Drilling Rig and Team

9 July 2008
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU

                        ARIANA RESOURCES plc
                        DRILLING RIG AND TEAM

Ariana  Resources  plc   ("Ariana"  or  "the   Company"),  the   gold
exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased  to
announce the initiation  of drilling at  the Kiziltepe project  using
its newly acquired Sandvik DE130 diamond drill rig.

Highlights


  * High production, low cost drilling, circa US$ 65 per metre
    drilled

  * Capability for exploration drilling on demand over the Company's
    projects

  * New drilling programmes to commence in August


Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"The Company is  expecting to  start its 2008  drilling programme  in
August with its newly acquired  drill rig.  Drilling during 2008  and
early 2009 will be designed to further test previously drilled  veins
and  to  explore  veins  that  remain  un-drilled  elsewhere  on  the
Kiziltepe prospect and in the wider Sindirgi project area.   Drilling
will also be initiated on the Tavsan deposit with the aim of defining
a larger resource.

"This is an exciting  time in the development  of the Company, as  we
continue to build on our capabilities as one of the leading operators
in Turkey.   The  addition  of  our own  drilling  team  has  greatly
enhanced the flexibility  of the Company  to drill on  demand at  any
time of the year."

Drill Rig

Ariana's Turkish operating subsidiary, Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic.
Ltd. Sti.,  recently  took  delivery  of a  Sandvik  DE  130  diamond
drilling rig  from its  manufacturer in  Sweden.  This  is the  first
drill rig to be operated in-house by the Company and used during  our
upcoming exploration and resource drilling campaigns.

The Sandvik DE130 was selected by the Company for its ease of use and
training as well as its simple hydraulic system, which will result in
lower down-time and maintenance costs.  The rig also uses the  metric
wire-line system,  which is  unique for  its light  weight,  enabling
deeper holes to be drilled than the comparable Q wire-line system.

Between August  2006  and March  2008,  through a  contract  drilling
company, Ariana drilled over 11,000 meters of HQ diamond and  Reverse
Circulation drill  holes, costing  an average  of US$  145 per  metre
drilled (inclusive  of  all direct  drilling  costs apart  from  site
preparation and  assays).  It  is  expected that  our own  team  will
achieve  total  drilling  costs  of  US$  65  per  metre  drilled  of
HQ-equivalent sized  core.  This  provides the  Company with  a  high
degree of competitive advantage.

Drilling Team

An in-house  drilling  team has  been  recruited, consisting  of  two
drillers, a drilling  geologist and  two off-siders.   The core  team
received  preliminary  training  using  a  similar  drill-rig  on  an
operating base-metal mine  in Turkey  for a  period of  two weeks  in
June.  This included operational experience  on the rig type,  health
and safety, core handling, and drilling performance reporting.

The training was  followed by  five days of  additional and  specific
training by an expert driller provided  by Sandvik.  As part of  this
training, and to test the machinery, an initial 23.8m deep drill hole
was drilled on Vein 2 at the Kiziltepe prospect, intersecting a 1.34m
thick quartz vein at a  depth of 20.7m.  Please  see the link at  the
end of this announcement for Figure 1 which shows the first  training
hole being drilled with the new  rig.  Training of the drilling  team
will continue in July before the planned drilling programmes start in
August.



Contacts:


Ariana Resources plc               Tel: [phone]
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director

Beaumont Cornish Limited           Tel: [phone]
Roland Cornish

Lothbury Financial                 Tel: [phone]
Michael Padley / Louise Davis

Loeb Aron & Company Ltd            Tel: [phone]
Peter Freeman / Frank Lucas

City Capital Corporation Limited   Tel: [phone]
Charles Dampney

Alexander David Securities Limited Tel: [phone]
Nick Bealer / David Scott


Editors' note:

About the Kiziltepe prospect

The  Kiziltepe  prospect  is  located  within  a  ten-year  renewable
operating licence  that  forms  part  of  the  Company's  100%  owned
Sindirgi gold project in Balikesir Province, western Turkey.

Kiziltepe lies  approximately 100km  east of  the one  million  ounce
vein-hosted Ovacik gold mine and 115km northwest of the five  million
ounce Kisladag  gold mine.  The prospect  hosts over  20km in  strike
length of  gold-silver  bearing  low-sulphidation  epithermal  quartz
veins across an  area of at  least 3km by  1km. Individual veins  are
exposed for up to 750m and widths  vary between 1m and 14m. The  main
veins trend northwest,  dip to  the northeast and  are hosted  within
Miocene age dacitic volcanic rocks.

Ariana  acquired  the  Sindirgi  Gold  Project  from  Newmont  Mining
Corporation (NYSE & ASX: NEM; TSX: NMC) in March 2005.  Franco-Nevada
Corporation retains the right  to a royalty of  up to 2.5% on  future
gold production from the Sindirgi gold project.

Ahead of  commencing  the  drilling programme,  Ariana  obtained  all
necessary environmental and  forestry approvals  from the  provincial
government in Balikesir and the State Government in Ankara.

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 exploring a portfolio of prospective licences selected
on the basis of its in-house remote-sensing database.

The Company's  flagship asset  is the  Sindirgi Gold  Project,  which
targets a series of prospects, within a prolific mineralised district
in western  Turkey.   The  project hosts  over  45km  of  gold-silver
bearing epithermal  quartz veins.   This project  is presently  being
assessed as to its economic merits.

Loeb Aron  &  Company  Ltd., City  Capital  Corporation  Limited  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.

Ends

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