29 March 2019
AIM: AAU
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the exploration and development company with gold mining operations in Turkey, is pleased to announce a positive update on its exploration and development activities at its projects within Turkey.
Highlights:
· Successful completion of 746m of infill resource diamond-drilling at the Company's 100% owned Kizilcukur Project.
· Construction of new haul road and plans for 2019 trial mining well underway at Kizilcukur.
· Resource infill, geotechnical and hydrological diamond-drilling scheduled to commence at the Tavsan Project next week.
· 2,000m Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling due to commence in May 2019 at the Company's 100% owned Salinbas Project in eastern Turkey.
· Forestry permits for 10,000m drilling programme at Salinbas are close to being finalised.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are very pleased with the current pace of progress across our exploration project areas. Our field team is currently active across all of our sites simultaneously; the highest level of exploration and development activity undertaken in the history of the Company. In western Turkey, project development work is continuing at the Kizilcukur, Ivrindi and Tavsan sites which are located in close proximity to our flagship Kiziltepe gold mine. Furthermore, additional resource-focused work is being directed towards extending the life of mine at Kiziltepe. In eastern Turkey, work at Salinbas, our large gold and base-metal deposit with over 1Moz of gold already defined, has started early in the field season in order to ensure we are in a position to commence a 2,000m RC drilling programme during May 2019.
"We look forward to providing further project updates in due course and as results become available."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Kizilcukur Update
The diamond-drilling programme which commenced at the Kizilcukur Project in December 2018, has now concluded. The team completed a total of 745.8 meters for 13 diamond drill holes. The purpose of this drilling programme was to add further confidence to the Zeki Pit, the largest of three optimised pits in 2016 (see announcement on 7 March 2016), and to increase confidence in the classification of Inferred and Indicated resources, which stand at c. 308,000 tonnes at 2.11g/t gold + 73.4g/t silver (for 33,000 oz Au equivalent). A total of 386 samples were delivered to ALS Global in Izmir for gold and multi-element assay analysis. Results from this programme are expected to return from the laboratory during April 2019.
Following the completion of drilling at Kizilcukur, the team commenced work on the construction of a new 1.7km haul road. This new road is being built with a gradient suitable for use by haul trucks, which will be moving mineralised material from the Kizilcukur trial mining area to a road which to connects to the Kiziltepe processing plant. Further trial mining and stockpiling at Kizilcukur is expected to commence during Q3 2019. The development of the new infrastructure and infill drilling at Kizilcukur will supplement the work being conducted towards an internal feasibility study, to be completed by the Company.
Tavsan Activities
As part of the Zenit project team's ongoing internal feasibility study at the joint venture Tavsan Project, a 600m diamond drilling program will commence shortly. The programme will be focused on resource infill drilling for 355m (13 holes), within freehold land at the Tavsan North and Far North Zones, where historic intercepts include drill hole ODX100 - 14m @ 1.23g/t Au and drill hole ODX102A - 7m @ 1.06g/t Au. The Ariana team designed this drilling program and will be supporting the drilling activities conducted and funded by the Zenit team. In addition, geotechnical drilling (for 245 meters) will also be conducted during April 2019 as part of the internal feasibility study. A further 1,300 meters of resource drilling is currently planned for Tavsan, as well as a further 1,600 meters of exploration drilling. This additional drilling will likely commence once recent applications to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry are approved.
Salinbas Activities
Final preparations for a 2,000m RC drilling programme at the Salinbas Project are underway. The exploration team are aiming to initiate this programme in May 2019, following the completion of drilling activities at Tavsan. This drilling programme will be conducted in areas of forestry and freehold land, testing several targets defined during 2017 and 2018, including the southern extents of the Salinbas North JORC Target (see news release of 28 June 2018). Infill drilling at the Salinbas "A-S" zone, the zone of mineralisation interpreted to occur between the Ardala Porphyry and the Salinbas deposit, will also be tested in the upcoming programme. This will specifically target and provide infill data for the significant breccia-pipe style of mineralisation (as encountered at Hot Maden) first intercepted in 2012 with drill hole ARD008A (81.5m @ 1.28g/t Au + 10.6g/t Ag). In this area the Salinbas mineralisation is expected to interfinger with a series of non-outcropping mineralised dykes emanating from the Ardala porphyry. Furthermore, initial testing of mineralisation identified at the Salinbas North and Ardala North targets is also expected (see news release of 17 November 2017), where significantly anomalous surface geochemistry including rock-chip, channel and portable X-ray Fluorescence ("pXRF") sampling has outlined peripheral mineralisation related to the Ardala Porphyry.
A further 8,000m of drilling has been planned in and around the Ardala porphyry and Salinbas zones. Execution of this drilling programme is dependent on the completion of forestry permitting for the project and this process is now drawing to a successful close. The Company will be considering its approach to the extended drilling programme in due course once the results of the initial 2,000m programme are received and interpreted.
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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Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500 |
James Stearns / Atholl Tweedie |
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Yellow Jersey PR Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512 |
Tim Thompson / Felicity Winkles / Harriet Jackson / Henry Wilkinson |
[email protected] |
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 exploration and development company with mining operations focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey, the largest gold producing country in Europe. The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective licences originally selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, which now contain a total of 1.6 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at end-2017). Ariana's objective is to cost-effectively add value to its projects through focused exploration and to develop its operations, primarily through well-financed joint ventures.
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, form part of a 50:50 Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co. The Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project is fully-permitted and is currently in production. The total resource inventory at the Red Rabbit Project and wider project area stands at c. 605,000 ounces of gold equivalent (as at end-2017). At Kiziltepe a Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of up to 2.5% on production is payable to Franco-Nevada Corporation. At Tavsan an NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.
In north-eastern Turkey, Ariana owns 100% of the Salinbas Gold Project, comprising the Salinbas gold-silver deposit and the Ardala copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry among other prospects. The total resource inventory of the Salinbas project area is c. 1 million ounces of gold equivalent. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited are broker 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:
"Ag" chemical symbol for silver;
"Au" chemical symbol for gold;
"g/t" grams per tonne;
"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;
"m" Metres;
"oz" Troy ounces;
Ends.
