Ariana Resources (LON:AAU) announced on 16th March that it had signed Heads of Agreement with fellow explorer KEFI Minerals (LON:KEFI) for the acquisition of four key exploration properties in western Turkey. The deal certainly seems to make sense for both parties. KEFI's exploration focus having now moved away from Turkey and on to Saudi Arabia; so these licenses look to provide a nice "bold on" for Ariana who, through its joint venture with Proccea, have all the required attributes to exploit their potential. The payment is by way of a nominal consideration and the 2% net smelter royalty leaves KEFI with some "skin in the game" should Ariana be able to bring any of the projects into production.
We were particularly interested to note that the Kizilcukur license (referred to by KEFI as "Derinin Tepe") is also included in the proposed acquisition. There was a lot of promise shown here in particular, when Kefi were first progressing this project back in 2007.
Much was made of the discovery of ancient workings – it was mined in Roman times and Kefi carried-out two drilling campaigns in 07' and 08' in the hope that modern exploration techniques would be able to uncover something the Romans may have left behind. However as KEFI's attention moved on to Saudi Arabia, the work done here was never followed up.
We therefore contacted Ariana Resources Managing Director Kerim Sener and ask if he could give us a bit of background on the agreement and also expand on its significance for the company: here is what he had to say:
MM: Could you explain why you decided to acquire the licences from Kefi Minerals and how they complement Ariana's existing portfolio in Western Turkey?
KS: The licences owned by KEFI in western Turkey complement our regional focus, specifically in the Red Rabbit project area. There is scope, particularly at Kizilcukur, to define a satellite resource that is within truckable distance to our proposed plant at Kiziltepe. The drilling undertaken by KEFI was focused primarily in areas dotted with old workings, and much of this drilling was consequently focused on identifying a deeper target that was not touched by previous mining activity. While there is still the possibility of defining such targets at depth, this would not be our priority. We are particularly interested in…
