Licence Auctions Announced

10th October 2011
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU


                           LICENCE AUCTIONS ANNOUNCED

Ariana  Resources  plc  ("Ariana"  or  "the  Company"), the gold exploration and
development  company  focused  on  Turkey,  is  pleased to announce the upcoming
commencement  of exploration licence  auctions in Turkey  by the Turkish General
Directorate of Mining Affairs.

Highlights:

  * First  round of licence auctions for  Group IV licences (which include gold,
    silver, copper etc.) since the new mining law came into effect in June 2010
  * 1,252 Group IV exploration licences to be auctioned via a consecutive closed
    and open bidding process
  * Auctions to commence in January and continue until May 2012
  * 20 prospective target licences have already been identified in Ariana's area
    of interest and will be further evaluated before the auctions begin
  * The  Company  is  in  a  strong  position to take advantage of opportunities
    offered by this round of auctions, following on from the Company's ambitious
    grassroots exploration programme in 2010/11


Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"This  marks a key  opportunity to substantially  increase the Company's mineral
exploration  footprint  in  Western  Turkey,  an  area  which  we  believe holds
significant   exploration   upside   and   potential   for  multi-million  ounce
discoveries.  We are in a strong position to enter into this auction process, as
we  benefit from the extensive geoscientific database which we have built across
Turkey,  which was  enhanced during  our recent  regional grassroots exploration
programme.

"We  are  in  an  unrivalled  position  to identify prospective target areas for
exploration  in western  Turkey, and  acquire these  at auction.  Having our own
operational  drill  rig  means  we  can  quickly  evaluate  any licences that we
acquire.   This will  help us  on our  way to  growing our  resource-base across
Western Turkey through low-cost grassroots discoveries by the Ariana exploration
team, and achieving our target resource of 1 million ounces gold equivalent."


Contacts:

 Ariana Resources plc              Tel: [phone]

 Michael Spriggs, Chairman

 Kerim Sener, Managing Director



 Beaumont Cornish Limited          Tel: [phone]

 Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt



 Fairfax I.S. PLC                  Tel: [phone]

 Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley



 St Brides Media & Finance Ltd     Tel: [phone]

 Hugo de Salis / Susie Geliher




Editors' note:

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 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
atwww.arianaresources.com.

Ends







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Source: Ariana Resources plc via Thomson Reuters ONE

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