PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF NEW EXPLORATION PROPERTIES

16 March 2011
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU


               PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF NEW EXPLORATION PROPERTIES

Ariana  Resources  plc  ("Ariana"  or  "the  Company"), the gold exploration and
development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce that it has signed
a  Heads  of  Agreement  ("HoA")  for  the  acquisition  of four key exploration
properties  in western Turkey,  from AIM-listed Turkish  explorer, KEFI Minerals
plc ("KEFI").

Highlights:

          * Acquisition  of four exploration properties including the Kizilcukur
            and Muratdag projects (as described here).
          * Properties show potential to add to the Company's resource inventory
            within western Turkey.
          * Properties  provide an  opportunity for  Ariana to  create synergies
            with  its Red Rabbit  Gold Project ahead  of scheduled production in
            2012.
          * 2km of  mineralised  quartz  veins  containing  high-grade  gold and
            silver delineated on Kizilcukur project.
          * Gold  and silver soil geochemical anomaly identified on the Muratdag
            project, which has not previously been drill tested.


Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"This  proposed acquisition is an important step  for Ariana, and one which will
consolidate  our position and exploration  footprint in western Turkey, focusing
primarily  on the highly prospective Red Rabbit Gold Project and the surrounding
area.

"The acquisition of the Kizilcukur property is a strategically significant move,
as  it will provide Ariana  and its Red Rabbit  Joint Venture with access to the
entire  gold  mineralised  trend  within  the  Sindirgi  Gold Corridor.  Surface
sampling  results including  152g/t gold and  1,320g/t silver and  several high-
grade  drill  intercepts  underpin  the  prospectivity  of the property.  We are
expecting  that,  with  further  exploration  at  Kizilcukur, we will be able to
define  a mineral resource to integrate into our Red Rabbit project development.
 Our  target  resource  base  for  this  Red  Rabbit  region  is 1 million oz Au
equivalent  and we are putting all the  building blocks in place to achieve this
in the medium term."

Heads of Agreement

Details  of  the  Heads  of  Agreement,  which  are  subject  to  due  diligence
(particularly  with respect to the licences)  and the completion of a definitive
agreement, are as follows:

  * A nominal cash payment by Ariana to KEFI's Turkish subsidiary.


  * The  issue to KEFI of such number of ordinary shares in the Company that are
    equal  to a value  of £50,000 based  on a 30% premium  to the average Volume
    Weighted  Average Price ("VWAP") of  Ariana's ordinary shares calculated for
    the  30 days of  trading prior  to the  date of  completion of  a definitive
    agreement; which KEFI agrees not to trade for a period of 12 months from the
    date of issue.


  * The  grant  to  KEFI  of  a  2% Net  Smelter  Royalty  on all future mineral
    production from the licences.


  * The  HoA expires on 29th April 2011 unless both parties agree to extend this
    date.


Kizilcukur Project

The Kizilcukur project consists of one licence located in the Balikesir Province
in  Western Turkey.  The licence covers an  area containing a series of parallel
quartz  veins that trend northwest and extend  for at least two kilometres.  The
main  vein exhibits classic  low-sulphidation epithermal features  and attains a
maximum  true  width  of  8m.  Preliminary  rock  chip sampling by KEFI in 2007
returned  encouraging assay results of up  to 152g/t gold and 1,320g/t silver in
an  area containing old workings.  Later  channel sampling of this area returned
assays of 8m at 3g/t gold and 152g/t silver.

The  western  quartz  vein  extends  over  a  strike  length of 800m.  In 2007,
composite  rock  chip  sampling  of  80m strike  along this quartz vein returned
encouraging  assay  results  of  6m at  3.3g/t gold, 2m at 9.6g/t gold and 1m at
7.2g/t gold.   A total  of 17 drill  holes were  then completed  by KEFI  on the
property   (Table   1) during  2007 and  2008.  No  mineral  resource  has  been
calculated by KEFI for the area drilled to date.

Table  1: Example drilling  results from  exploration on  the Kizilcukur licence
undertaken  by KEFI.  These intersections are  those previously reported by KEFI
in news releases published in September 2007 and July 2008.

+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Intercept (m) | Grade                  |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| KDTD04     | 38.0     | 41.6   | 3.6           | 3.4 g/t Au, 90 g/t Ag  |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| And        | 44.0     | 45.0   | 1.0           | 3.3 g/t Au, 327 g/t Ag |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| KDTD05     | 42.0     | 43.7   | 1.7           | 2.0 g/t Au, 72 g/t Ag  |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| KDTD10     | 71.6     | 75.1   | 3.5           | 47 g/t Ag              |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| KDTD13     | 110.0    | 112.9  | 2.9           | 16.1 g/t Au            |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| And        | 106.6    | 114.7  | 8.1           | 29 g/t Ag              |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| KDTD15     | 54.7     | 56.1   | 1.4           | 1.4 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag  |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| And        | 60.3     | 61.0   | 0.7           | 1.0 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag  |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+
| KDTD16     | 116.0    | 122.9  | 6.9           | 25.3g/t Ag             |
+------------+----------+--------+---------------+------------------------+


Muratdag Project

The  Muratdag Project consists of  two licences located in  the Usak Province in
Western  Turkey that are considered by Ariana to be prospective for listwaenite-
hosted   gold-silver  and  laterite-hosted  nickel-cobalt  mineralisation.   The
Muratdag  licences  contain  extensive  areas  of listwaenites which are located
within  a thrust-sequence of Upper Cretaceous ophiolite and Jurassic carbonates,
lying  in the  vicinity of  an Oligocene  granitoid.  The gold mineralisation is
associated with silicification and haematite/limonite alteration.

In 2007, KEFI completed geological mapping, rock-chip sampling and soil sampling
on  the  licences.   A  number  of  historical  workings for mercury are present
immediately  to the  west and  north of  the project  area.  A triangular shaped
gold-silver  soil anomaly  up to  350m north-south and  250m east-west at >20ppb
gold is present within the northern licence.  This anomaly has not been followed
up with any drilling by KEFI.
Ariana  considers  that  there  are  several geological similarities between the
Muratdag  project  and  Ariana's  Tavsan  and  Demirci gold projects.  All three
projects   lie  on  the  same  stratigraphic  horizon,  which  is  a  regionally
significant zone for gold mineralisation.


Contacts:

 Ariana Resources plc                     Tel: [phone]

 Michael Spriggs, Chairman

 Kerim Sener, Managing Director



 Beaumont Cornish Limited                 Tel: [phone]

 Roland Cornish



 Alexander David Securities Limited       Tel: [phone]

 Nick Bealer / David Scott



 Loeb Aron & Company Ltd                  Tel: [phone]

 Jonathan Willis-Richards / Frank Lucas



 St Brides Media & Finance Ltd            Tel: [phone]

 Hugo de Salis / Susie Geliher




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  European  Goldfields  Limited  in  north-eastern  Turkey.
 European  Goldfields owns  51% of this  joint venture  and, as the operator, is
fully  funding all  exploration work  on the  JV properties  until delivery of a
feasibility study.

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   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 15% of Tigris Resources Limited.

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 you are invited to visit the Company's website
at www.arianaresources.com.

About KEFI Minerals

KEFI  Minerals is an  exploration company focussed  on exploring for world-class
mineral  deposits in the well-endowed and under-explored Tethyan Mineral Belt of
Turkey  and Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia. Following its listing on AIM in late
2006, KEFI  Minerals has  established itself  as an  innovative gold  and copper
exploration Company and has rapidly expanded its exploration portfolio.

In  Turkey, KEFI is  primarily targeting large  low-sulphidation epithermal gold
systems  and porphyry-style gold-copper systems, analogous to several >1 million
ounce gold deposits recently discovered and developed in the western part of the
country.  KEFI  Minerals  recently  expanded  its  sphere  of  interest with the
formation  of a  new minerals  exploration joint  venture within  the Kingdom of
Saudi  Arabia. In  Saudi Arabia,  KEFI is  exploring for mesothermal vein-hosted
gold   mineralisation,   listwaenite-hosted   gold   deposits  and  Kuroko-style
volcanogenic copper-zinc mineralisation.

KEFI   has  a  strong  Board  of  Directors  and  management  team  with  highly
demonstrable  track records in  the resources industry  in Australia and Europe.
The Board of KEFI's aim is expand the company through the discovery, acquisition
and  development  of  high  quality  precious  and  base  metal projects. KEFI's
reputation  has  been  built  on  treating  safety,  environment  and  community
relations as a priority at all times.


Ends








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Source: Ariana Resources plc via Thomson Reuters ONE

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