High Grades from Kepez Prospect

ARIANA RESOURCES plc
13 May 2009
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU

                   HIGH GRADES FROM KEPEZ PROSPECT

Ariana  Resources  plc   ("Ariana"  or  "the   Company"),  the   gold
exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased  to
announce the results of a new rock-chip and float sampling  programme
at its Kepez gold prospect in Balikesir Province, western Turkey.

Highlights

*          Continuous zone of high-grades over sampled area, with an
  average of 7.14 g/t Au, and maximum of 41.8
             g/t Au
*          Sampled area shows grade continuity and covers 90m by 60m
*          Sub-surface extensions of the mineralised area to be
  tested by drilling
*          Potential for a short-term mining operation independent of
  Kiziltepe

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are  very  encouraged  by  the  latest  results  from  the  Kepez
prospect.  Earlier surface exploration had shown the potential for  a
small near surface resource at this location, which we felt  deserved
revisiting following the commencement  of trial mining operations  at
the nearby Kiziltepe prospect.

"The latest  sampling has  confirmed the  potential for  high  grades
within the  mineralised  zone and  we  will  now drill  the  area  to
determine the size of  the in-situ resource.   We believe that  Kepez
has the potential to  yield a small  high-grade resource amenable  to
trucking and processing off site."

Details of Programme

The Company  has  completed further  surface  sampling at  the  Kepez
Prospect (located  6.5km to  the ENE  of Kiziltepe),  where  previous
sampling yielded high  grades along  a 100m portion  of the  Karakaya
Vein (Figure 1).  This  part of the vein  shows evidence of  previous
mining activity  and earlier  drilling  had encountered  voids  which
probably  correspond   to   old  workings.    Ariana   is   currently
re-evaluating this area for the purposes of identifying the potential
for a low-cost mining  operation focused on  near surface high  grade
material.

In  March  2009,  a  field  team  from  Ariana's  subsidiary,  Galata
Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti, undertook a comprehensive float and
rock-chip sampling programme over an area covering the Karakaya Vein.
 This sampling programme was designed to confirm the distribution  of
near surface mineralisation over the central portion of the vein from
which earlier channel  samples, which  were taken  across and  partly
down-dip of the vein, had reported good grades (as first announced on
2nd February 2006).

Sampling was undertaken  on a  grid consisting  of eight  north-south
trending lines of 100m  length and 10m  spacing.  Samples were  taken
every 10m  along  the lines  and  at each  sample  location  randomly
selected outcrop or float samples were collected as composites from a
circular area with 5m radius  around the sample point.  This  ensured
that the 8,000m² area was comprehensively sampled with minimum bias.

High grades were obtained, especially towards the southerly extent of
the sampling  grid.  The  maximum grades  reported by  the  composite
rock-chip and float samples  in this area were  26.5 and 41.8 g/t  Au
respectively.  The high grades recorded from the southern part of the
grid demonstrate grade continuity in this direction.

While  drilling  in  2007  demonstrated  that  high  grades  are  not
maintained at depth, the  current sampling suggests that  significant
mineralisation exists in the top 50m of the vein.  This area will  be
tested by several short drill  holes to prove the sub-surface  extent
of this  shallow mineralisation  and  to enable  an estimate  of  the
resource to be made.

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

The Kepez programme consisted of the collection of 80 composite float
and  rock-chip  samples  of  quartz  vein  material.   The  composite
rock-chip samples  were collected  from in-situ  rock from  the  vein
outcrops.  The composite  float samples (a)  included both  weathered
material and/or mined  rejects; (b) represent  scree which has  moved
downhill; and (c) were obtained from  a blanket of broken rock  which
is not more than a few metres thick.

Of the rock-chip samples none returned  grades less than 0.25 g/t  Au
(0% of the total);  3 samples assayed between  0.25-1 g/t Au (10%  of
total), 9 between 1-5 g/t  Au (30% of total)  and 18 samples above  5
g/t Au (60%  of total), with  a peak grade  of 26.5 g/t  Au.  Of  the
float samples, 4 returned grades of less than 0.25 g/t Au (8% of  the
total), 3 samples between 0.25-1 g/t Au (6% of total), 17 between 1-5
g/t Au (34% of total) and 26  samples above 5 g/t Au (52% of  total),
with a peak grade of 41.8 g/t Au.  The average (arithmetic means)  of
the gold grades were respectively 7.08 g/t Au and 7.17 g/t Au for the
rock-chip and float samples.

All samples were prepared by  the ALS Chemex preparation facility  in
Izmir and assayed by 30g fire  assay at the ALS Chemex laboratory  in
Romania.  Routine re-assaying of all samples assaying greater than 10
g/t Au has also been completed  by ALS Chemex.  Regular standard  and
blank samples are being used in the sample sequence in line with  the
Company's quality control procedures.  Every sample was  photographed
and analysed using a hand-held XRF  instrument prior to assay at  ALS
Chemex.


Contacts:


Ariana Resources plc               Tel: [phone]
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director

Beaumont Cornish Limited           Tel: [phone]
Roland Cornish

Lothbury Financial                 Tel: [phone]
Michael Padley / Libby Moss

Alexander David Securities Limited Tel: [phone]
Nick Bealer / David Scott

Loeb Aron & Company Ltd            Tel: [phone]
Peter Freeman / Frank Lucas


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 the Kepez Prospect

The  Kepez  prospect  is  located  within  the  same  36km²  ten-year
renewable  operating  licence  that  hosts  the  Company's  Kiziltepe
prospect, which forms part of the Company's 100% owned Sindirgi  gold
project in Balikesir Province, western Turkey. Kepez lies 6.5km  away
from the current  trial production  area in  the Kiziltepe  Prospect.
 Ariana is  currently assessing  the potential  of Kepez  to yield  a
small high-grade resource amenable to open-pit mining.

The prospect  contains 3km  of gold-silver  bearing  low-sulphidation
epithermal quartz veins  across an  area of  at least  2km by  0.5km.
 Individual veins are exposed for up to 600m and widths vary  between
2m and 25m.  The  main veins trend  N and NE,  and are hosted  either
within Lower  Miocene  dacitic  volcanic rocks  or  on  the  boundary
between  these  rocks  and  underlying  Upper  Cretaceous  ophiolitic
sedimentary rocks.   Three main  vein systems  have been  defined  by
geological mapping, rock-saw channel and rock-chip sampling, the most
important of which is the Karakaya Vein.

Existing drilling on the Karakaya Vein shows that it dips between  40
degrees and 50 degrees to the west and is developed along the contact
between underlying ophiolitic  rocks and  overlying dacitic  volcanic
rocks.  The  Karakaya  Vein was  sampled  during a  rock-saw  channel
sampling programme conducted along the vein outcrop in 2006.  Surface
results on  the Karakaya  vein  have been  encouraging over  100m  of
strike, from  which  high  grades  have  been  encountered,  although
previous follow-up drilling of the down-dip extensions have tended to
encounter lower grades.

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 exploring 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.

The Company's  flagship  assets  are its  Sindirgi  and  Tavsan  gold
projects.  Both projects  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.  The  total  resource
inventory  of  the   Company  stands  at   401,000  ounces  of   gold
equivalent.

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 and an illustrated version of  this
announcement you  are  invited  to visit  the  Company's  website  at
www.arianaresources.com.

Ends

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