First Gold Production

29 June 2009
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU

                  KIZILTEPE: FIRST GOLD PRODUCTION

Ariana  Resources  plc   ("Ariana"  or  "the   Company"),  the   gold
exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased  to
announce its first gold production  from the Sindirgi Gold  Project.
This follows the conclusion of trial mining at the Arzu South vein at
the Kiziltepe deposit by Ariana's subsidiary, Galata Madencilik  San.
ve Tic. Ltd. ("Galata") and the processing of its ore at the Gümüsköy
plant by Eti Gümüs A.S. ("Eti").

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"Trial  processing  of  ore  from  Kiziltepe  has  resulted  in   the
production of the first 387 oz  of gold from the Kiziltepe  deposit.
This is a solid result from the initial trial mine at Kiziltepe,  and
discussions regarding an extension to  this trial for the  processing
of a  further  batch  of  ore are  underway.   It  is  currently  the
intention of  the companies  to develop  their partnership  with  the
intention of advancing both the Sindirgi and Tavsan projects.

"Ariana is currently considering the  sale of investment ingots  from
its first gold production from Kiziltepe, following further  refining
and minting at the Istanbul Gold Refinery.  Such ingots will be  sold
at a modest premium to the gold price on a  'first-come-first-served'
basis.  I have personally placed a provisional order for 1kg of  this
first  gold  production,  as  I   believe  this  represents  such   a
significant and memorable step forward for the Company."

Trial Processing

Trial processing  of  5,177 tonnes  of  dry ore  from  the  Kiziltepe
deposit was finalised  during last  week at  the Gümüsköy  processing
plant owned by Eti in Kütahya Province, Western Turkey.

According to preliminary data provided by Eti, 253.16kg of dry  anode
mud was recovered  from the electrolytic  processing circuit  (Figure
1).  The gold  content of  the mud was  measured at  4.75%, giving  a
total gold content of 12.025 kg (387 oz).  Refining of the anode  mud
for conversion to 99.9%  pure gold is currently  underway at the  Eti
laboratory and division of the proceeds is expected to occur during a
meeting between Galata and Eti  scheduled for the 10th July.   Please
see the news release  dated 5th March 2009  for details of the  trial
processing arrangement with Eti.

While the recovered grade was lower than expected, Galata and Eti are
working jointly to  determine the  reasons for  this result.   Ariana
suspects that  the surprising  volume  of sub-surface  old  workings,
containing low grade back-fill, encountered in otherwise higher-grade
areas contributed to the lower than expected grade of the ore trucked
to the  plant.   Also,  the  mined  ore  suffered  certain  unplanned
dilution resulting from the mining method and the inexperience of the
trial mine operators.  These factors  contributed to a trucked  grade
of approximately 3.27 g/t Au, based on analyses undertaken at the Eti
laboratory.   Process  recoveries  were  also  somewhat  lower   than
expected and  calculations of  staged  process efficiency  are  still
underway.  Ariana  is  also  checking Eti  laboratory  data  via  new
analyses undertaken  at ALS  Chemex to  determine if  any  analytical
errors have occurred.

Following the successful and economically satisfactory completion  of
the  initial  trial,  Galata  and   Eti  have  been  discussing   the
continuation of the trial to encompass a further batch of ore.   This
extended trial will develop the cooperation between the two companies
and will  be  designed  to  improve on  mining  methods  and  process
recovery to  ensure  improved  gold  extraction.   Beyond  this,  the
companies have expressed  interest in a  longer term partnership  for
the joint development  of the  Sindirgi and Tavsan  projects, and  to
establish a new gold mining and processing venture in Turkey.


Please follow this link to Figure 1:


http://hugin.info/138153/R/1325474/311741.jpg


Figure 1: Anode mud recovered from the processing trial of  Kiziltepe
ore at the Gümüsköy plant, containing gold, silver, copper and  other
metals.

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 / Libby Moss

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

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



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 the Kiziltepe Deposit

The  Kiziltepe  deposit  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.   The
current JORC resource of 186,000 ounces gold equivalent is  contained
within the Arzu South, Arzu North, Banu and Derya veins.

Kiziltepe lies approximately 130km west of the Gümüsköy silver  mine,
100km east of the one million ounce vein-hosted Ovacik gold mine  and
115km northwest of  the five  million ounce Kisladag  gold mine.  The
deposit 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.

About Eti Gümüs A.S.

Eti Gümüs A.S. owns and operates the Gümüsköy silver mine in  Kütahya
Province, western Turkey.  It is currently the largest silver mine in
Europe and has  been operational since  1987.  Before  privatisation,
the process plant had a designed annual throughput rate of  1,000,000
tonnes and produces a maximum of 122 tonnes of silver per annum using
the Merrill-Crowe system;  a process for  separating silver and  gold
where high Ag:Au  ratios prevent the  use of carbon  as an  effective
recovery technique.   Current production  is well  in excess  of  the
original capacity,  following improvements  to the  plant made  since
privatisation.  The company's production meets 45% of annual  Turkish
silver demand.

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 geological and remote-sensing  database,
on its  own in  western Turkey  and in  Joint Venture  with  European
Goldfields Limited in north-eastern Turkey.

The Company's  flagship  assets  are its  Sindirgi  and  Tavsan  gold
projects.  Both projects  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.  The  total  resource
inventory  of  the   Company  stands  at   401,000  ounces  of   gold
equivalent.

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.

Ends

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