Acq. of exploration licences

Ariana Resources PLC
09 August 2006

                              

                              ARIANA RESOURCES PLC
09 August 2006
AIM: AAU

          ACQUISITION OF EXPLORATION LICENCES AT GOLVELI GOLD PROSPECT


Ariana Resources plc ('Ariana' or 'the Company'), the gold exploration company
focused exclusively on Turkey, announces the acquisition of two exploration
licences at the Goveli gold prospect in western Turkey from Newmont Altin
Madencilik Limited Sirketi, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE &
ASX: NEM; TSX: NMC) ('Newmont').


   •Agreement with Newmont consolidates Ariana's land holding to 100% of the
    known prospect
   •Recent exploration indicates presence of a 4km long and up to 1km wide
    gold system
   •Mapping and rock-chip sampling to define drill targets underway


About the Goveli Prospect

The Goveli prospect lies in the Manisa Province of western Turkey, 125km
northeast of the costal city of Izmir and 60km southeast of Ariana's Sindirgi
gold project that was acquired from Newmont in 2005. Ariana secured its
pre-existing 'central' Goveli exploration licence (8km2) in May 2006, through a
competitive auction process. Subject to renewal the licence will expire in June
2009. The Goveli prospect hosts a 4km long by up to 1km wide northeast striking
gold mineralised system, as defined by historic soil and rock chip sample data.
The mineralisation is hosted within an altered marble unit (mid-Triassic to
Cretaceous age), which lies adjacent to Precambrian age basement rocks. Peak
grades reported from historic rock-chip and soil sampling were 2.4 g/t Au and
0.97 g/t Au respectively.


Steven Poulton, Chief Executive, commented:

'This agreement with Newmont consolidates Ariana's land holding across a
potentially significant bulk tonnage gold target. The acquisition also
demonstrates Ariana's commitment to establishing a significant resource base in
Turkey through the rapid exploration and development of a pipeline of high
quality gold prospects. In this regard, Ariana has recently signed a contract
for the commencement of an initial 2,000m diamond core drilling programme at the
Company's Sindirgi vein hosted gold project, with drilling scheduled to commence
in September. '


Terms of the Agreement

Ariana has acquired Newmont's semi-contiguous 'northern' (18km2) and 'southern'
(18.5km2) Goveli exploration licences, which subject to renewal expire in April
2010, and their accompanying exploration data. The data comprises
stream-sediment, rock-chip and soil sampling results. The consideration payable
to Newmont by Ariana is a 2% Net Smelter Returns royalty on future gold /
minerals production within a 2km area of interest of the combined Goveli
exploration licence package.



Exploration underway

A field team from Ariana's Turkish operating subsidiary (Galata Madencilik San.
ve Tic. Ltd. Sti.) has commenced a programme of geological mapping, initially
focussed on the zones of silicified and sulphidic marbles that potentially
constitute the most economically significant parts of the mineralized
system. Concurrently a programme of composite rock-chip sampling will be
completed on regular 50m by 50m grids across these zones, in order to generate
targets for drill testing.



Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc
Steven Poulton, Chief Executive                            Tel: [phone]
                                                           Mobile: [phone]
                         [e-mail]@arianaresources.com

Bankside Consultants
Michael Padley / Susan Scott                               Tel: [phone]


About Ariana Resources

Ariana is a well funded technology-driven exploration company focused on the
discovery of epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits with
multi-million ounce potential within the Tethyan metallogenic belt of Turkey.
The Company has a portfolio of prospective licences covering approximately
1,000km2, selected on the basis of its advanced in-house remote sensing
database. Ariana's broker is Ambrian Partners Limited 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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