Ariana Resources plc : EXPLORATION UPDATE - KIZILTEPE

16 June 2016
AIM: AAU

EXPLORATION 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 exploration of the Kiziltepe Sector of 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:

• New vein system discovered near the boundary of the waste-rock dump site at Kiziltepe: initial sampling has returned rock-chip grades including 5.27g/t Au + 21.5g/t Ag, 4.87g/t Au + 8.0g/t Ag, 2.01g/t Au + 10.6g/t Ag, with more detailed mapping and sampling underway.
   
• Planning for the drilling programme in July and August is at an advanced stage and environmental permissions to drill have been granted.
   
• Drilling contract to be finalised imminently and team preparing drill-sites in advance.
   
• Karakavak operating licence recently renewed until mid-2020, enabling the Company to drill within this prospect area; advanced planning for drilling at this location to commence.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: 

"We are very pleased to report on progress of our Summer exploration programme at Kiziltepe, which will be focused on drilling extensions to the current resource with the objective of further resource growth.  In addition to the Exploration Target we have already developed at Arzu Central, which will be tested in the upcoming drilling programme, we are excited by the discovery of a new vein system near the boundary of the waste-rock dump site (Figure 1). This vein system was revealed as a result of earthmoving activity at that location.  Initial sampling from this area has returned several high-grade rock-chip results, which are now being followed up.  Due to its proximity to the waste-rock area, we are planning on initial drill-testing at this locality towards the end of the 2016 drilling programme.  We are also very pleased to have been granted a significant extension to our operating licence for the Karakavak prospect, located 10km to the northeast of Kiziltepe, enabling us to drill at this locality for the first time."

Figure 1, which can be accessed by clicking on or pasting the following link into your web browser: http://hugin.info/138153/R/2020997/750748.pdf is a summary map of planned 2016 drilling target areas and gold-silver prospects within the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project. 

Contacts:

Editors' Notes:

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 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.

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