PLACING AND SUBSCRIPTION TO RAISE £1,000,000

PLACING AND SUBSCRIPTION TO RAISE £1,000,000

27 July 2015
AIM: AAU

PLACING AND SUBSCRIPTION TO RAISE £1,000,000

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the Anglo-Turkish gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce that it has raised £1,000,000 before expenses.  The proceeds of the Placing and Subscription will be used primarily for further exploration and resource development of the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project in western Turkey ("Red Rabbit") where first gold production is expected to commence in H2 2016 and for additional working capital. 

Details of the Placing and Subscription

The Company has placed 77,777,778 new ordinary shares (the "Placing Shares") and 33,333,333 new ordinary shares (the "Subscription Shares") to raise £1,000,000 (before expenses) at a price of 0.9 pence per new ordinary share.  Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea"), Ariana's JV partner on Red Rabbit, and Directors of the Company have subscribed in the Subscription as follows:

SubscriptionNumber of Subscription Shares issuedShareholding in Ariana after the SubscriptionPercentage of issued share capital
Proccea 11,111,111 22,602,021 2.82%
Michael de Villiers 6,111,112 19,911,112 2.48%
Dr Kerim Sener 2,222,222 12,410,201 1.55%

The Directors' subscription ("Directors' Subscription") is a related party transaction under the AIM Rules, and William Payne, the independent director, having consulted with the nominated adviser, considers the Directors' Subscription to be fair and reasonable so far as shareholders are concerned.

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the Placing Shares and Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading and it is expected that Admission will occur, and dealings in the Placing Shares and Subscription Shares will commence on 30 July 2015.

The Placing Shares and Subscription Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued shares of Ariana, including the right to receive any dividends and other distributions declared following Admission.

As at the date of Admission, the Company's issued share capital will consist of 802,060,195 Ordinary Shares with a nominal value of 0.1p each, with voting rights ("Ordinary Shares").  The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in Treasury.  Therefore the total number of Ordinary Shares in the Company with voting rights is 802,060,195.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"This fundraising provides the Company with the funds required to continue its planned exploration and resource development work at the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project.  In the past 18 months the Company has systematically established multiple resource target areas and has advanced several of these to the point of drill-testing. 

"Together with our partners, Proccea, we recognise the potential for the project to yield additional resources that can ultimately be fed in to the mining schedule and increase mine life of Kiziltepe where we anticipate our first gold pour in H2 2016, currently targeting 20,000 oz per annum.  We are very pleased to have the support of our partners in this fundraising ahead of imminent mine construction; like us, they understand the value of additional exploration and resource development at this important time in the development of the mine.

"We look forward to updating shareholders further with exploration and mine construction news in the coming months."

Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616
Michael de Villiers, Chairman  
Kerim Sener, Managing Director  
   
Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt  
   
Beaufort Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 8300
Jon Belliss  
   
Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 1128
John Beresford-Peirse  
   
St Brides Partners Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Lottie Brocklehurst / Felicity Winkles  
   

Editors' note:

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





This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Ariana Resources plc via Globenewswire

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