Ariana Resources PLC
21 August 2007
21 August 2007
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU
METALLURGICAL RESULTS: KIZILTEPE
Ariana Resources plc ('Ariana' or 'the Company'), the gold exploration company
focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the results of the first metallurgical
testwork conducted on material from the Kiziltepe Prospect. The results of these
tests keep open the full range of options for the processing of material from
Kiziltepe. A scoping study on potential mining and treatment options will be
addressed following an upcoming RC drilling program which aims to extend and
upgrade the existing resource.
Highlights
•Mineralisation is amenable to both carbon-in-leach and heap-leach
processing options
•Carbon-in-leach simulation tests yielded gold and silver recoveries of
92-98% and 87-92% respectively
•Heap-leach simulation tests yielded gold and silver extraction levels of
up to 81-90% and 65-77% respectively
•Ball mill grindability determined a bond work index of 14.2-15.8 kWh/
tonne
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
'These metallurgical results are extremely encouraging and compare very
favourably with those obtained from similar deposits in Turkey which are already
in production. The results indicate that all of our options for processing of
material from Kiziltepe remain open. We are evaluating strategies for the
further development of the deposit, with on site processing via heap-leach or
toll-treatment at an existing carbon-in-leach processing facility under
investigation.'
'We are now undertaking the groundwork required for our scoping study and making
preparations for trial mining of the Arzu vein at Kiziltepe. The scoping study
will utilise various data, including these metallurgical test results, to
determine the optimal route for the economic development of the Kiziltepe
prospect. Preparations are also underway for further resource definition
drilling at several veins on the prospect, with the aim of increasing and
refining our existing resource.'
Testwork Summary
Metallurgical testwork was undertaken on four composite samples of mineralised
material sent to the SGS Lakefield laboratory in Canada. The samples selected
for testwork were collected from surface and drill-core from the Arzu South Vein
and represent a range of mineralisation types with varying levels of oxidation,
total sulphide content and gold/silver ratio (Table 1). The gold grade of the
samples is within the range of grades determined by the recently announced JORC
resource estimate for Kiziltepe. The purpose of the metallurgical testwork was
to determine, via several simulation tests, the amenability of the Kiziltepe
'ore' to carbon-in-leach and heap-leach processing.
Carbon-in-leach simulation tests were conducted to determine the recovery of
gold and silver from the samples and give the maximum extractability at a
specified grind size (approximately 53 microns). These tests yielded gold
recoveries ranging from 92% to 98% and silver recoveries ranging from 87% to 92%
(Table 1). The consumption of reagents in solution was moderate. These results
prove that the mineralisation is amenable to a conventional carbon-in-leach
processing flowsheet.
Coarse bottle-roll tests at minus 1/4 inch and minus 10 mesh particle size were
performed to determine the amenability of the samples to heap-leaching (Table
1). The simulation tests at minus 10 mesh resulted in gold recoveries of 81% to
90% and silver recoveries of up to 65% to 77%. The gold content of the residues
from tests conducted on the minus 10 mesh material ranged from 0.6 g/t Au to
1.05 g/t Au. The results are likely to be acceptable for a heap-leach operation.
Ball mill grindability tests were performed at a grind of 150 mesh on the four
composite samples (Table 1) to determine the energy requirements for grinding
Kiziltepe 'ore'. Results for the four samples fall into the intermediate range
of hardness and compare favourably with that at similar deposits.
Table 1: Summary of results of the metallurgical testwork on Kiziltepe
mineralisation. 1) Carbon-in-leach simulation tests were undertaken over 48
hours. 2) Heap-leach simulation results shown here are those for minus 10 mesh
over 14 days. Heap-leach simulation results for 1/4 inch mesh were 61-78% for
gold and 41-50% for silver.
+--------------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| |Carbon-in-leach |Heap-leach |
| |Simulation1 |Simulation2 |
+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Sample|Gold |Silver|Ag: |Bond |Au |Ag |Au |Ag |
| |(g/t) |(g/t) |Au |Work |Recovery|Recovery|Recovery|Recovery|
| | | | |Index |(%) |(%) |(%) |(%) |
| | | | |kWh/t | | | | |
+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| 1 |7.53 |52.5 | 7 |15.8 | 97.2 | 87.8 | 88.1 | 66.2 |
+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| 2 |5.84 |44.1 | 8 |15.3 | 98.2 | 87.2 | 89.5 | 66.3 |
+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| 3 |4.76 |94.1 |20 |15.1 | 95.6 | 86.9 | 80.7 | 65.4 |
+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| 4 |5.34 |25.1 | 5 |14.2 | 91.9 | 91.6 | 84.3 | 76.8 |
+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
SGS Lakefield concludes:
'The Kiziltepe project ore samples responded well to conventional
carbon-in-leach processing... The heap-leach simulation tests...resulted in
extractions that will likely be acceptable for a heap-leach operation.'
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director Tel: 0207 407 3616
info@arianaresources.com
Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: 0207 628 3396
Roland Cornish
Bankside Consultants
Michael Padley / Louise Davis Tel: 0207 367 8888
Editors' note:
About Ariana Resources
Ariana is a dynamic exploration company focused on the discovery and development
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 1,820km2, selected on the basis of
its advanced in-house remote sensing database.
The Company's flagship asset is the 235km2 Sindirgi Gold Project, which targets
a series of prospects, within a prolific mineralised district in western Turkey.
The project hosts over 45km of gold-silver bearing epithermal quartz veins.
Ambrian Partners Limited and King & Shaxson Capital 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
at www.arianaresources.com.
Ends
This information is provided by RNS
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