28 November 2023

AIM: AAU

DRILLING COMPLETED AT KIZILCUKUR

A strong set of results from the Kizilcukur drilling programme

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, is pleased to announce positive results from a recent drilling programme at the Kizilcukur Project ("Kizilcukur" or "the Project") of the Kiziltepe Sector. Kizilcukur is part of Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Zenit"), in partnership with Proccea Construction Co. and Ozaltin Holding A.S. and is 23.5% owned by Ariana. 

Highlights:

●     Resource infill and extension drilling programme has been completed, testing all three main zones of mineralisation, identifying potential extension zones.

●     Initial results of drilling include:

6.0m @ 4.75g/t Au + 135.2g/t Ag

7.3m @ 2.43g/t Au + 36.3g/t Ag

4.5m @ 3.76g/t Au + 17.7g/t Ag

●     Process metallurgical testwork of the Kizilcukur mineralisation yields an average gold recovery of 97%, significantly higher than Kiziltepe.

●     A rock-chip sampling programme designed to test the extensions to outcropping zones returned grades up to 15.47g/t Au.

●     Re-analysis of historic core samples confirms the historic gold grades.

"This is a great set of results from the Kizilcukur drilling programme. The vein system has now been sufficiently well tested for the Zenit mining team and the incoming data is continuing to demonstrate the continuity of gold and silver mineralisation in many of the areas tested. The Zenit team have commenced the detailed work to bring Kizilcukur into the Kiziltepe Sector mining plan. 

"At this stage, we are confident that Kizilcukur will yield a small, high-grade resource capable of being converted to a reserve, which will augment the ongoing operations at Kiziltepe. Metallurgically the ore performs very well with exceptionally high gold recovery, which is in part the result of nuggety free-gold. We expect Kizilcukur will be operated as a satellite mine to Kiziltepe within the next eighteen months."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR"). 

Drilling Programme

This drilling programme was designed to increase the confidence in the resource, and upgrade the classification, in addition to further testing along known mineralised structures, both at depth and along strike (Figure 1). In particular, the vein systems at Ziya and Zafer were targeted, which had previously received only limited drill testing. In addition, in-fill drilling at depth and along strike was completed at the Zeki main vein system.

From the end of July through to November 2023, Ariana and Zenit exploration teams completed the HQ diamond drilling programme of 56 holes, totalling 3,563.8m. At the peak of the programme, two drill rigs were operating simultaneously. The average depth for all drilling was approximately 63 metres, with a minimum depth of 28.6 meters and a maximum depth of 118.8 metres. The dip angles were planned from 45° to 77° to test the extents of the mineralisation.

Figure 1: Map showing historic and new drill collars at the Kizilcukur Project, with quartz veins mapped at surface shown in red. Holes for which assays have been received are shown in dark blue and holes for which data is still to be received are shown in light blue.

Results have returned for 20 holes to date (Table 1), with the most significant intercepts within the expected target zones including: 

·    KCR-D01-23: 6.0m @ 4.75g/t Au + 135.2g/t Ag

o  including 1.0m @ 5.95g/t Au + 268.8g/t Ag

o  including 1.1m @ 6.42g/t Au + 7.6g/t Ag

·    KCR-D02-23: 7.3m @ 2.43g/t Au + 36.3g/t Ag

·    KCR-D19-23: 4.5m @ 3.76g/t Au + 17.7g/t Ag

·    KCR-D20-23: 2.3m @ 4.55g/t Au + 78.4g/t Ag 

Table 1: Significant gold and silver intercepts calculated for all 2023 drilling to date, using a 0.5g/t Au minimum cut-off and allowing for up to 1m internal dilution. Intercepts calculated using KML data.

The drilling programme also highlighted the complex multi-phase mineralisation characteristic of the Kizilcukur deposit (Figure 2). Three different mineralisation phases have been identified and will be evaluated following the receipt of all assay results. These represent epithermal quartz veins, manganese rich zones, and a deeper sulphidic lead and zinc zone, which are suggestive of a low to intermediate sulphidation type system.

Figure 2: An example of the mineralised zones seen at Kizilcukur.

A total of 90.30m drill core from 5 selected historic drill holes have been re-analysed for gold, silver and multi-elements to check the results, which all returned results within reasonable confidence intervals. The results of the highest grade re-analysed zone are seen below in Table 2. Photon assay is being considered as a check analysis for core samples as a potential nugget effect has been noted.

Table 2: Original and repeat assay results for historic hole.

Metallurgical Testwork

Two HQ diamond holes were drilled to twin the best representative mineralisation intervals of the 2015 RC and 2019 diamond drilling programmes. The whole core representing 2.90m and 3.20m were sampled with average grades of 5.17g/t and 2.20g/t Au, respectively. Both samples were crushed and sieved to -106 micron and subjected to NaCN leach tests. The average recovery of gold was 97%, following 72 hours leach time. Silver showed recoveries of up to 75% after 72 hours.

Rock-chip Sampling

A total of 66 rock-chip samples were collected to sample the untested subparallel and extensional zones of the known Kizilcukur vein system (Figure 3). The highest gold grade from this sampling programme is 15.47g/t, proving that the new zones are potential targets for further gold mineralisation and will be used to define new drill targets. Areas to the NW of Zeki and to the SE of Zafer, in addition to a parallel vein system to Ziya, are of particular interest.

Figure 3: Results of the Kizilcukur rock-chip sampling, with highest grades labelled.

Project Summary

The Kizilcukur Project consists of one operational licence located in Balikesir Province in Western Turkey. The property lies 22km to the northeast (straight line) and 70km by road from the Kiziltepe Mine. The Kizilcukur Project is one of the 3 satellite projects which have been sold to Zenit (see announcement of 2 December 2020).

The Project covers an area containing a series of sub-parallel quartz veins hosted by ophiolitic (dominantly basaltic) units that trend northwest and extend for about two kilometres. The veins exhibit classic low-sulfidation epithermal textures and attain a maximum true width of 8m. The Zeki Vein extends over a strike length of 820m. Composite rock-chip sampling of 80m strike along this quartz vein returned encouraging assay results of 6m at 3.3g/t Au, 2m at 9.6g/t Au and 1m at 7.2g/t Au prior to drill testing. The peak rock-chip assay result in this area was 152g/t Au and 1,320g/t Ag, suggesting the potential for substantial near-surface enrichment.

The Mineral Resource Estimate for Kizilcukur is c. 21,100oz gold (Au) and 0.62Moz silver (Ag) contained metal on three main veins (see announcement of 11 May 2020). 85% of the tonnage is in Measured and Indicated (M+I) categories: 218,317t @ 2.72g/t Au and 77.04g/t Ag. 46% of the M+I tonnage is located within the higher-grade Zeki Main Vein, with a grade of 3.62g/t Au and 82.54g/t Ag, upon which trial mining operations have been undertaken previously.

Trial mining was completed within the central part of the Zeki Pit in 2017. This pit is the largest and highest grade of the three pits defined following Whittle optimisation of the Kizilcukur resource in 2016. The General Directorate of Mining Affairs approved blasting operations on the licence as part of the Mining Permit (see announcement of 18 November 2015).

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

All diamond drill core is currently being processed at the Kiziltepe mine site and analysed at the Kiziltepe Mine Laboratory ("KML"). Results are assessed systematically and are grouped according to project.

HQ-size drill-core samples from the drilling programme at Kizilcukur were cut in half by a diamond saw and sent for analysis in batches in line with the Company's quality control procedures. Core recovery for all drilling conducted at Kizilcukur during this campaign was 90%. A total of 3,621 samples (including 762 QA/QC samples) were submitted to KML, of which results for 1,615 samples have been received. Samples to be sent to ALS Global, Izmir as an external laboratory check to add confidence to KML results, have been selected and are awaiting dispatch.

QA/QC sample insertion rates vary depending on the batch size accepted by the laboratory. Ariana sampling protocol requires insertion of 4 QA/QC samples per batch to include 1 blank, 1 CRM, 1 field duplicate and 1 pulp duplicate to assess the accuracy and precision of all stages of the sampling and analysis. During this drilling programme, Zenit QA/QC protocol required 1 blank, 1 CRM, 1 field duplicate, and 1 pulp duplicate per batch of 19 samples and over 10% samples analysed at external laboratory.

Between 2020 and 2021, KML has undergone an extensive expansion to meet the significant demands for sample assaying, from both the mining and exploration teams. This expansion is complete with the onsite laboratory, now housing seven furnaces, two ICP-OES instruments, two Atomic Absorption spectrometers (AAS), three drying ovens, three crushers and three pulverisers. The laboratory upgrades have allowed for a doubling of sampling throughput (70 samples per day to 135). The two major upgrades for 2021 included the addition of 1) a multi-element ICP-OES (Perkin Elmer Avio 550) analyser, and 2) an Elementrac CS-I sulphur-carbon analyser. The ICP-OES provides the team with a full suite of elements on selected samples (as opposed to just gold and silver).

However, new operating procedures are currently being internally reviewed and calibrations of the new instruments are being assessed. As part of this, the laboratory team are sending in excess of 10% of their crushed rejects from selected drill core samples to ALS Global in Izmir for check assays. Zenit's internal QA/QC data and sample duplicates have been reviewed, and are considered approved for Ariana's reporting purposes. In addition, since October 2022 KML has been accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK) with 'TS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General Requirements for the Competence of Experimental and Calibration Laboratory.'

All samples were assayed for gold using a 30g fire assay. Reviews of the assay results have determined that all Quality Control and Quality Assurance samples (blanks, standards, and duplicates) passed the required quality control checks established by the Company, with duplicate samples showing excellent correlation. Laboratory sample preparation, assaying procedures and chain of custody are appropriately controlled. Zenit maintains an archive of half-core samples and a photographic record of all cores for future reference. 

Contacts:

Editors' Note:

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Dr. Kerim Sener BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, Managing Director of Ariana Resources plc. Dr. Sener is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London and a Member of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has sufficient experience relevant to the styles of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies.  Dr. Sener consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

About Ariana Resources:

Ariana is an AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with an exceptional track-record of creating value for its shareholders through its interests in active mining projects and investments in exploration companies. Its current interests include gold production in Turkey and copper-gold exploration and development projects in Cyprus and Kosovo.

The Company holds 23.5% interest in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. a joint venture with Ozaltin Holding A.S. and Proccea Construction Co. in Turkey which contains a depleted total of c. 2.1 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at February 2022). The joint venture comprises the Kiziltepe Mine and the Tavsan and Salinbas projects.

The Kiziltepe Gold-Silver Mine is located in western Turkey and contains a depleted JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 222,000 ounces gold and 3.8 million ounces silver (as at February 2022). The mine has been in profitable production since 2017 and is expected to produce at a rate of c.20,000 ounces of gold per annum to at least the mid-2020s. A Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of 2.5% on production is being paid to Franco-Nevada Corporation.

The Tavsan Gold Mine is located in western Turkey and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 307,000 ounces gold and 1.1 million ounces silver (as at November 2022). Following the approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment and associated permitting, Tavsan is being developed as the second gold mining operation in Turkey and is currently in construction.  A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.

The Salinbas Gold Project is located in north-eastern Turkey and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 1.5 million ounces of gold (as at July 2020). It is located within the multi-million ounce Artvin Goldfield, which contains the "Hot Gold Corridor" comprising several significant gold- copper projects including the 4 million ounce Hot Maden project, which lies 16km to the south of Salinbas. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.

Ariana owns 100% of Australia-registered Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard"), as part of the Company's proprietary Project Catalyst Strategy. The Fund is focused on investments in high-value potential, discovery-stage mineral exploration companies located across the Eastern Hemisphere and within easy reach of Ariana's operational hubs in Australia, Turkey, UK and Zimbabwe.

Ariana owns 75% of UK-registered Western Tethyan Resources Ltd ("WTR"), which operates across south-eastern Europe and is based in Pristina, Republic of Kosovo. The company is targeting its exploration on major copper-gold deposits across the porphyry-epithermal transition.  WTR is being funded through a five-year Alliance Agreement with Newmont Mining Corporation (www.newmont.com) and is separately earning-in to up to 85% of the Slivova Gold Project.

Ariana owns 58% of UK-registered Venus Minerals Ltd ("Venus") which is focused on the exploration and development of copper-gold assets in Cyprus which contain a combined JORC Indicated and Inferred Resource of 17Mt @ 0.45% to 1.10% copper (excluding additional gold, silver and zinc.

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited and WH Ireland Limited are brokers to the Company and Beaumont Cornish Limited is the Company's Nominated Adviser.

For further information on Ariana, you are invited to visit the Company's website at www.arianaresources.com.

Glossary of Technical Terms:

"Au" gold;

"Ag" silver;

"g/t" grams per tonne;

"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;

 "km" Kilometres;

"m" Metres;

"Moz" Million ounces;

"oz" Troy ounces; 

Ends.