Final Results

2 June 2015
AIM: AAU

FINAL AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR 31 DECEMBER 2014

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ("AGM")

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the Anglo-Turkish gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, announces its final audited results for the year ended 31 December 2014.

Chairman's statement

2014 was a significant year for Ariana, marking ten years since your Company acquired its first exploration licences in Turkey. In this time, Ariana has generated considerable value across its project portfolio, through a careful and considered process of exploration and development. It has been my privilege to work with our dedicated team during this time and play a part in the evolution of your Company from its early days as a grassroots explorer all the way through to mine developer.

At our flagship Red Rabbit Gold Project in western Turkey, together with our joint venture partners, Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea"), we are continuing the development of the Kiziltepe Mine following the completion of its Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Assessment. During the year, we secured a 20-year extension on our primary mining licence and permit and received a range of Turkish government incentives for the project. In addition, we finalised an agreement with Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi A.S. to provide the necessary development funding; a facility totalling US$33m. We are now working with our partners to ensure the successful completion of permitting through the Prime Ministry in Turkey, in order that we advance to the construction stage of the project. Unfortunately the timescales in this administrative process have proven to be somewhat protracted, however, with financing in place and our partner Proccea at the ready we are well positioned to start construction imminently once the final permit is received.

Due to the current permitting environment in Turkey and the on-going delay, we have had to make some difficult decisions during the course of the year, including a reduction in exploration expenditure. However, looking to the positive, this has bought us much needed respite to re-evaluate our extensive exploration database for our primary project and to better understand the exploration potential of the Red Rabbit area. We now fully recognise several opportunities to enhance our resource base in the immediate vicinity of our planned Kiziltepe Mine. In particular, on-going work will help define the potential link between the Kepez intrusive centre and the gold/silver bearing vein-type mineralisation we have encountered throughout the Sindirgi Gold Corridor.

Meanwhile, in north-eastern Turkey we have continued work with Eldorado Gold Corporation ("Eldorado Gold") on the Artvin Project, notably at the Salinbas zone. Towards the end of the year we proceeded with preparing the inputs required for completion of a Scoping Study on the project, the results of which we were able to announce early in Q2 2015. With resources standing at about 1moz of gold, latent exploration upside and a potentially viable mining opportunity, the Artvin project represents a significant asset for your Company. It is particularly pleasing to note that this project grew out of a generative exploration programme by Ariana, and is testament to the value of our joint venture strategy in Turkey.

On that note, we see huge exploration upside across Turkey, having gained access to the Newmont Database in 2013. Analysis of this database is on-going and, in addition to supporting our generative work at Red Rabbit, it is also highlighting the potential for new discoveries in other parts of the country. We look forward to acquiring new projects in Turkey as opportunities arise, as part of our strategy of feeding our exploration project pipeline. This strategy is of critical importance to your Company, as it will provide the long-term mechanism for growth; irrespective of the broader conditions for the sector, which is currently in a period of cyclical decline spurred by the reset in commodity prices.

During the past year gold has typically traded in the range of US$1,350-1,200 per ounce, with occasional and short-lived dips to about the US$1,150 per ounce level. Given that the all-in-sustaining cost of many gold operations world-wide sits across a range of US$1,100-1,250 and occasionally higher, the industry clearly stands at a cross-roads. There is significant pressure on existing operations to continue to lower costs and for new development projects to be optimised before construction decisions are taken. Grade, rather than tonnes at any cost, is therefore a focus for the sector once more. Ariana is fortunate in that we are operating in one of the lowest-cost jurisdictions in the world (our C1 costs are expected at US$600/oz) and our reserves at Kiziltepe are considered relatively high-grade for open-pit mining. In addition, the positive impact of a reduced oil-price environment is still playing out across the sector and our planned operation stands to benefit from a significant decrease in energy costs.

In this broader context, we note the rapidly changing environment for exploration companies globally. This includes the importance of lateral-thinking and the utilisation of new technologies to make the sorts of discoveries that were not possible a generation ago. Indeed, the requirements of technology itself will be the motivator for the exploration of strategic mineral commodities, such as antimony, graphite, lithium and manganese in the years ahead. In recognition of this distinct trend and in order to remain at the forefront of mineral exploration, the Company has established a subsidiary, Asgard metals Pty. Ltd., to focus specifically on non-gold resources. In Turkey in particular, the primary focus of this new entity will be technology-commodity opportunities. There is a longer term view to identify other such projects globally.

Your Company is also changing in other ways. At the beginning of 2015 we saw the retirement of our founding General Manager in Turkey, Erhan Sener, from a full-time role with Ariana. We profoundly appreciate his efforts over the years, which helped establish the foundations of our in-country operations.  In his footsteps we welcome Fatma Yildiz, previously our mining engineer and licence manager, to the role of General Manager. We wish her success in her new role and look forward to working with her closely as our operations continue to develop and bear fruit in Turkey.

We are conscious that funding opportunities remain constrained in the sector and we have carefully managed our resources throughout this period. We are fortunate to have had the support of Lanstead Capital L.P. during this time and they remain significant shareholders in our business. Post-period we have welcomed Metal Tiger plc as a new shareholder and have entered into a collaborative arrangement with them to identify new project opportunities in Turkey. Their confidence in Ariana's strategy is most encouraging.

In closing, I would like to thank the Ariana team and our joint venture partners, Proccea and Eldorado Gold, who have aided the progress of the Company during a challenging period for the industry. We are also extremely grateful to our patient shareholders who remain confident, as I do, that we will be commencing the transition into a gold producer in the near future.

Michael de Villiers
Chairman
2 June 2015

The Report and Accounts, together with a Notice of AGM, are being posted to shareholders and are available to download from www.arianaresources.com/investors/financials

The AGM will be held at the East India Club, 16 St James's Square, London SW1Y 4LH on 29 June 2015 at 11.00 am.

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 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