Bezant Resources PLC (LON:BZT) said reconnaissance and sampling work has indicated the potential for high-grade manganese deposits at its Kanye project in Botswana.
Reconnaissance field visits were made to several of the known areas of high-grade manganese mineralisation where the last significant exploration work was carried out about 50 years ago.
Grab samples assayed up to a maximum of 67.18% manganese oxide at the Moshaneng borrow pit and 68.01% manganese oxide at the Mheelo prospect.
"The reconnaissance prospecting and sampling work has given exciting indications of potential for high-grade manganese deposits suitable for upgrading to high-purity for battery manufacture,” said executive chairman Colin Bird.
“The extent of the area containing manganese mineralisation at the Moshaneng Borrow Pit has been expanded considerably as a result of our work, reinforcing our original thoughts regarding the potential in that area.
“We now intend to carry out a programme of pitting and trenching to lead us towards the best targets and help optimise a drilling programme," he said.