New Gold Targets Confirmed at Kepez and Karakavak Prospects of Near-term Production Red Rabbit Gold Project in Turkey

21 July 2015
AIM: AAU

NEW GOLD TARGETS CONFIRMED AT KEPEZ AND KARAKAVAK PROSPECTS

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the Anglo-Turkish gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the results of a follow-up soil and rock-chip geochemical programmes conducted on the Karakavak and Kepez West prospects at the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project in western Turkey ("Red Rabbit"), where mine construction is expected to commence shortly. 

Highlights:

• Several additional significantly gold-silver mineralised vein systems identified at Karakavak. 

• Coincident gold (>20ppb Au) and silver (>150ppb Ag) soil anomalies encountered along the full 1,800m strike length of Kepez West.

• Results underpin the broader resource potential of the wider Red Rabbit Gold Project, which has a current global JORC resource of 475,000 oz of gold equivalent.

• Kiziltepe mine construction expected to commence shortly ahead of first gold pour in H2 2016 targeting 20,000 oz per annum.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are delighted that the additional exploration work we are undertaking is continuing to identify new zones of resource potential, which further demonstrates the value of the Red Rabbit project for shareholders.  Both Kepez West and Karakavak contain several important drilling targets for the Company, as it grows its resource base at the Kiziltepe Sector ahead of first production next year. 

"By increasing our resource base, we can extend both the life of mine and the gold output from the planned Kiziltepe operation, which would clearly add considerable shareholder value.  Kepez West and Karakavak are located 12km and 27km by road from Kiziltepe respectively and represent high priority resource development areas.

"We have now completed detailed planning for drilling programmes on these prospect areas, which we aim to initiate during the construction phase of the Kiziltepe Mine which is expected to start soon.  Many of the targets identified are located in areas outside of forestry and can be drill-tested without delay." 

Rock-chip and soil sampling programme

Follow-up rock-chip sampling conducted on soil geochemical targets identified in the Karakavak area (see News Release dated 5 June 2015), identified several new vein systems carrying significantly anomalous gold and silver.  New rock-chip results from these areas provided grades of 6.28 g/t Au + 22.9 g/t Ag, 2.57 g/t Au + 24.1 g/t Ag, 2.54 g/t Au, 2.13 g/t Au and 1.89 g/t Au.  These rock-chips were obtained from within zones containing highly anomalous gold and silver soil geochemical results and represent new discoveries (Figure 1).

Utilising the soil samples collected previously for XRF analysis, an area covering the Kepez West and Far West prospects was analysed by conventional geochemical methods on a 50m by 100m sampling grid.  Gold and other trace elements were analysed following an aqua regia extraction and ICP-MS or ICP-AES finish.  A total of 304 samples were sent to ALS Global for analysis.  An area of 1.5km² was covered and the results for gold and silver are shown in Figure 2.

Six significant gold in soil geochemical anomalies over 20ppb Au were identified, three of which represent new discoveries and are currently untested.  Peak gold in soil results of 234ppb, 156ppb, 128ppb, 106ppb and 94ppb were encountered.  These zones of gold anomalism are also largely coincident with anomalous silver in soil results (>150ppb).  The main zone of mineralisation, which extends for a total of 1,800m along strike, and which is associated with intermittent patches of quartz vein float, is now better resolved in to three distinct segments each one approximately 400m long.  This segmentation along strike is a characteristic feature of well-mineralised vein systems in the region of Kiziltepe. 

Some of the anomalous areas were previously rock-chip sampled and these data confirm that much of the mineralisation is associated with intermittent low-sulphidation gold-silver bearing veins and associated stockwork zones in altered volcanic host-rock.  Peak rock-chip grades across the Kepez West and Far West area include: 14.45g/t Au and 39.20g/t Ag, 9.98g/t Au and 68.10g/t Ag, 9.77g/t Au, 7.68g/t Au and 31.20g/t Ag, 6.30g/t Au and 31.6g/t Ag, and 6.28g/t Au and 54.6 g/t Ag.  A single drill intercept (KPZ-D08-12) on the far eastern end of the structure provided a result of 9.6m @ 3 g/t Au + 119 Ag g/t, which needs to be followed up by further drilling in this area.  Kepez West and Far West are among several prospects in the Kiziltepe Sector that require drill-testing and that are within trucking distance to the planned Kiziltepe plant (Figure 3).

Figure 1: Soil gold (>20ppb) anomalies superimposed on soil silver results in the Karakavak area.  Follow up rock chip sampling has identified a number of new veins and vein extensions of known vein systems.  Further work will be undertaken to characterise this prospect area ahead of a drilling programme.

Figure 2: Soil gold (>20ppb) and silver (>150ppb) anomalies shown superimposed on satellite imagery in the Kepez West and Far West areas.  The vein system appears segmented along 1,800m of total strike.

Figure 3: Map showing the position of important gold prospects in the Sindirgi Gold corridor and potential trucking routes from each prospect to the planned Kiziltepe processing facility.   

Contacts:

Editors' note:

Dr Kerim Sener, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, is the Managing Director of Ariana Resources plc. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology, he also holds a Master's degree from the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College, London) in Mineral Exploration and a doctorate from the University of Western Australia. He is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London and has worked in geological research and mineral consultancy in Africa, Australia and Europe.  He has read and approved the technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement. 

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.

Glossary of Technical Terms:

"Ag" the chemical symbol for silver;

"Au" the chemical symbol for gold;

"g/t" grams per tonne;

"ICP-AES" Inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectroscopy;

"ICP-MS" Inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry;

"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;

"m" Metres;

"oz" Ounces;

"ppb" Parts per billion;

"XRF" X-ray fluorescence.

Ends