Exploration Update: Kiziltepe Sector

3 November 2014
AIM: AAU

EXPLORATION UPDATE: KIZILTEPE SECTOR

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce positive developments from recent geophysical and geochemical sampling programmes which were undertaken over gold-silver bearing prospects within the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project ("Red Rabbit"), which it holds in a joint venture with Proccea Construction Co.

Highlights:

• 50km² ground magnetic survey highlights several as yet untested structural corridors.

• Corridors correspond to zones of intense clay alteration and anomalous geochemistry as defined from a detailed 100km² soil survey.

• Kepez South and Kepez West prospects are defined as high priority targets, located 5.6km and 5.3km respectively from Kiziltepe, the location of Red Rabbit's first mine which is targeted to commence production in 2015.

• Potential for high-tonnage low-grade (approximately 1g/t) gold and silver mineralisation defined in alteration zones that could substantially increase existing resources at Red Rabbit.

• Drill-testing of these zones is now a priority as an exploration and development target during the Kiziltepe mine construction phase.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"The geophysical programme has provided critical information for the targeting of potentially mineralised zones across the Kiziltepe Sector.  To date much of the exploration undertaken by the Company has focused on outcropping gold-silver bearing quartz veins.  The geophysical data, when used in conjunction with our new and exceptionally detailed soil XRF geochemistry data, has reinforced the potential for zones of mineralisation that are not necessarily associated with major quartz veins. 

"We recognise that there is considerable potential to define high-tonnage low-grade material within alteration zones.  One such zone occurs in the immediate vicinity of the planned Kiziltepe Mine, where systematic composite rock-chip samples revealed average grades in the range of 1 g/t Au and 6 g/t Ag in altered volcanic rocks over an area of approximately 600m by 200m.  This zone corresponds to dispersed quartz veins and stockworks coinciding with alteration.  This represents immediate resource upside that will require more drilling and is not currently factored in to the mine plan.

"The Company is now prioritising several targets for drill-testing.  It is our expectation that these drilling programmes can get underway in Q2 2015 while the Kiziltepe Mine is in construction."

Geophysical Programme

In October 2014, Ariana commenced a ground magnetic survey over the Kiziltepe Sector JV licences (totalling 50km²).  The geophysical survey was undertaken by the Ariana field team utilising two backpack magnetometers with continuous readings undertaken along N-S oriented lines spaced 200m apart.  Data collection is largely complete and initial data processing is now underway.  The Company aims to provide a further update on the detailed results of the geophysical programme in due course.

XRF Survey

Prior to the initiation of the geophysical survey the Company collected approximately 15,000 soil samples across the JV licence area (totalling 100km²) and analysed these using a portable X-ray fluorescence ("XRF") device.  The soil samples were collected every 50m along N-S oriented lines spaced 100m apart.  The resulting XRF geochemical maps have provided an unprecedented amount of data coverage for key trace elements (e.g. antimony, arsenic, copper, lead, manganese, molybdenum and zinc) that can be used as vectors to gold and silver mineralisation. 

Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc	Tel: [phone]
Michael de Villiers, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited	Tel: [phone]
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
Beaufort Securities Limited	Tel: [phone]
Saif Janjua
Loeb Aron & Company Ltd.	Tel: [phone]
John Beresford-Peirse / Dr. Frank Lucas
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Susie Geliher / Lottie Brocklehurst

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 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 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.

Ends

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The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Ariana Resources plc via Globenewswire

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