Good Morning Team.
As we come to the close of H1 2025, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the corporate progress of Galileo and Bezant over the past few months.
For context, Galileo is up over 10% and Bezant around 25% year-to-date. Of course, longer-term performance since the pandemic days has been less impressive, but both have enjoyed decent progress.
Galileo Advances
Galileo’s project stable is vast, so I’ll just focus on the key elements from the first half of this year, including those in Botswana, Zambia and the United States.
In Botswana, the company is preparing to drill high-priority targets within its 100%-owned licences PL039/2018 and PL040/2018.
These are situated between the major copper-silver discoveries at Zone 5 (MMG’s Khoemacau project) and the Plutus deposit (held by Sandfire Resources), both of which define a significant portion of the Kalahari Copper Belt’s resource base.
It’s worth noting that both majors are extending their production and resource bases within 30 kilometres of Galileo’s licences. Any new discoveries or extensions will likely have material implications for Galileo.
The company has interpreted geophysical and soil geochemical anomalies along key D’Kar/Ngwako Pan Formation contacts, which host the majority of copper-silver mineralisation in the region.
These targets are supported by structural mapping and historical airborne surveys, with recent reprocessing and reinterpretation highlighting several potential trap sites for mineralisation, including dome structures and anticlines commonly associated with economic copper deposits in the belt.
Drilling on these targets is expected to begin in Q3 2025, with the aim of confirming the presence of stratabound copper-silver mineralisation. The company has already secured the necessary environmental clearances and is finalising plans with contractors.
In Nevada, Galileo controls the Ferber gold-copper project located in Elko County, an area historically mined for iron and copper and considered prospective for Carlin-style and porphyry mineralisation.
The company has completed extensive desktop reviews and reprocessing of historical magnetic and gravity data, which have outlined a multi-kilometre intrusive complex with associated alteration zones.
Soil and rock chip sampling conducted in early 2025 identified anomalous copper and gold across multiple targets, particularly near skarnified limestone contacts and brecciated volcanic units.
Galileo is finalising a 2,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme which should start in Q4. The primary objective is to test geophysical targets and geochemical anomalies associated with magnetic highs and structural intersections - with this phase of drilling also helping to determine the continuity of historical copper and gold mineralisation reported in the 1980s but never followed up with modern techniques.
In Zambia, progress continues.
In the Western Foreland region, located north-west of First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel and Enterprise operations, Galileo has been progressing geological mapping and geophysical interpretation over its licences.
The region is part of an underexplored extension of the Central African Copperbelt, where recent discoveries by Ivanhoe Mines (in particular, at Kamoa-Kakula, just across the DRC border) have redefined the prospectivity of the basin margins.
Galileo’s 2025 fieldwork aims to define basin architecture and identify structural traps where reductive conditions may have facilitated copper sulphide deposition. The company anticipates initiating scout drilling in H2, contingent on finalising access agreements and permitting.
Then at the Kashitu project, Galileo is following up on historical zinc, vanadium, and copper anomalies in what was once part of a Bwana Mkubwa mining concession.
The Kashitu target area features breccia-hosted and stratiform mineralisation, with previous artisanal workings providing structural and mineralogical clues.
A 1,500-metre diamond drilling programme completed in early 2025 intersected zinc-rich intervals with associated vanadium and copper values. Galileo has submitted a batch of metallurgical samples for testing and is assessing whether the project could yield economically viable polymetallic concentrates.
The company is also reviewing the viability of direct shipping ore (DSO) scenarios, particularly if zinc and vanadium grades prove consistent over greater widths.
At Shinganda, Galileo is working in joint venture with local partners to test a porphyry-style copper-gold target. Initial reconnaissance drilling completed earlier this year intersected altered volcanic and intrusive lithologies with disseminated sulphide mineralisation.
While assays did return sub-economic values, the alteration patterns and geochemical vectors suggest proximity to a mineralised centre.
The company is planning induced polarisation (IP) geophysics to better define chargeability anomalies before committing to deeper drilling.
Of course, the major catalyst remains Luansobe, where we are waiting for details.
As a reminder, the company holds a 75% interest through a joint venture with Statunga Investments.
The project is located 15 km northwest of the Mufulira Mine, a major copper producer in Zambia's Copperbelt region. Copper mineralisation extends along a strike length of approximately 3 km, dipping at an angle of 20–30° to the northeast.
Last year, Galileo was awarded two small-scale mining licenses at the project:
License 1 covers shallow open-pittable areas.
License 2, issued on 4 August 2024, encompasses potential underground resources.
The licenses were granted for a period of 10 years, covering a combined area of 384 hectares.
There is a JORC 2012 resource at Luansobe already:
Open-pit resources of 5.8 Mt at 1% Cu (cut-off 0.25%), containing 56,000t Cu.
Underground resources of 6.3 Mt at 1.5% Cu (cut-off 1%), containing 97,000t Cu.
And an exploration target of 3–7 Mt at 1–1.5% Cu at depths of 100–300m, requiring deeper drilling to confirm.
External consultants have already conducted studies to define mining schedules and optimize resources - with the geological block model updated to include low-grade ore and potential ore in the overburden.
Sensitivity analysis has now highlighted various scenarios for open-pit operations:
Depth of 220m (cut-off 0.25% Cu): 9.12 Mt of run-of-mine ore, containing approximately 70,000 tonnes of copper.
Depth of 160m (cut-off 0.5% Cu): 4.41 Mt of run-of-mine ore, containing approximately 40,000 tonnes of copper.
Mine designs and trade-off studies are currently underway to inform contractor negotiations. The project has identified multi-stage development potential, including open-pit mining, shallow underground operations, and deep underground mining.
There is potential for operational flexibility through separate mining and processing arrangements aimed at maximizing profitability. Further collaboration with third-party contractors and potential investors is under review.
Galileo is currently completing detailed mine design and scheduling, conducting deeper drilling to evaluate additional underground resources.
Bird notes:
‘We are now convinced that we have a two, possibly three-stage, project with a substantial Cu ore resource suitable initially for O/P mining and potentially followed by a large scale UG operation. Naturally a project of this size and definition has attracted considerable interests from third parties and as such we have entertained numerous enquiries concerning potential involvement in varying ways. The Board of Galileo is acutely aware that embarking on a particular development route would probably be exclusive to other routes thus removing the optionality of best value outcome for the Galileo shareholders.’
With drilling campaigns planned or underway in Botswana, Zambia, and the USA, H2 2025 is expected to deliver multiple news catalysts, including assay results, geophysical interpretations, and potential joint venture or farm-out agreements.
Which may speak to further share price increases over the next six months.
Bezant Streamlines
Bezant is entering H2 2025 with a strengthened and streamlined operational and financial profile.
This month, Bezant completed the disposal of the Eureka Project in Argentina, divesting its entire 100% interest in Puna Metals which holds the twelve mining licences covering the assets - for a total cash consideration of $170,000.
By exiting the Eureka Project, Bezant has eliminated a non-core and potentially capital-intensive asset from its portfolio.
This strategic refocus will allow management to concentrate financial and operational resources on projects with greater near and medium-term value potential, particularly in Namibia, where the business has now secured the Environmental Clearance Certificate for its flagship Hope & Gorob Project.
The ECC approval represents a critical regulatory prerequisite that unlocks the official granting of the mining licence previously approved by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Bezant can now advance customary project management, ownership conditions, and, importantly, finalise project financing.
I’ve covered this in depth before - we must be close now.
As a reminder, the open pit alone (when I calculated the figures last year) left net revenue (profit, but will be tax etc) of $161,563,140 dollars for five years, or $32,312,628 per year.
This increases closer to $50 million using current pricing.
Add in the underground, Gorob and Vendome deposits and it gets even better!
In other news, Bezant’s investment in the Mankayan copper-gold project, held indirectly via IDM International - continues to benefit from active developments. IDM is in the process of merging with ASX-listed Blackstone Minerals, with completion expected by the end of May.
Blackstone’s recent announcements have been promising: visible gold was discovered in newly reported drillholes, including hole BRC-60, which revealed high-grade copper-gold mineralisation from one of the deepest historic diamond drillholes at the project.
These results reinforce the world-class potential of Mankayan, located strategically near major Philippine copper-gold operations including the Lepanto gold mine.
Upon merger completion, Bezant will receive approximately 149 million Blackstone shares plus 2.54 million options exercisable at AUD 0.06, offering significant exposure to future upside in the combined entity.
Blackstone is up 133% year-to-date, and at a share price of A$0.07, the combined equity and ITM options are worth A$10,455,400 or £5,437,808 to Bezant.
The market cap stands at £4.6 million.
The company has also improved its financial runway by extending the repayment date of its £700,000 unsecured convertible loan facility with long-term shareholder Sanderson Capital Partners.
The facility’s maturity date is now 31 July 2026, with a conversion price set at 0.025 pence per share — a 13% premium to the last closing price before the extension announcement.
Additional concessions include the one-year extension of 437.5 million warrants exercisable at 0.12 pence and an option for Bezant to prepay the loan early subject to premium payments. The facility’s extension relieves near-term refinancing pressures, providing capital stability and allows the company to focus on advancing its projects without distraction.
Get that financing for Hope & Gorob, perhaps using that Blackstone holding as collateral - and we’re away.
The bottom line
Galileo is approaching a catalyst-rich second half of 2025. In Botswana, drilling at the high-priority PL039/2018 and PL040/2018 licences - surrounded by major copper-silver producers - could deliver material news flow as early as next quarter.
In Zambia, scout drilling at the Western Foreland licences and metallurgical results from Kashitu will define the economic potential, while Shinganda’s geophysical follow-up could sharpen drill targeting near a suspected porphyry centre.
In the US, RC drilling at the Ferber project is slated for Q4, offering a first test of geochemical and geophysical anomalies in a historically overlooked district.
With drilling campaigns underway or imminent across three jurisdictions, assay results, structural interpretations, and potential JV activity represent clear near-term value triggers.
And then there’s Luansobe…
For Bezant, the strategic disposal of Eureka has simplified the corporate focus ahead of two major near-term catalysts.
First, the company now moves to secure project financing and operational readiness for Hope & Gorob - where confirmation of the mining licence and a funding package could re-rate the project significantly.
Second, completion of the Blackstone-IDM merger - expected imminently - will crystallise Bezant’s holding in a fast-appreciating ASX-listed vehicle.
With Blackstone shares and in-the-money options already worth more than Bezant’s current market cap, monetisation or collateralisation of this stake could unlock critical project capital.
Let’s see this happen.