14 February 2017
AIM: AAU
KIZILTEPE MINE: INTERIM TSF COMPLETION
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the exploration and development company operating in Turkey, is pleased to announce the completion of the interim Stage One Tailings Storage Facility ("TSF") at the Kiziltepe Mine ("Kiziltepe" or "the Project"). Kiziltepe is part of the Red Rabbit Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co. and is 50% owned by Ariana.
Highlights:
- Interim Stage One TSF completed ahead of final statutory inspections and technical approvals.
- Completion of the TSF was a pre-requisite ahead of an application for a routine Operations Permit, the preparatory procedure for which is now underway.
- Mine site and processing plant are now fully operational and formal production is expected to commence in the coming weeks.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"This is an excellent result from the construction teams at the Kiziltepe site. As expected, a suitable weather window opened during the beginning of February, enabling the installation of the remaining geomembrane for the interim Stage One TSF. With the TSF now ready for initial start-up, construction of the mine is effectively 100% complete for production to commence. Production will formally commence once we have received our Operations Permit, for which an application to the authorities is in the process of being prepared, and while we await technical approvals for the TSF installation.
The Kiziltepe Mine is being prepared for formal production to commence in the coming weeks and the Company will provide further updates on its progress."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
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 |
| Jon Belliss | |
| Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500 |
| Adam James / Tom Salvesen | |
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 originally selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database.
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, form part of a 50:50 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. At Kiziltepe a Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of up to 2.5% on future production is payable to Franco-Nevada Corporation. At Tavsan an NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.
In north-eastern Turkey, Ariana owns 100% of the Salinbas Gold Project, comprising the Salinbas gold-silver deposit and the Ardala copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry among other prospects. The total resource inventory of the Salinbas project area is c. 1 million ounces of gold equivalent. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.
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