Venus Minerals IPO Proceeding

Ariana Resources PLC

20 July 2023

 

20 July 2023

AIM: AAU

VENUS MINERALS IPO PROCEEDING

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or the "Company"), an AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, provides the following update on Venus Minerals Limited ("Venus"). Venus, in which Ariana currently has a 58% shareholding, has re-engaged with its advisers and is now actively proceeding with its intention to seek admission to AIM.

Highlights:

· Venus is proposing to raise up to £3 million from new investors, following which Ariana will hold approximately 35% of Venus.

·   Venus is progressing towards an IPO on AIM during Q3 2023, with marketing to commence imminently.

·  The IPO will enable Venus to undertake a further exploration programme on its portfolio of 100%-owned copper/gold assets in Cyprus.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are very pleased to report the latest progress on Venus. With the support of its brokers and other advisers, Venus is currently expecting to advance toward listing on AIM during Q3 2023.

"With a very strong pipeline of copper-gold exploration and development projects in Cyprus and a cutting-edge exploration model, Venus is strategically placed to capitalise on the global deficit currently predicted in the years ahead for the copper market. Cyprus is a well-established and low-risk mining jurisdiction in Europe, so now it is imperative for Europe to develop its own copper resources to support the global decarbonisation agenda. We expect Venus to help advance and develop a series of high-quality copper projects to satisfy this demand.

"Ariana looks forward to reporting further progress from Venus in due course. Anyone who has any questions with respect to Venus, please contact [e-mail] for further detail."

Peter van der Borgh, Managing Director of Venus, added:

"The Venus project portfolio is the culmination of years of geological fieldwork and research, which has resulted in a proprietary, island-wide database of historical exploration, and innovative exploration models for target selection. Ariana's involvement over the past few years has enabled us to define JORC 2012 Resources, expand our portfolio to include several exciting new projects, and position ourselves for the IPO."

Latest Developments

Venus is in the process of being converted to a PLC in final preparation for its stock exchange listing, and marketing of the company is due to commence imminently. An up-to-date presentation on the company is available for download here: https://www.venusminerals.co/news-media/presentation. Further information concerning the fundraising will be made available on the Venus website in due course.

Venus is being advised by Beaumont Cornish (nomad), Tavira Securities Limited (broker), Fieldfisher (legal), Coffey Group (technical advisor and competent person), Moore Kingston Smith LLP (auditor), and other parties.

Venus has undertaken further fieldwork and is refining targets at several of its exploration projects in Cyprus in order to carry out drilling once it has completed its planned IPO. Venus has developed a robust geological model for the exploration of Cyprus-type Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide ("VMS") systems based on its recent exploration successes, including the discovery of significant gold-rich zones at the Magellan Project and the recent greenfields discovery of copper mineralisation (>0.1% Cu in soils over >600m of strike) at the Troulli Prospect, which is part of the Mariner Project in eastern Cyprus. The latter emphasises the diligent exploration approach taken by the Venus team and particularly in the application of field portable XRF technology. In addition, the company has recently defined a significant drilling target at the Margi Prospect (Magellan Project), following detailed mapping and pXRF soil sampling. This work has identified an extensive copper anomaly associated with broad zones of chloritisation occurring along a structural discontinuity. Accordingly, the company has identified several new drill targets across its projects ready for testing.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc	Tel: [phone]
Michael de Villiers, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)	Tel: [phone]
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
John Prior / Hugh Rich / Atholl Tweedie
WHIreland Limited (Joint Broker) Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell / George Krokos Yellow Jersey PR Limited (Financial PR)	Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Dom Barretto / Shivantha Thambirajah / Bessie Elliot	[e-mail]

Editors' Note:

About Ariana Resources:

Ariana is an AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with an exceptional track-record of creating value for its shareholders through its interests in active mining projects and investments in exploration companies. Its current interests include gold production in Turkey and copper-gold exploration and development projects in Cyprus and Kosovo.

The Company holds 23.5% interest in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. a partnership with Ozaltin Holding A.S. and Proccea Construction Co. in Turkey which contains a depleted total of c. 2.1 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at February 2022). The partnership comprises the Kiziltepe Mine and the Tavsan and Salinbas projects.

The Kiziltepe Gold-Silver Mine is located in western Turkey and contains a depleted JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 222,000 ounces gold and 3.8 million ounces silver (as at February 2022). The mine has been in profitable production since 2017 and is expected to produce at a rate of c.20,000 ounces of gold per annum to at least the mid-2020s. A Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of 2.5% on production is being paid to Franco-Nevada Corporation.

The Tavsan Gold Mine is located in western Turkey and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 307,000 ounces gold and 1.1 million ounces silver (as at November 2022). Following the approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment and associated permitting, Tavsan is being developed as the second gold mining operation in Turkey and is currently in construction.  A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.

The Salinbas Gold Project is located in north-eastern Turkey and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 1.5 million ounces of gold (as at July 2020). It is located within the multi-million ounce Artvin Goldfield, which contains the "Hot Gold Corridor" comprising several significant gold- copper projects including the 4 million ounce Hot Maden project, which lies 16km to the south of Salinbas. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.

Ariana owns 100% of Australia-registered Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard"), as part of the Company's proprietary Project Catalyst Strategy. The Fund is focused on investments in high-value potential, discovery-stage mineral exploration companies located across the Eastern Hemisphere and within easy reach of Ariana's operational hubs in Australia, Turkey and the UK.

Ariana owns 75% of UK-registered Western Tethyan Resources Ltd ("WTR"), which operates across south-eastern Europe and is based in Pristina, Republic of Kosovo. The company is targeting its exploration on major copper-gold deposits across the porphyry-epithermal transition.  WTR is being funded through a five-year Alliance Agreement with Newmont Corporation (www.newmont.com) and is separately earning-in to 85% of the Slivova Gold Project which contains Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 176,000 oz gold and 646,000 oz silver (as at July 2023).

Ariana owns 58% of UK-registered Venus Minerals Ltd ("Venus") which is focused on the exploration and development of copper-gold assets in Cyprus which contain a combined JORC Indicated and Inferred Resource of 17Mt @ 0.45% to 1.10% copper (excluding additional gold, silver and zinc.

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited and WH Ireland Limited 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.

 

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