Further Positive Drilling Results at Kiziltepe ...
23 July 2012
AIM : AAU
ADDITIONAL POSITIVE DRILLING RESULTS AT KIZILTEPE
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to report further encouraging exploration results from its drilling programme at the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project in Western Turkey.
Highlights:
Drilling focused on the Gamze and Fidan vein systems, which lie between the planned pits at Arzu South and the Banu.
Initial drilling of the Gamze vein system has yielded encouraging results including:
2.05m @ 9.57 g/t Au + 146.22 g/t Ag (12.23 g/t Au equiv.)
4.00m @ 2.59 g/t Au + 38.25 g/t Ag (3.29 g/t Au equiv.)
Several low to moderate grade, shallow depth intercepts have been returned from the Fidan vein system, including:
1.00m @ 4.53 g/t Au + 5.3 g/t Ag (4.44 g/t Au equiv.)
1.00m @ 2.88 g/t Au + 43.60 g/t Ag (3.67 g/t Au equiv.)
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"The results obtained from the drilling of the Gamze and Fidan structures demonstrate unequivocally the potential for the new vein systems recently identified on Kiziltepe to yield potentially economic grades over considerable strike. Having announced bonanza gold and silver grades from the Derya vein which is located between the Arzu South and Arzu North veins at Kiziltepe in May, we are very pleased to report on these further encouraging grades as we progress towards production at our Red Rabbit Gold Project.
"This initial drill testing will need to be followed up, particularly along the Gamze structure, to determine the potential for additional resources that could complement our planned gold mining operation at Kiziltepe. I look forward to providing further updates in this regard in due course."
Drilling Programme
A field team from the Company's Turkish operating subsidiary, Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. ('Galata'), have supervised the completion of a WL-76 diamond drilling programme on the Kiziltepe deposit using its in-house drilling team. Ahead of commencing the drilling programme, Galata obtained all necessary environmental and forestry approvals from the provincial government in Balikesir and the State Government in Ankara. The drilling programme was designed to test parts of the Gamze and Fidan vein structures.
Gamze was first identified in May 2011 by systematic rock-chip sampling of float along a corridor of electrical geophysical anomalism covering a strike length of 1,800m. The sampling programme returned consistent anomalous mineralisation with a maximum grade of 10.71g/t Au equivalent. Five easily accessible targets were identified to drill test parts of the Gamze vein system. The holes drilled in this area total 381.6m and were drilled to depths between 30 and 104m, and angled between 50 to 60 degrees.
Fidan is a partially exposed high-level epithermal vein system, which has yielded significantly anomalous (>5 g/t Au) rock-chip results in previous work. Fidan is defined by a series of narrow NW-SE oriented quartz vein outcrops. A total of 8 holes, with a total depth of 449.5m, were drilled to depths of between 40 and 65m, and angled between 50 to 60 degrees along a 600m strike.
The latest results have better defined the Fidan vein structure and further confirmed the need to complete more exploration drilling on the Gamze structure. Other complementary exploration work including a deep IP/resistivity survey and a ground-magnetic geophysical programme have been completed and are being interpreted in order to characterise new drilling targets. A Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) soil-sampling programme is currently underway to aid target definition in areas with poor to non-existent exposure. The results of this programme of work will be integrated with a new lithostructural model to enable focused targeting for future drilling programmes.
Exploration Drilling Results
A summary of exploration drilling results obtained from the Gamze and Fidan vein structures is provided in Table 1. A map showing the location of the drill holes described here and the trends of mineralisation intercepted is shown in Figure 1.
Preliminary drilling along easily accessible areas of the Gamze structure has led to the discovery of shallow surface, moderate grade mineralisation. Drill hole KTP-D01-11, was designed to test a series of closely spaced surface outcrops on the far south-eastern end of the Gamze structure. The hole was drilled to a depth of 38.2m and identified an intercept of 2.05m @ 9.57g/t Au + 146.22 g/t Ag (12.23 g/t Au equiv.) from 8.4m down hole. A further 600m northwest along strike, drill hole KTP-D24-11, was designed to test an area covered by anomalous quartz float. The hole was drilled to a depth of 98.2m and identified an intercept of 4m @ 2.59g/t Au + 38.25 g/t Ag (3.29g/t Au equiv.) from 56m down hole. Initial results have confirmed the potential to continue further exploration along other parts of the Gamze structure.
Exploration drilling along the Fidan structure was designed to intercept a cluster of narrow NW-SE trending quartz bodies. Hole KTP-D03A-11 was drilled to a depth of 56.5m and identified the highest-grade intercept along the tested strike; 1m @ 4.35 g/t Au + 5.10 g/t Ag (4.44 g/t Au equiv.) from 7.6m down hole. The Fidan structure otherwise contains generally low-grade mineralisation. KTP-D02-11, which was located 250m NW along strike from the far northwest end of the known Fidan structure intercepted additional mineralisation. The hole was drilled to a depth of 76.2m and yielded an intercept of 1m @ 2.88g/t Au + 43.6 g/t Ag (3.67g/t Au equiv.) from 66m down hole.
Table 1: New drilling results for the Kiziltepe prospect. Results reported for intercepts >1m using a 0.5 g/t Au lower cut, no upper cut and a 1m minimum composite width. Gold equivalent grade is calculated as the sum of the gold grade and the gold equivalent grade of silver according to a Au:Ag price ratio of 55:1.
| Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Interval Width (m) | Gold Grade (Au g/t) | Silver Grade (Ag g/t) | Gold Equivalent (Au equiv. g/t) |
| KTP-D01-11 | 8.40 | 10.45 | 2.05 | 9.57 | 146.22 | 12.23 |
| KTP-D02-11 | 22.00 | 23.00 | 1.00 | 0.96 | 12.70 | 1.19 |
| 66.00 | 67.00 | 1.00 | 2.88 | 43.60 | 3.67 | |
| KTP-D03A-11 | 7.60 | 8.60 | 1.00 | 4.35 | 5.10 | 4.44 |
| KTP-D03B-11 | 59.10 | 60.16 | 1.06 | 0.87 | 39.30 | 1.58 |
| KTP-D05-11 | 19.10 | 22.80 | 3.70 | 0.49 | 18.14 | 0.82 |
| KTP-D08-11 | 18.10 | 19.50 | 1.40 | 0.74 | 20.86 | 1.12 |
| KTP-D09-11 | 17.90 | 18.90 | 1.00 | 0.52 | 17.00 | 0.83 |
| KTP-D24-11 | 56.00 | 60.00 | 4.00 | 2.59 | 38.25 | 3.29 |
Figure 1: Map showing the location of new veins and vein trends identified by the recent drilling programme on Kiziltepe, showing the location of notable drill holes. A recently completed ground magnetic map is superimposed on the satellite imagery and demonstrates the potential for other obscured and potentially mineralised structures on the property.
Sampling and Assaying Procedures
WL-76 size (core diameter 57.5mm) drill-core samples from the drilling programme on the Kiziltepe deposit were cut in half by a diamond saw and sent for assay. Sample recovery has averaged 92% in the mineralised zones.
All the samples have been prepared by the ALS Chemex preparation facility in Izmir and assayed by 30g fire assay at the ALS Chemex laboratory in Romania. Standard, blank and duplicate samples are being used in the sample batches in line with the Company's quality control procedures. Quality control checks have determined that all blanks and standards have passed and duplicate samples have shown excellent correlations. 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.
** ENDS **
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 / Felicity Geidt | |
| Fairfax I.S. PLC | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7598 5368 |
| Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley | |
| St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
| 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 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 the Artvin Province of north-eastern Turkey. Eldorado owns 51% of this joint venture and is fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties.
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 maintains a Joint Venture in northeastern Turkey and 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 approximately 13% of Tigris Resources Limited.
Fairfax I.S. PLC 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.
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
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