Acquisition of Four New Exploration Licences in...
13 June 2012
AIM: AAU
NEW EXPLORATION LICENCES
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the acquisition of four new exploration licences in Western Turkey via the licence auctions undertaken by the General Directorate of Mining Affairs ("GDMA") in Turkey.
Highlights:
Four new prospective licences totalling 4,058.08 hectares acquired via auction in line with the Company's strategy to expand its exploration footprint across western Turkey
Licences identified as highly prospective following the evaluation of geological models and anomalies defined from geochemical exploration datasets
Exploration programmes will be initiated in July 2012 to further determine the prospectivity prior to drilling testing in 2013
Further new licence auctions to commence in July 2012
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"These new licences add to the pipeline of exploration properties that we are developing in western Turkey in line with our strategy to expand our portfolio of exploration properties targeting the delineation of multi-million ounce deposits. Each licence was acquired in auction following a careful selection process with all four licences showing individual potential to host gold mineralisation. An exploration programme will be initiated in July 2012 in order to define targets for possible drill testing in 2013.
"We are particularly encouraged by Yukaricamli, the largest of these licences, which is located in the Red Rabbit Project Area, half way along strike between our Karakavak and Kizilcukur prospects. Initial results from this prospect have proved encouraging, with rock chip samples demonstrating grades of up to 4.39 g/t Au. We look forward to commencing exploration activities on this licence and gauging its resource potential in tandem with the work programmes underway at the additional prospects housed within our flagship Red Rabbit Gold Project area, including exploration work focussed on our four recently discovered vein systems at Kiziltepe.
"The Company is also expecting to secure additional licences during H2 2012, as a new round of licence auctions will be commencing from the end of July 2012. This will provide Ariana with a further opportunity to expand its mineral footprint across the highly prospective gold province of Western Turkey and delineate further resources to build Ariana's global resource inventory."
New Licences
The four new exploration licences are located in the Balikesir and Kutahya provinces of Western Turkey (Table 1). These licences were acquired in auction through the GDMA and the aggregate cost of these acquisitions was 148,840 Turkish Lira ('TL') (approximately £52,100). The area covered by these new licences is 4,058.08 hectares ("Ha") in total.
The Company will now commit to exploration programmes on each of these licences. The minimum expenditure commitment for each licence in their first year is 57,000 TL (approximately £20,000). The Company will commence geological mapping and sampling during the summer field season and then follow-up as warranted with geophysical programmes towards the end of 2012.
Table 1: List of new licences acquired in auction.
| Licence No. | Licence Name | Area (Ha) | Expiry Date |
| 201200382 | Yukaricamli | 1,811.55 | 10/04/2019 |
| 201200381 | Akcapinar West | 902.17 | 10/04/2019 |
| 201200380 | Kinik West | 713.54 | 10/04/2019 |
| 201200715 | Muratdag Peak | 630.82 | 28/05/2019 |
One of the licences referred to above is located in the Red Rabbit Project area and will be explored in the context of locating additional resources for the planned Kiziltepe operation. This licence contains the Yukaricamli prospect, which contains a peak rock-chip grade of 2.67 g/t Au. Rock-chip samples acquired during reconnaissance in the vicinity also returned grades up to 4.39 g/t Au and the extensions of these zones of mineralisation will be defined in further exploration within the new licence. The Yukaricamli prospect is located within the Sindirgi Gold Corridor and lies half way along strike between the Karakavak and Kizilcukur prospects.
Contacts:
| Ariana Resources plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616 |
| Michael Spriggs, Chairman | |
| Kerim Sener, Managing Director | |
| Beaumont Cornish Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
| Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt | |
| Fairfax I.S. PLC | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7598 5368 |
| Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley | |
| St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
| Susie Geliher / Hugo de Salis | |
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 is fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties.
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 approximately 13% of Tigris Resources Limited.
Fairfax I.S. PLC are 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
The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Ariana Resources plc via Thomson Reuters ONE
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