Exploration Update from Kepez West and Karakavak

 

 

12 November 2012
AIM: AAU

EXPLORATION UPDATE FOR KEPEZ WEST AND KARAKAVAK

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the results of recent exploration on its Kepez West and Karakavak prospects, located along the Sindirgi Gold Corridor which also contains the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project.  

Highlights:

• Shallow depth reconnaissance drilling at Kepez West provides a best intercept of 9.60m @ 3.02 g/t Au + 118.89 Ag g/t. 

• Gold grades from rock-chip samples within the Kepez West prospect area have yielded results up to 9.77 g/t, 9.73 g/t and 6.30 g/t from sulphide-rich quartz veins. 

• Gold anomalism (>0.2 ppm) encountered within a zone of argillic alteration and stockwork veining which has been mapped over 1,800m x 200m. 

• Mapping and sampling at Karakavak has indicated the potential for an extensive vein system contained within a large altered and mineralised halo.  Previous drilling at this location included 53m @ 0.4 g/t Au.     

• IP/Resistivity geophysics completed on both Kepez West and Karakavak has confirmed potential for down dip continuation of the mineralised systems and will be used for future drill targeting. 

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"These early-stage exploration results demonstrate the potential of the wider Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project.  While it is clear a lot more work needs to be completed, the results obtained to date are consistent with our view that the Sindirgi Gold Corridor contains significant potential for the discovery of additional resources.

"The discovery of satellite resources to the planned Kiziltepe operation has been a long-term objective for the Company.  Now that we are nearing the completion of our feasibility programme at Kiziltepe our attention can turn to new exploration focused on resource growth.  Any resources that are defined in the vicinity of the planned Kiziltepe processing plant will be evaluated on the basis of their ability to be mined and trucked by road to the plant site."

Details of the Kepez West Prospect

Eight reconnaissance diamond drill holes in the Kepez West region were completed totalling 478.3 metres.  Initial results from this drilling programme and from previous rock-chip sampling have demonstrated the presence of low grade mineralisation within a broad zone of argillic alteration and silicification associated with low-sulphidation stockwork veins hosted by dacitic volcanic rocks, with higher grade mineralisation restricted to apparently isolated quartz vein pods.  

Previous surface sampling in the area has identified anomalous outcrop and float samples including 9.77 g/t Au, 9.73 g/t Au and 6.30 g/t Au. The Company completed IP/Resistivity geophysics over the mineralised system to help define potential drilling targets (Figure 1).  This data was integrated with field mapping and geochemistry datasets to help define areas for drill testing.  Some of the areas that provided higher grade surface samples still remain to be drill tested.

Core logging has shown that the mineralisation is contained within a 1,800m x 200m fault zone which also displays extensive argillic alteration. Due to the highly fractured and clay altered rocks in this area, core recoveries were generally poor, averaging 62%, and none of the holes were able to be continued to their target depths due to repeated hole collapse.  For example, the highest grade intercept shows less than 40% recovery and as such all of the drilling carried out at Kepez West to date is considered of exploration significance only and will not be used for future resource estimation purposes.  Due to the difficult ground conditions in this area, any future drilling is likely to be completed by a Reverse Circulation (RC) drill rig.  

Table 1: Reconnaissance drilling results from Kepez West, showing the data obtained from six of the eight holes sampled to date.  Many holes did not reach their target depths due to very poor drilling conditions.

Hole	From (m)	To (m)	Intercept (m)	Gold Grade (Au g/t)	Silver Grade (Ag g/t)
KPZ-D02-12	38.00	39.50	1.50	0.48	0.70
KPZ-D04-12	5.00	9.70	4.70	0.36	5.88
KPZ-D06-12	21.80	22.80	1.00	0.78	11.80
KPZ-D08-12	2.70	12.30	9.60	3.02	118.89

The Company is considering further work in this area to better define the limits of the gold mineralisation and to locate the primary mineralised structures.  The high gold grades encountered in places and the scale of the alteration system indicates the potential for depth continuity.  Also the occurrence of highly mineralised pods of quartz such as that defined at the high-grade (average 4.6 g/t Au + 34.7 g/t Ag) Karakaya Vein at Kepez (approximately 8,800 oz Au JORC Indicated Resource) suggests potential for the discovery of similar spatially restricted and potentially open-pittable zones elsewhere in the wider prospect area.  

The Company aims to complete further ground geophysics and a soil-sampling programme in this area to assist in the definition of drill targets during next year.  Consideration will be given to further drilling in due course.

Figure 1: Map of the Kepez West prospect, showing mapped alteration and veins superimposed on satellite imagery.  The location of recent drilling is shown.  The Karakaya Vein at the Kepez prospect is also seen in the far southeast corner of the map. Notable resistivity and chargeability geophysical anomalies are indicated along their respective survey lines.  The inset map shows the location of the prospect within the project licences (in blue).

Details of the Karakavak Prospect

The Karakavak prospect hosts low-sulphidation epithermal quartz veins within dacitic volcanic units.  Zones of stockwork veins, individual vein stockwork zones up to 10m in width and vein-breccias have all been identified.  Several veins have been located in an area of 2.5 x 2 km.  The largest individual vein is up to 6m wide and is 600m long. The quartz veins are dominantly chalcedonic with some well-developed lattice-bladed textures in places, indicating proximity to the palaeo-boiling zone which is an important indicator for gold prospectivity.

A 4.8km soil-sampling programme and five line IP/Resistivity geophysical survey (Figure 2) were previously completed on the prospect and eight quartz veins have been mapped (Figure 2). Rock-chip sampling has returned several anomalous values including 8.89 g/t Au, 3.54 g/t Au and 2.77 g/t Au.  These datasets have been integrated to help define areas for future drill testing.

In the northern part of the Karakavak prospect two historic drill holes are recorded totalling 554.40m, with depths of 254.40m to 300.00m respectively (Ariana retains this historic core).  These holes were drilled on to a massive silicified zone (450 x 10 m).  Results from these holes include 143m @ 0.2 g/t Au and 53m @ 0.4 g/t Au respectively, suggesting the potential for a substantial low-grade gold system punctuated by higher grades up to 1.62 g/t Au and 1.28 g/t Au over 1.45 m and 0.70 m respectively. Veinlets in the footwall of the silicified zone were the only structures carrying gold mineralisation.

The Company aims to complete further ground geophysics and additional soil-sampling in this area to assist in the definition of drill targets during next year.  Consideration will be given to drilling in due course.

Figure 2: Map of the Karakavak prospect, showing mapped veins superimposed on soil geochemistry and satellite imagery. Notable resistivity and chargeability geophysical anomalies are also indicated along their respective survey lines. The inset map shows the location of the prospect within the project licences (in blue).

Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc	Tel: [phone]
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited	Tel: [phone]
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Susie Geliher / Hugo de Salis

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 in Mineral Exploration from the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College, London) 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 Southern Africa and Australia.  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 is fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties, while Ariana owns 49% and is the operator.

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 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 12.3% of Tigris Resources Limited.  

S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP 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

Exploration Update from Kepez West and Karakavak

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Source: Ariana Resources plc via Thomson Reuters ONE

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