Acquisition of Four New Exploration Properties

3 June 2011
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU


                 ACQUISITION OF FOUR NEW EXPLORATION PROPERTIES

Ariana  Resources  plc  ("Ariana"  or  "the  Company"), the gold exploration and
development  company focused on  Turkey, is pleased  to announce that further to
the  announcement of 16 March  2011, the Company has  signed a Sale and Purchase
Agreement  and  Net  Smelter  Agreement  relating  to  the  acquisition  of four
prospective  exploration  licences  in  western  Turkey  from AIM-listed Turkish
explorer, KEFI Minerals plc ("KEFI").

Highlights:

              * Acquisition  of  four  exploration  licences covering two highly
                prospective project areas; Kizilcukur and Muratdag


              * 2km of  mineralised quartz veins  containing high-grade gold and
                silver delineated on Kizilcukur project - previous assay results
                of up to 152g/t gold and 1,320g/t silver


              * Acquisition of Kilizcukur project provides Ariana with access to
                the  entire  gold  mineralised  trend  within  the Sindirgi Gold
                Corridor which is contained by the Company's flagship Red Rabbit
                Gold Project


              * Gold  and  silver  soil  geochemical  anomaly  identified on the
                Muratdag project, which has not previously been drill tested


              * Acquired   properties  demonstrate  strong  synergies  with  the
                Company's  proximal Red Rabbit Gold Project which is being fast-
                tracked towards production in 2012



Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"This is an important transaction for Ariana, one which furthers strengthens our
gold  portfolio in Western Turkey and provides additional exposure to two highly
prospective early stage gold development projects.  In particular, the synergies
between  these new projects and our flagship Red Rabbit Gold Project make this a
particularly  attractive strategic acquisition for  the Company.  Development at
Red   Rabbit   continues  at  pace  ahead  of  production  next  year,  and  the
consolidation  of additional licences  in the locality  provides us with further
resource uplift potential, which, in the longer term may provide the opportunity
to  significantly extend the mine  life of Red Rabbit  and improve the financial
returns of the wider project area.

"Our  near  term  objective  is  to  commence  exploration  campaigns on the new
licences  with the intention of delineating  a total JORC resource inventory for
the  Red Rabbit region in  excess of 1 million ounces  of gold equivalent.  I am
confident  that with  the combination  of our  strong gold portfolio, our highly
skilled  industry  professionals  and  our  established relationships in western
Turkey, Ariana is on course to achieve its 1 million ounce milestone."


Details of Agreement

A  Sale  and  Purchase  ("S&P")  Agreement  and  a  Net  Smelter Royalty ("NSR")
Agreement  supersede the Letter Agreement  dated 9 March 2011 and constitute the
entire  agreement between Ariana  and its Turkish  subsidiary, Galata Madencilik
San.  ve Tic. Ltd. ("Galata") and KEFI  and its Turkish subsidiary, Dogu Akdeniz
Mineralleri  San. ve  Tic. Ltd.  ("Dogu"), in  relation to  the transfer  to the
Company of licences and mineral exploration data and drill core, relating to the
properties.

The S&P and related NSR agreement contemplate the following payments:

1. A  payment of 10,000 Turkish Lira, inclusive of VAT by Galata to Dogu will be
made  in consideration  for the  transfer of  the licences  from Dogu  to Galata
("Cash Payment").

2. The  Company will be issuing, for non-cash consideration to KEFI, such number
of  ordinary shares in the Company  ("Consideration Shares") in consideration of
the  transfer  of  the  mineral  exploration  data  and drill core.  The Company
requires  a valuation ("Valuation") of the consideration in order to satisfy its
obligations  under  Section  593 of  the  Companies  Act  2006.  The  number  of
Consideration Shares are to be calculated in accordance with the formula set out
in  the Sale  Agreement; being  such number  of Ordinary  Shares equivalent to a
value  of £50,000, based on a 30% premium to the average Volume Weighted Average
Price  of the Company's shares calculated for  the thirty days of trading on AIM
prior  to the date of completion; which KEFI agrees not to trade for a period of
12 months from the date of issue.


3. A  royalty payable by Galata  to Dogu of 2% Net  Smelter Return on commercial
production of any mineral from the properties.

The  agreement  will  complete  and  is  conditional  upon  the  Turkish General
Directorate  of Mining Affairs accepting an  application by both Dogu and Galata
to  transfer the  licences to  Galata and  until such  time as  that happens the
Company  is  neither  required  to  pay  the  Cash  Payment  nor  to  issue  the
Consideration Shares.

New Licence Areas

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]

 Bill Sharpe / 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
atwww.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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