EXTENSIVE MINERALISED SYSTEM CONFIRMED AT ARDAL...

20 January 2014
AIM: AAU

EXTENSIVE MINERALISED SYSTEM CONFIRMED AT ARDALA & SALINBAS

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the results of the 2013 drilling programme which was conducted primarily on and adjacent to the Ardala Cu-Au-Mo porphyry and the Salinbas Au-Ag zone ("the Project"), which is contained within its Joint Venture with Eldorado Gold Corporation ("Eldorado") in north-eastern Turkey.  This JV contains 1.09 million ounces of gold in total resources.

Highlights:

• New drilling completed in 2013 has confirmed the continuity of mineralisation in the area between the Ardala Au-Cu-Mo porphyry and the Salinbas Au-Ag Zone. 

• Mineralised footprint now covered by drilling is up to 2.5km by 1km in area, and additional porphyry style mineralisation has been identified between the Ardala porphyry zone and the Salinbas zone in some of the holes drilled. 

• Best intercepts from drilling in the Ardala area include 119.5m @ 0.71g/t Au + 0.21% Cu + 0.01% Mo, 236.3m @ 0.34 g/t Au + 0.06% Cu and 122.9m @ 0.58 g/t Au + 0.05% Cu, which tested an area of mineralised porphyry and immediately adjacent limestone. 

• Deep (>150m) high-grade intercepts outside of the porphyry at Ardala include 4.2m @ 6.74 g/t Au, 2.8m @ 3.34 g/t Au + 38.96 g/t Ag + 2.56% Zn, 2.0m @ 5.29 g/t Au + 13.5 g/t Ag. 

• One hole was drilled at Salinbas to test the down-dip continuity of the south-western margin of the deposit and this returned 11.4m @ 1.94 g/t Au + 10.96 g/t Ag + 0.025% Mo, which is consistent with previous results from the area. 

• Development of the Project is being conducted in a JV funded and managed by Eldorado. 

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are very encouraged by the results of the latest drilling which continue to demonstrate the scale of mineralisation in the vicinity of the Ardala Porphyry.  In the 2013 drilling programme, emphasis was placed on better understanding the link between the Ardala Porphyry and the Salinbas Zone.  The results now obtained highlight the role of the porphyry in the development of the mineral system and it will be important in future work to fully explore the periphery of the Ardala porphyry centre.  

"The latest drilling enhances our understanding of the Ardala and Salinbas areas and the potential extent of the mineralised system.  Current drilling has encountered mineralisation in a footprint of 2.5km by 0.5-1km.  The best gold and silver grades within the system occur in the Salinbas Zone, with variable, and in places high, concentrations (up to multi-percent levels) of base-metals such as copper, lead and zinc in addition to molybdenum.  

"The Company considers the potential for resource upside to be further reinforced by the latest results and additional drilling will be required to test for additional porphyry and limestone-hosted mineralisation in the zone between Salinbas and Ardala."

Drilling Programme

The 2013 Salinbas and Ardala programme was designed to achieve two primary objectives.  The first objective was to complete in-fill and down-dip drilling in the area linking the Salinbas Zone to the Ardala Zone that was first identified from drilling completed in 2012.  Collar spacing in this area has now been reduced to approximately 100-250 metres apart.  Previous drilling results from this area included 34.5m @ 2.21 g/t Au + 10.7 g/t Ag and 18.2m @ 2.20 g/t Au + 25.6 g/t Ag.  The 2013 drilling programme confirmed the continuity of mineralisation in this area and supports the geological model established for the purposes of resource estimation.  The new data also adds confidence to the Inferred resource estimated for this area in 2013.  To the south-east, holes ARD010, ARD011 and ARD012 show that the mineralised zone appears to broaden in thickness towards the porphyry.  Also one hole (SALH075) was drilled in the Salinbas area to test for potential mineralised zones located in the footwall of the main thrust-fault which hosts the majority of the gold-silver mineralisation.  This hole encountered mineralisation at the thrust-fault (11.4m @ 1.94 g/t Au + 10.96 g/t Ag + 0.025% Mo) but did not encounter any further mineralisation in the footwall at this location.  

The secondary objective for the programme was to conduct verification drilling at the Ardala porphyry itself.  Three angled holes (ARD016, 017 and 018) were drilled from the same collar, totalling 1,001.5 metres.  Highly encouraging results from these holes have largely confirmed historical drilling results from this area and have provided increased confidence in the Inferred resource established from the historical drilling within the porphyry.  ARD018 identified significant mineralisation outside of the current geological model for the Ardala Porphyry.  Further drilling will need to be undertaken in the vicinity of the porphyry to better understand the extent of the mineralised zones and how these link to the Salinbas Zone, though two holes (ARD011 and 012) in the 2013 programme intersected mineralised porphyry in the area linking Ardala to Salinbas and show clear evidence of continuity of mineralisation in to overlying limestones.  

The drilling programme commenced in May 2013 and continued until November 2013 for a total of 3,792.10 metres.  To date, 18,519.5 metres of drilling have been completed across the Salinbas and Ardala areas.  

Table 1: New drilling results for the Ardala (ARD numbered holes) and Salinbas zones (SALH numbered holes).  Results reported for intercepts >0.1g/t Au, a 1 metre minimum interval width and allowing for sub-0.1g/t Au waste material as appropriate.  Base-metals apart from copper are not included in the table but lead and zinc intercepts of approximately 1-3 metres thickness are recorded in places within several holes providing results in the range of about 1-3%.  * Intercept includes 0.01% Mo; ** Intercept includes 0.025% Mo.

Drillhole ID	From (m)	To (m)	Intercept (m)	Grade Au (g/t)	Grade Ag (g/t)	Grade Cu (%)
ARD010	156.95	184.05	27.10	0.96	9.17	0.04
including	156.95	162.50	5.55	1.65	11.63	0.03
	167.85	170.60	2.75	3.34	38.96	0.24
	173.35	174.90	1.55	2.11	31.80	0.06
ARD010	331.85	337.50	5.65	0.40	1.41	0.02
ARD011	93.50	399.30	305.80	0.11	0.54	0.03
including	107.00	109.70	2.70	3.34	5.01	0.42
	140.60	143.80	3.20	0.12	0.99	0.02
	148.45	154.60	6.15	0.32	1.17	0.02
	208.50	213.10	4.60	0.14	0.25	0.01
	261.60	269.80	8.20	0.20	0.69	0.03
	313.00	316.60	3.60	0.14	0.37	0.03
	331.00	346.00	15.00	0.30	1.01	0.08
	354.20	358.70	4.50	0.18	0.77	0.18
	383.40	396.80	13.40	0.14	0.25	0.03
ARD012	293.90	416.80	122.90	0.58	2.27	0.05
including	308.20	309.95	1.75	1.26	25.90	0.15
	320.80	322.60	1.80	4.34	18.80	0.69
	351.25	353.05	1.80	3.83	1.20	0.04
	368.95	373.15	4.20	6.74	1.68	0.04
ARD013	43.00	306.00	260.10	0.18	1.83	0.00
including	99.70	108.90	9.20	2.50	9.70	0.02
	289.85	291.85	2.00	5.29	13.50	0.05
ARD014	127.70	142.80	15.10	1.05	8.89	0.04
including	127.70	133.90	6.20	1.72	6.30	0.02
	139.60	142.80	3.20	1.53	27.65	0.13
ARD014	362.90	364.50	1.60	0.86	13.20	0.04
	413.95	415.40	1.45	0.84	43.90	0.51
ARD015	77.80	82.85	5.05	1.60	11.88	0.16
ARD016	64.40	183.85	119.45*	0.71	0.77	0.21
including	153.70	157.70	4.00	8.85	6.55	0.23
ARD017	69.20	413.10	343.90	0.18	0.46	0.14
ARD018	121.10	357.35	236.25	0.34	1.17	0.06
including	121.10	262.00	140.90	0.34	1.49	0.06
	175.50	177.40	1.90	1.02	5.00	0.09
	199.60	201.55	1.95	1.25	0.50	0.04
	282.65	322.40	39.75	0.53	1.11	0.07
	315.30	317.10	1.80	1.57	1.80	0.12
	347.75	357.35	9.60	0.91	0.84	0.06
	353.65	355.60	1.95	2.30	2.50	0.16
SALH075	90.70	102.10	11.40**	1.94	10.96	0.02
including	90.70	97.45	6.75	2.53	16.55	0.02

Figure 1: Plan of the Salinbas/Ardala zone of mineralisation based on drilling completed to date.  The boundaries of the zone of mineralisation are based in part on the current geological model and also from results of drilling in the corridor between Salinbas and Ardala.

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

HQ size drill-core samples were obtained from the drilling programme on Ardala and Salinbas (for 2,709.7m), though several holes also included PQ diameter core (for 1,082.5m) drilled from hole collars.  These drill core samples were cut in half by a diamond saw and sent for assay.  Sample recovery averaged 96% in the mineralised zones (with a high of 100% and a low of 78%).  

All the samples have been prepared at the Eldorado Gold preparation facility in Canakkale and analysed at the ALS Chemex laboratory in Izmir via 30g fire assay and for trace-element analysis.  Standard, blank and duplicate samples have been used in the sample batches and quality control checks have determined that these have passed.  Laboratory sample preparation, assaying procedures and chain of custody are appropriately controlled.  The Company maintains an archive of half core samples and a photographic record of all cores for future reference.

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]
Chris Rourke / Guy Wheatley
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 Eastern Europe, 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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Source: Ariana Resources plc via Globenewswire

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