11 February 2016
AIM: AAU
ARIANA RESOURCES PLC
KIZILTEPE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), is pleased to announce that mine construction is proceeding on schedule at the Kiziltepe Sector ("Kiziltepe") of the Red Rabbit Gold Project ("Red Rabbit") in western Turkey, which is being developed in partnership with Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea"). The partnership is expected to deliver its first gold pour in H2 2016.
Highlights:
· Process plant construction on the ADR and CIL circuits to commence imminently along with structural steel for the crushers and ball-mill housing.
· Site administration, accommodation, depot and laboratory buildings fully completed and internals fitted: on site accommodation will be utilised by construction crews from next week.
· No delays being experienced on equipment orders, with jaw and cone crushers, screens, automation and drives having already been delivered to site.
· Earth-moving commenced on the open-pit access ramp and blasting permission granted for open-pit mining: first blast completed.
· Haul road to the process plant has been completed and new site access road under construction.
· Drainage system finalised at the waste-rock dump site, which is now ready for commissioning.
· Renewable mining permit granted until 2021 for the operational licence containing the tailings storage facility (TSF): TSF site works will commence within one month.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are very pleased to report on the rapid progress with construction at the Kiziltepe Mine. The joint venture team is operating on schedule and will be commencing the installation of various process plant components during the second half of February. We are also encouraged to have received our new blasting permit and to see the commencement of work on the open-pit, which marks the beginning of mining operations.
With recent exploration drilling results having highlighted the potential for resource expansion at Kiziltepe, the progress being sustained by both the construction and exploration teams must be commended. We wish the teams further success as they continue their work to deliver the project in to production.
We will provide further guidance on construction progress and the timeline to first gold-pour during Q2 2016. At this stage, we remain on target for first production to commence in H2 2016."
Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view the associated PDF document:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7206O_-2016-2-10.pdf
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616 |
Michael de Villiers, Chairman |
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Kerim Sener, Managing Director |
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Beaumont Cornish Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt |
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Beaufort Securities Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 8300 |
Jon Belliss |
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Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 1128 |
John Beresford-Peirse |
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IFC Advisory Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3053 8671 |
Tim Metcalfe Graham Herring Heather Armstrong |
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Editor's Notes:
About Ariana Resources:
Ariana is an exploration and development company focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey. The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective licences selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, on its own in western Turkey and in Joint Venture with Eldorado Gold Corporation in north-eastern Turkey. Eldorado owns 51% of this joint venture and are fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties, while Ariana owns 49%. The total resource inventory within this JV is 1.09 million ounces of gold.
The Company's flagship assets are its Kiziltepe and Tavsan gold projects which form the Red Rabbit Gold Project. Both contain a series of prospects, within two prolific mineralised districts in the Western Anatolian Volcanic and Extensional (WAVE) Province in western Turkey. This Province hosts the largest operating gold mines in Turkey and remains highly prospective for new porphyry and epithermal deposits. These core projects, which are separated by a distance of 75km, are presently being assessed as to their economic merits and now form part of a Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co. The total resource inventory at the Red Rabbit Project stands at 475,000 ounces of gold equivalent.
Beaufort Securities Limited and Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. are joint 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.
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