  We report measurements and calculations on the properties of the
intermetallic compound Be$_5$Pt. High-quality polycrystalline samples show a
nearly constant temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity over a
wide temperature range. On the other hand, relativistic electronic structure
calculations indicate the existence of a narrow pseudogap in the density of
states arising from accidental approximate Dirac cones extremely close to the
Fermi level. A small true gap of order 3 meV is present at the Fermi level, yet
the measured resistivity is nearly constant from low to room temperature. We
argue that this unexpected behavior can be understood by a cancellation of the
energy dependence of density of states and relaxation time due to disorder, and
discuss a model for electronic transport. With applied pressure, the
resistivity becomes semiconducting, consistent with theoretical calculations
that show that the band gap increases with applied pressure. We further discuss
the role of Be inclusions in the samples.
