Reserve status to the forthcoming results of the conceptual study and our ongoing review process, will assist us immensely in identifying the most attractive route for taking the project forward and unlocking maximum shareholder value.

We look forward to announcing the full results of the conceptual scoping study in the very early part of the New Year."

Well done grevis!!!!

new valuation........

Opinion: Strong Buy
Price: 71.25
Good figures on estimated NPV/SP:Today 08:39

From iii:

$459m = 286m / 60m shs = 4.78

$1.51b = 9433,470m / 60m shs = 15.73

By Mr Euclid

Thanks markymar. Certainly has lived up to expectations. Will update header later. Bit of profit taking as expected. Market cap' well below NAV so plenty of upside potential on this one.

The price of BZT has been drifting down ever since the last RNS on 19 January. The chairman seems to have little doubt that Mankayan has the potential to become a world class mine and this was borne out by the independent report returning an (NPV) of $459m and cash flow over the duration of the project of approximately $5.1bn. With the current price of 55p the market cap' has now fallen below 29 million which by any yardstick makes this an attractive buy.

25 February 2011
Bezant Resources Plc
Placing to raise approximately 4.75 million

Bezant (AIM: BZT), the AIM listed gold and copper exploration and development company operating in the Philippines, Argentina and Tanzania, today announces a placing to raise approximately 4.75 million before expenses and provides an update in respect of its Mankayan Project in the Philippines.

Highlights:
Placing to raise approximately 4.75 million before expenses

Shares placed with new and existing shareholders at a price of 50p per share

The net proceeds will be used to fund the option exercise and initial work programme in respect of Bezant's Eureka Project in Argentina.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Placing to fund the option exercise and initial work programme in respect of its Eureka Project in the Jujuy Province of north-west Argentina, with the core details of the Asset Purchase Agreement having been previously set out in the Company's announcement of 7 December 2010. The Eureka Project currently has unaudited unclassified resource estimates, from historic exploration activities, in the order of up to approximately 62 million tonnes grading at approximately 1% copper (620 thousand tonnes of copper) and approximately 52,000 ounces of gold, as credits.

Preliminary discussions commenced with a number of interested parties in the mining and industrials sectors in respect of a potential disposal of the Mankayan Project

To that end, the Directors are now focussing their efforts on achieving the potential divestment of 100 per cent. of the Company's interests in the Project and the Board is pleased to announce that it is in preliminary discussions with a number of interested parties in the mining and industrials sectors. Shareholders should note, however, that any potential sale would be subject, inter alia, to detailed due diligence and there can therefore be no certainty as to the timing of any disposal or that any offers for the Project will be secured on terms acceptable to the Board

Gerry Nealon, Executive Chairman, commented:

"We are pleased to have raised 4.75 million from new and existing investors through a placing which was significantly over-subscribed. The proceeds of the placing will be used to fund the option exercise and initial work programme in respect of our Eureka Project in Argentina, which we acquired in December last year. Whilst discussions are at a preliminary stage, we are nevertheless encouraged by the interest received from a number of significant parties in respect of the potential sale of the Mankayan Project and look forward to updating shareholders on progress as and when appropriate."

bargain - 50p over subscribed placement + asset changes - excellent
kerrrrrrrrrrrchinnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggg!!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f1055356-4114-11e0-bf62-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1F0LlLq7a

Bezant Resources rose 5.3 per cent to 50p after saying it was considering the sale of its Mankayan copper-gold project in the Philippines having received interest from a number of significant parties.

A Chinese conglomerate was rumoured to among those interested in buying the project, dealers said.

Bezant also said it had raised 4.75m with a share placing to institutions at 50p each to fund development of its prospect in north-west Argentina.

From another BB:
Article from SeekingAlpha - Think its from Todays Guardian.
Refers to "One of the country's major conglomerates" -

Finally, Aim-listed copper and gold miner Bezant Resources was 2.5p better at 50p, the price at which it placed new shares to raise pounds 4.75m. The proceeds will be used to fund early development of its Eureka prospect in Argentina. Meanwhile the company said it was in talks with a number of possible buyers of its Mankayan copper project in the Philippines. Traders believe two Chinese companies are among those interested in the site, including one of the country's major conglomerates.

Mankayan Project NPV US$199m

Potential For Mankayan Sale

The Mankayan Project is for sale and management would expect the US$199m to guide bids from potential acquirers. We calculate a Mankayan intrinsic value of US$177m although in our BZT valuation we have adjusted this to reflect the bargaining process and the risk that a disposal is not successful in the near-term. Our SOTP includes 55.3m for Mankayan.

Gold Fields Involved Next Door
What makes Mankayan highly investable is its proximity to the Far Southeast Project, a large copper porphyry three kilometres away. Given the cost savings of a joint development encompassing both deposits, it makes sense to develop them together. At a cost of USD$54m Gold Fields bought a call option over the Far Southeast Project and is currently involved in an 80,000m drilling programme there.

The Mankayan copper-gold porphyry in the Philippines is Bezants flagship project. It was acquired by Bezant in 2007 for 5.46m in a share and cash deal and following three and half years, nearly 10,000m of additional drilling and c.4m spent in the ground, the deposit has been upgraded to a JORC Resource of 221.6mt Indicated and 36.2mt Inferred for 1.3mt of contained copper, including Reserves of 189mt and a 400mt Mining Inventory. This makes Mankayan a very large copper resource by global standards and one which could be a useful addition to a large miners portfolio.

Mankayan benefits from being situated within the copper belt of north Luzon. There are both working and historic copper mines in the area and an associated skilled mining work force. In fact, Filipino block caving skills are arguably the best in the world and partly explain the low mining costs in the region. This is demonstrated by Sto. Thomas II, a nearby underground porphyry with mining and milling costs of only US$12/t.

Mankayan is also located within 3km of the comparable and development stage Far Southeast Project. FSE is deeper than Mankayan and will be more expensive to develop, but is larger and higher grade. In September 2010 Gold Fields (JSE:GFI) paid $54m for an option to acquire 60% of FSE, which if exercised will result in a total payment of US$340m. As part of the transaction, Gold Fields is also undertaking a major drilling programme on FSE to improve the resource status.

FSE could be very important to the realisation of Mankayans value as it makes excellent economic sense to develop the two properties jointly. The synergies include sharing shafts, surface infrastructure and the very expensive processing equipment.

Our sum of the parts (Mankayan & Eureka in Argentina) NAV is 74.7 or 122p per share, c.150% above the current share price. However, if both projects are progressed successfully Bezants value would easily exceed 100m. These two projects present very different risks and together reduce the overall risk profile of Bezant.

http://bezantresources.com/sites/bezantresources.com/files/Singer%20CM%20Research%20Note%20BZT%2002%20March%202011.pdf

make of this what you will - does not seemed to have harmed the sp - below is a direct quote from brokerman daniel's www - i would expect this to send the sp even higher altough i do not agree with the way info has been shared here - it is now on most bbs:

'OK here we go there are several brokerages quietly stake building in Bezant. They are taking stock in expectation of an sp surge of a sale of the Mankayan asset. The bonus for the market is that they had been getting in at a 30% discount to the recent placing price of 50p. It is this buying that has been influencing the stocks rise over the last two weeks or so. Institutions who bought at 50p were assured by the company that the Mankayan sale had attracted serious Chinese interest along with several other enquiries from European/Indian parties. They are targeting a 70P/80p return with a possible 100p on full takeover. Rises in the stock have already begun. Winterflood have given the sale an 85% rating while Cazenove have it at 90%. I ask you not to post any of this information online for obvious reasons. It is cutting it fine! I will of course release an editied verssion of this post later today. Ad clicks please!

Take a look at Bezant resources there are currently rumours circulating of potential buyers for their Mankayan Project. They are a decent mining punt with Gold & Copper interests in the Philippines,Argentina and Tanzania. What makes Bezant a decent investment is the fact that they recently completed a placing raising 4.75 million (before expenses) at 50p per share they are now trading at about 40p and have traded as high as 81p on the back of good news.The Company remains well-funded in respect of the option exercise and initial work programme for its Eureka Project in Argentina, whilst continuing to pursue the potential divestment of its flagship Mankayan Project in the Philippines. Which I might add has some mouth-watering JORC figures; Maiden Independent JORC Compliant Probable Ore Reserves of 189 million tonnes grading at 0.46% copper and 0.49g/t gold.Total Mineable Inventory Statement of approximately 400 million tonnes of ore grading at 0.38% copper and 0.42g/t of gold, equating to approximately 1.4 million tonnes of copper and 3.9 million ounces of gold. Yes youve read that correctly thats 1.4 million tonnes of copper with 3.9 million ounces of GOLD!

Their share capital is approximately 65million which is very low for a company about to sell a world-class copper/gold asset.

Bezant stated in March that; Preliminary discussions commenced with a number of interested parties in the mining and industrials sectors in respect of a potential disposal of the Mankayan Project

The feeling in the market is that they could easily double from 40p to 80p on good news re the Mankayan sale. Theres also the potential that the company could be taken out of the equation with an outright bid from one of the hungry Chinese multinationals, currently prowling the Global markets gobbling up small miners with world-class assets. Further more it is known that Bezant are now in the process of organising site visits to Mankayan/Philippines. This is a real pointer as to the........................'

& roll on lunch time!

interesting mms being forced to buy from pis at mid....

gibby: Barclays Stockbrokers shows shares in issue as 65 million which I'm sure said broker meant to say. They also show a market cap' figure of 29 million. Interesting to note that Cazenove rate their chances of doing a deal. Singer Capital Markets have given a NAV 0f 1.22 per share, so we will see what happens!

grevis - agreed - i have had bezant on the radar for some time and have been sat holding a reasonable amount waiting for something to happen - i have not bought more today as already in -but have very high hopes for bezant - it is imo a good share to be in your 24 of 28 notes some of the reasons also

have noted last hour or so here practically all buys and should continue

Bezant completes first stage of Eureka project
StockMarketWire.com
Bezant Resources has completed the first stage of the initial work programme on its Eureka project in Argentina.

It says encouraging geophysical responses were identified with zones of high electrical chargeability and resistivity were identified from interpretation of a three-dimensional induced polarisation survey.

The Eureka project comprises a package of 11 highly prospective copper and gold exploration licences, covering, in aggregate, an area in excess of approximately 5,500 hectares.

Bezant is the sole operator and currently owns 15% of the project's holding company, Puna Metals, with an option to progressively acquire the remaining 85% subject to making certain staggered cash payments to 30 December 2012.

Executive chairman Gerry Nealon said: "I am delighted to announce the completion of the first stage of the initial work programme on our promising Eureka project in Argentina and look forward to progressing onto stage two of our evaluation of this attractive asset.

"Despite the current uncertain economic environment and market turmoil, discussions are at an advanced stage with respect to the potential disposal of our Mankayan project and we remain confident of achieving a satisfactory outcome in the near future."

That last paragraph seems to be what the market was looking for!