7 April 2015
AIM: AAU
INCREASED INVESTMENT BY METAL TIGER
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the Anglo-Turkish gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey is pleased to announce that it has entered into a further strategic investment agreement with Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR) ("Metal Tiger") that includes a direct equity investment of £100,000 by Metal Tiger for shares with attaching warrants in Ariana.
Highlights:
- Metal Tiger to invest a further £100,000 in Ariana at 0.9p per share to acquire an additional 11,111,111 shares.
- Metal Tiger to receive 11,111,111 warrants to subscribe for Ariana shares at 1.8p per share with a three year exercise period.
- Metal Tiger to retain a right to subscribe for a further £75,000 into Ariana by 30 June 2015 at 0.9p per share.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"Ariana is pleased to announce a further strategic investment in the Company by Metal Tiger, which together with existing cash resources, supports key exploration and development activity planned for the upcoming field season and core working capital requirements to Q4 2015. This expression of confidence in Ariana follows from recent developments including notable progress on the Red Rabbit JV and the completion of a positive Scoping Study on the Salinbas Project.
"The Company recognises the significant catalytic potential of its Red Rabbit project advancing in to construction or the potential sale of the Salinbas/Ardala asset. Either of these events would crystallise value for the Company and its shareholders. Recent work allows, for the first time, value to be ascribed to both joint ventures in our portfolio; Red Rabbit on the basis of its Definitive Feasibility Study and now Salinbas on the basis of its Scoping Study.
"We welcome the additional investment by Metal Tiger at this pivotal moment in the history of the Company. With the investment announced today, Metal Tiger has to date invested £175,000 into Ariana, with the potential to increase to £250,000 by June 2015 or more should Metal Tiger exercise their warrants which are priced at a minimum of 1.8p. We look forward to further collaboration with Metal Tiger as we advance our strategic partnership."
Subscription Agreement Information
Ariana previously announced on 5 February 2015 a Direct Equity Subscription by the Metal Tiger into Ariana of £75,000 for 8,333,333 shares in Ariana at 0.9p per share. As part of this original investment, 8,333,333 warrants were issued to Metal Tiger to subscribe for shares in Ariana at 1.8 per share with an exercise period of 3 years from the subscription date. Should Ariana dispose of their Salinbas/Ardala JV asset for in excess of US$15 million, the exercise price for any unexercised warrants would be increased by 50% to 2.7p per share.
Furthermore, Metal Tiger also agreed to subscribe in shares in Ariana for an additional £75,000 on the same subscription terms, within 20 business days of the receipt of forestry permits for its Red Rabbit Project by 30 June 2015*. This second subscription could be accelerated and completed at any time prior to 30 June 2015.
Metal Tiger has now completed a further equity investment into Ariana of £100,000 for 11,111,111 shares at 0.9p per share. As part of this investment Ariana has issued an additional 11,111,111 warrants to subscribe for shares in Ariana at an exercise price of 1.8p per share and with an exercise period of 3 years. This investment is separate and in addition to the previous subscription agreement announced on 5 February 2015.
Metal Tiger retains the right to subscribe for an additional £75,000 at 0.9p per Ariana share by 30 June 2015, on the same basis as outlined in the subscription agreement of 5 February 2015, save that this subscription is now solely at Metal Tiger's volition.
* Receipt of the forestry permits will enable the construction phase of the Red Rabbit Project to commence, following which production is expected after approximately eight months of build time.
Contacts:
| Ariana Resources plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616 |
| Michael de Villiers, Chairman | |
| Kerim Sener, Managing Director | |
| Beaumont Cornish Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
| Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt | |
| Beaufort Securities Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 8300 |
| Saif Janjua | |
| Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 1128 |
| John Beresford-Peirse / Dr. Frank Lucas | |
| St Brides Partners Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
| Susie Geliher / Lottie Brocklehurst | |
Editors' note:
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.
Ends