Ariana Resources plc : Exploration Update: Conf...
1 February 2012
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU
EXPLORATION UPDATE: CONFIRMATION OF NEW VEIN SYSTEMS
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, announces an update on current exploration activity at its Red Rabbit Gold Project in western Turkey and provides an update on the review work undertaken in advance of upcoming licence auctions.
Highlights:
Drilling in the Arzu South/Arzu North "gap zone" returns a first result of 8.7m (drilled) @ 2.03 g/t Au and 9.9 g/t Ag from 15m down hole and demonstrates potential for multiple parallel vein and breccia zones.
Further exploration drilling planned for the wider Kiziltepe area, which demonstrates potential for additional economic vein systems to feed into the current Red Rabbit Project resource of 448,000oz gold equivalent ('Au eq').
A deep drilling campaign at Kiziltepe is being planned to determine the long term underground potential of the project to extend the current projected mine life of 8 years.
Completion of an extensive review of licences available at upcoming licence auctions beginning in February 2012 - 40 licences identified as showing potential for gold and 14 are considered high priority for Ariana.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"The scope and potential for the wider Red Rabbit Project continues to grow as we advance our exploration activities in the area. Initial indications from the drilling campaign in the 'gap zone' between the planned Arzu South and Arzu North pits have demonstrated encouraging widths and grades, and I look forward to providing shareholders with further information regarding the identification of additional vein systems as drilling continues.
"Due to the potential of this area to host extensions to our current resource base, the vein system in this area has been named "Emel" by the team. This is an apt name, meaning "Desire" in Turkish, and based on the results obtained so far represents an exciting area in which further drilling programmes are likely to be planned.
"We are also evaluating a deep drilling programme at Kiziltepe to identify the potential to extend the current mine life of 8 years through underground mining activities. With all this in mind, the already robust economic fundamentals of the Red Rabbit Gold Project have the potential to be further improved. In line with this, we remain focussed on providing near term revenue generation, targeting average production of 20,000oz of gold equivalent from 2013, whilst simultaneously providing significant upside from wider exploration activities at Red Rabbit, where we are confident we have the ability to delineate in excess of 1 million ounces."
Exploration Drilling
Exploration drilling at Kiziltepe is still underway utilising the Company's in-house drill rig and drilling team (Figure 1), which recently broke its own record for metres drilled in a single 11 hour shift for 39m. Results from the drilling programme are currently being received and processed, and being utilised to define further drilling targets in the Kiziltepe area.
Figure 1
The Company is currently drilling in the 'gap zone' between Arzu South and Arzu North in an area of cover (Figure 2). The Company is very pleased to report that mineralised vein and stockwork material has been located in all of the holes drilled so far along 300m of strike within this zone. Of the assay results received and processed to date (three holes), KTP-D10-11 shows the most consistent intercept of 8.7m (drilled) @ 2.03 g/t Au and 9.9 g/t Ag from 15m down hole indicating that at least some of the mineralisation is closer to surface than initially conceived.
Figure 2
The latest hole to be drilled in this area (KTP-D17A-11), which is one of the deepest holes of the programme so far (92m downhole), intersected the greatest width of mineralised quartz, quartz vein breccia and stockworks seen to date, occurring in intermittent zones between 40m and 80m downhole (Figure 3). Analyses of the core by field-portable XRF have provided high silver anomalism from these zones (from 20 to 124ppm Ag), suggesting that the core is likely to be carrying both silver and gold grades due to the close positive correlation between the two elements. This hole will be logged and sampled as a matter of priority.
Figure 3
Drilling has determined that the area is more geologically complex than first envisaged and there is obvious potential for multiple parallel vein and breccia zones. Mineralisation and alteration is also observed along a faulted contact between upper ignimbrite and lower ignimbrite, reinforcing the potential for low angle mineralisation first encountered at the Aybor Vein in trenching undertaken in earlier surface exploration.
In addition, the Company is pleased to report that the Fidan Vein has demonstrated consistent mineralisation over a strike length of 300m and to a maximum drill-tested depth of approximately 100m. While current intercepts along this vein are narrow (approximately 1m drilled width) and of low grade (typically just less than 1 g/t Au but occasionally as much as 4.35 g/t Au), the results highlight the potential for other poorly exposed vein systems at Kiziltepe to host potentially economic mineralisation. The drilling of Gamze Vein, which is the strike extension of the Fidan Vein, will be scheduled towards the end of the current drilling programme.
Deep Drilling Programme
Plans are being formulated for a deep drilling programme at Kiziltepe to determine the long term underground potential of the project following the completion of open pit mining activity and beyond the current projected mine life of eight years. The drilling programme envisages up to four holes targeting a depth of up to 400m below surface based on targets defined from geological and geophysical modelling work.
A budget for this drilling programme is being prepared and a work programme is being scheduled to work up the drilling targets. It is envisaged that this drilling is unlikely to commence until third quarter of 2012, as further geological modelling and geophysical data collection will be required in advance of final drill planning.
Other Drilling Programmes
Drilling on other prospects held by the Company will proceed following the completion of drilling at Kiziltepe. Other prospects on which the Company is intending to drill include Kepez West, Karakavak and Kizilcukur. A decision to proceed with drilling on Karakavak and Kizilcukur will be postponed until snow has cleared from these sites, which is anticipated in April 2012.
Licence Auctions
The Company has completed an extensive review of licences currently available for auction through the Turkish General Directorate of Mining Affairs. The Company has determined that approximately 40 auction licences in western Turkey show potential for gold and 14 are considered high priority based on geological models and anomalies defined from geochemical exploration datasets. The Company has committed a budget to secure these licences and will commit to designated project budgets in the event of securing successful bids. The Company expects to secure several but not all of these licence areas in competitive auction during February 2012, with further auctions to be held in April and May 2012. The acquisition of new licences across western Turkey will contribute to a growing pipeline of projects in a highly prospective part of the country.
Contacts:
| Ariana Resources plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616 |
| Michael Spriggs, Chairman | |
| Kerim Sener, Managing Director | |
| Beaumont Cornish Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
| Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt | |
| Fairfax I.S. PLC | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7598 5368 |
| Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley | |
| St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
| Susie Geliher / Hugo de Salis | |
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 European Goldfields Limited in north-eastern Turkey. European Goldfields owns 51% of this joint venture and, as the operator, is fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties until delivery of a feasibility study.
The Company's flagship assets are its Sindirgi 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 of the Company stands at 448,000 ounces of gold equivalent.
Ariana also has a strategic investment in Tigris Resources Limited (www.tigrisresources.com), a private Jersey-based exploration company, which is focused on the exploration of copper and gold deposits in southeastern Turkey. Ariana retains approximately 13% of Tigris Resources Limited.
Fairfax I.S. PLC are 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
The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Ariana Resources plc via Thomson Reuters ONE
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