Ariana Resources plc : Construction Update - Kiziltepe

7 June 2016
AIM: AAU

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE - KIZILTEPE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company operating in Turkey, is pleased to provide an update on construction of the Kiziltepe Mine within the Red Rabbit Gold-Silver Project in Western Turkey ("Red Rabbit").  Kiziltepe is being advanced towards production through a 50:50 Joint Venture ("JV") with Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea").  The project is on target for first production in late H2 2016.

Highlights:

• Crushers and screens, fine-ore stockpile site and ball-mill construction is complete; conveyors being installed.
   
• Process (CIL/CIC and ADR*) plant foundations and structural steel work installation is complete, and foundations for the chemical storage building is also complete.
   
• Mine administration, accommodation and canteen facilities are fully operational, with 160 people currently employed on site.
   
• Connection to grid-power completed with a total capacity of up to 5.5MW; telephone, internet and servers access fully connected to the mine site.
   
• Open-pit access development by the mining contractors remains underway and stripping and storage of topsoil at Arzu South has been completed.
   
• Access and pipeline route to the tailings dam area to be completed this week; Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning recently approved the tailings storage facility (TSF) in line with new legislation and construction of the TSF will be initiated imminently.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: 

"Progress of construction at Kiziltepe remains on track, with 160 people now working on site of which 50 are employed from villages and towns in the vicinity.  Major construction of much of the process plant is now nearing completion (Figure 1) and work is due to commence shortly on the tailings storage facility (TSF). Following the approval of our TSF project in line with new legislation by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, the project is currently on schedule for commissioning during Q3 2016 and production in Q4 2016.  Furthermore, our relationship with local government is excellent and we were pleased to host several government and law-enforcement representatives during a recent site visit.  In addition, the JV company has ensured that local suppliers are preferentially used for material, equipment and services for construction, which has developed a strong sense of community ownership of the project."

* CIL - Carbon-in-Leach; CIC - Carbon-in-Column; ADR - Adsorption-Desorption-Recovery

Figure 1, which can be accessed by clicking on or pasting the following link into your web browser: http://hugin.info/138153/R/2018378/749154.pdf is the view of the Kiziltepe mine-site showing the current status of construction progress.  In the foreground is a 650m³ fresh water supply tank.  To the right, the fine ore stockpile area and the installed ball-mill can be seen (under blue tarpaulin). In the middle distance is the CIL/CIC and ADR process plant, with green CIL tanks currently being installed.  In the distance towards the left is the open-pit entry ramp.

Contacts:

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 being assessed as to their economic merits and now form part of a Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co.  The Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project is fully-permitted and is currently in construction.  The total resource inventory at the Red Rabbit Project and wider project area stands at c. 525,000 ounces of gold equivalent. 

Beaufort Securities Limited and Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited 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