Acquisition of Four New Exploration Properties

3 June 2011 AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU ACQUISITION OF FOUR NEW EXPLORATION PROPERTIES Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce that further to the announcement of 16 March 2011, the Company has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement and Net Smelter Agreement relating to the acquisition of four prospective exploration licences in western Turkey from AIM-listed Turkish explorer, KEFI Minerals plc ("KEFI"). Highlights: * Acquisition of four exploration licences covering two highly prospective project areas; Kizilcukur and Muratdag * 2km of mineralised quartz veins containing high-grade gold and silver delineated on Kizilcukur project - previous assay results of up to 152g/t gold and 1,320g/t silver * Acquisition of Kilizcukur project provides Ariana with access to the entire gold mineralised trend within the Sindirgi Gold Corridor which is contained by the Company's flagship Red Rabbit Gold Project * Gold and silver soil geochemical anomaly identified on the Muratdag project, which has not previously been drill tested * Acquired properties demonstrate strong synergies with the Company's proximal Red Rabbit Gold Project which is being fast- tracked towards production in 2012 Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: "This is an important transaction for Ariana, one which furthers strengthens our gold portfolio in Western Turkey and provides additional exposure to two highly prospective early stage gold development projects.  In particular, the synergies between these new projects and our flagship Red Rabbit Gold Project make this a particularly attractive strategic acquisition for the Company.  Development at Red Rabbit continues at pace ahead of production next year, and the consolidation of additional licences in the locality provides us with further resource uplift potential, which, in the longer term may provide the opportunity to significantly extend the mine life of Red Rabbit and improve the financial returns of the wider project area. "Our near term objective is to commence exploration campaigns on the new licences with the intention of delineating a total JORC resource inventory for the Red Rabbit region in excess of 1 million ounces of gold equivalent.  I am confident that with the combination of our strong gold portfolio, our highly skilled industry professionals and our established relationships in western Turkey, Ariana is on course to achieve its 1 million ounce milestone." Details of Agreement A Sale and Purchase ("S&P") Agreement and a Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") Agreement supersede the Letter Agreement dated 9 March 2011 and constitute the entire agreement between Ariana and its Turkish subsidiary, Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd. ("Galata") and KEFI and its Turkish subsidiary, Dogu Akdeniz Mineralleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. ("Dogu"), in relation to the transfer to the Company of licences and mineral exploration data and drill core, relating to the properties. The S&P and related NSR agreement contemplate the following payments: 1. A payment of 10,000 Turkish Lira, inclusive of VAT by Galata to Dogu will be made in consideration for the transfer of the licences from Dogu to Galata ("Cash Payment"). 2. The Company will be issuing, for non-cash consideration to KEFI, such number of ordinary shares in the Company ("Consideration Shares") in consideration of the transfer of the mineral exploration data and drill core.  The Company requires a valuation ("Valuation") of the consideration in order to satisfy its obligations under Section 593 of the Companies Act 2006.  The number of Consideration Shares are to be calculated in accordance with the formula set out in the Sale Agreement; being such number of Ordinary Shares equivalent to a value of £50,000, based on a 30% premium to the average Volume Weighted Average Price of the Company's shares calculated for the thirty days of trading on AIM prior to the date of completion; which KEFI agrees not to trade for a period of 12 months from the date of issue. 3. A royalty payable by Galata to Dogu of 2% Net Smelter Return on commercial production of any mineral from the properties. The agreement will complete and is conditional upon the Turkish General Directorate of Mining Affairs accepting an application by both Dogu and Galata to transfer the licences to Galata and until such time as that happens the Company is neither required to pay the Cash Payment nor to issue the Consideration Shares. New Licence Areas Kizilcukur Project The Kizilcukur project consists of one licence located in the Balikesir Province in Western Turkey.  The licence covers an area containing a series of parallel quartz veins that trend northwest and extend for at least two kilometres.  The main vein exhibits classic low-sulphidation epithermal features and attains a maximum true width of 8m.  Preliminary rock chip sampling by KEFI in 2007 returned encouraging assay results of up to 152g/t gold and 1,320g/t silver in an area containing old workings.  Later channel sampling of this area returned assays of 8m at 3g/t gold and 152g/t silver. The western quartz vein extends over a strike length of 800m.  In 2007, composite rock chip sampling of 80m strike along this quartz vein returned encouraging assay results of 6m at 3.3g/t gold, 2m at 9.6g/t gold and 1m at 7.2g/t gold.  A total of 17 drill holes were then completed by KEFI on the property (Table 1) during 2007 and 2008.  No mineral resource has been calculated by KEFI for the area drilled to date. Table 1: Example drilling results from exploration on the Kizilcukur licence undertaken by KEFI.  These intersections are those previously reported by KEFI in news releases published in September 2007 and July 2008. +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Intercept (m) | Grade | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | KDTD04 | 38.0 | 41.6 | 3.6 | 3.4 g/t Au, 90 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | And | 44.0 | 45.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 g/t Au, 327 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | KDTD05 | 42.0 | 43.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 g/t Au, 72 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | KDTD10 | 71.6 | 75.1 | 3.5 | 47 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | KDTD13 | 110.0 | 112.9 | 2.9 | 16.1 g/t Au | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | And | 106.6 | 114.7 | 8.1 | 29 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | KDTD15 | 54.7 | 56.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | And | 60.3 | 61.0 | 0.7 | 1.0 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ | KDTD16 | 116.0 | 122.9 | 6.9 | 25.3g/t Ag | +------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+ Muratdag Project The Muratdag Project consists of two licences located in the Usak Province in Western Turkey that are considered by Ariana to be prospective for listwaenite- hosted gold-silver and laterite-hosted nickel-cobalt mineralisation.  The Muratdag licences contain extensive areas of listwaenites which are located within a thrust-sequence of Upper Cretaceous ophiolite and Jurassic carbonates, lying in the vicinity of an Oligocene granitoid.  The gold mineralisation is associated with silicification and haematite/limonite alteration. In 2007, KEFI completed geological mapping, rock-chip sampling and soil sampling on the licences.  A number of historical workings for mercury are present immediately to the west and north of the project area.  A triangular shaped gold-silver soil anomaly up to 350m north-south and 250m east-west at >20ppb gold is present within the northern licence.  This anomaly has not been followed up with any drilling by KEFI. Ariana considers that there are several geological similarities between the Muratdag project and Ariana's Tavsan and Demirci gold projects.  All three projects lie on the same stratigraphic horizon, which is a regionally significant zone for gold mineralisation. 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 Alexander David Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7448 9820 Bill Sharpe / David Scott Loeb Aron & Company Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 1128 Jonathan Willis-Richards / Frank Lucas St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 Hugo de Salis / Susie Geliher 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 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 15% of Tigris Resources Limited. Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. and Alexander David Securities 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 atwww.arianaresources.com. About KEFI Minerals KEFI Minerals is an exploration company focussed on exploring for world-class mineral deposits in the well-endowed and under-explored Tethyan Mineral Belt of Turkey and Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia. Following its listing on AIM in late 2006, KEFI Minerals has established itself as an innovative gold and copper exploration Company and has rapidly expanded its exploration portfolio. In Turkey, KEFI is primarily targeting large low-sulphidation epithermal gold systems and porphyry-style gold-copper systems, analogous to several >1 million ounce gold deposits recently discovered and developed in the western part of the country. KEFI Minerals recently expanded its sphere of interest with the formation of a new minerals exploration joint venture within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, KEFI is exploring for mesothermal vein-hosted gold mineralisation, listwaenite-hosted gold deposits and Kuroko-style volcanogenic copper-zinc mineralisation. KEFI has a strong Board of Directors and management team with highly demonstrable track records in the resources industry in Australia and Europe. The Board of KEFI's aim is expand the company through the discovery, acquisition and development of high quality precious and base metal projects. KEFI's reputation has been built on treating safety, environment and community relations as a priority at all times. Ends This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. 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 [HUG#1521013]
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