2018 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE

RNS Number : 3342H

Ariana Resources PLC

12 March 2018

 

12 March 2018

AIM: AAU

2018 PRODUCTION GUIDANCE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the exploration and development company with gold mining operations in Turkey, is pleased to announce production guidance for 2018 for the Kiziltepe Mine ("Kiziltepe" or "the Project").  Kiziltepe is part of the Red Rabbit Joint Venture ("JV") with Proccea Construction Co. and is 50% owned by Ariana through its shareholding in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Zenit").

Highlights:

·    Gold production guidance for 2018 from Kiziltepe is c. 20,000 oz Au*, a c. 47% increase on an annualised basis (2017: 10,191 oz Au), and c. 21% above feasibility plan for the second year of operations.

·    The mine plan forecasts monthly production of ore between 15,500 tonnes and 17,000 tonnes during the year, increasing during Q2 and Q3 2018.

·     Ore throughput to the mill during 2018 is expected at c. 180,000 tonnes, which represents a 20% increase over the feasibility plan.

·    Average grade of gold expected to be processed during the year will be c. 4 g/t Au and gold recovery is expected to exceed 90%. 

·     Open-pit mining will continue to focus on the Arzu South pit during 2018, with preparations being made to commence mining on satellite pits from early 2019.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are very pleased to have reported in early February a strong operational finish to 2017. The Kiziltepe mine continued to perform very well and maintained positive operational momentum throughout Q4 and in to Q1 2018.  With our gold production guidance for the JV indicating circa 20,000 oz for the year, we look forward to delivering further towards our solid growth trajectory as a Company benefitting from JV operations.  In particular, we are pleased to note that repayments of loans made by the Company to the JV for the purposes of exploration and development since 2010, commenced in instalments during Q1 2018.

"As a low-cost open pit operator, ranked in the lowest 30% of cash costs^# globally, the JV continues to target increases in production and life of mine.  In due course, the JV will provide a mineral reserve update, to reinforce our expectations for expanding the current open pits or possibly towards developing underground operations in the future."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

* Silver production guidance is not provided and gold equivalents will no longer be reported, as silver will be treated in the future purely as a by-product credit, in line with our calculation of cash costs.  Previously target production for Kiziltepe based on the feasibility study was 20,000 oz gold equivalent, which included both the gold and the silver output from the operation.

^# The Company is occasionally expected to state its All-In Sustaining Costs ("AISC"), which is not an applicable metric due to the particular JV structure and specifically the treatment of the JV in the Company's accounts according to the equity method of accounting per IFRS (IAS 28).  However, as an indicative exercise and for the purpose of benchmarking only, assuming that future JV exploration costs match Ariana's historic exploration spend (an industry leading US$15 per oz) with no new capital investment, Ariana's AISC based on 2017 figures would not have exceeded US$600 per oz. 

Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc	Tel: [phone]
Michael de Villiers, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited	Tel: [phone]
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited	Tel: [phone]
Adam James / Tom Salvesen
Yellow Jersey PR Limited	Tel: [phone]
Tim Thompson / Harriet Jackson / Henry Wilkinson	[e-mail]

Editors' Note

About Ariana Resources:

Ariana is an exploration and development company with mining operations focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey, the largest gold producing country in Europe.  The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective licences originally selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, which now contain a total of 1.6 million ounces of gold and other metals.  Ariana's objective is to cost-effectively add value to its projects through focused exploration and to develop its operations, primarily through well-financed joint ventures. 

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, form part of a 50:50 Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co.  The Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project is fully-permitted and is currently in production.  The total resource inventory at the Red Rabbit Project and wider project area stands at c. 605,000 ounces of gold equivalent.  At Kiziltepe a Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of up to 2.5% on production is payable to Franco-Nevada Corporation.  At Tavsan an NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.

In north-eastern Turkey, Ariana owns 100% of the Salinbas Gold Project, comprising the Salinbas gold-silver deposit and the Ardala copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry among other prospects.  The total resource inventory of the Salinbas project area is c. 1 million ounces of gold equivalent.  A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited are broker 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.

 

END

 

 

DRLLLFFAVSIAIIT