REG - Ariana Resources PLC - ASGARD METALS FUND: INVESTMENT IN PALLAS RESOURCES

Ariana ResourcesAnnouncement

29/11/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 8039T  Ariana Resources PLC  29 November 2021

 

 

 

 

 

29 November 2021

AIM: AAU

 

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ASGARD METALS FUND: INVESTMENT IN PALLAS RESOURCES

 

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral
exploration and development company with joint-venture gold mining operations
in Europe, is pleased to announce the second investment of the Asgard Metals
Fund ("the Fund" and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ariana), which is being
developed as part of its proprietary Project Catalyst Strategy.

 

Highlights:

 

·    Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard") to take an interest in Pallas Resources
Limited ("Pallas"), a UK company with several large copper and gold licences
in highly prolific mineral belts of Kazakhstan.

 

·    Up to 1.25 million shares in Pallas to be issued to Asgard following
a strategic investment (equivalent to £200,000) and as specified within a
Consultancy Agreement (up to an equivalent of £75,000).

 

·    Under the Consultancy Agreement, the Ariana team will provide
technical consulting services to Pallas' exploration efforts in Kazakhstan
over a two-year period.

 

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, Ariana Resources, commented:

 

"Over the past decade, we have reviewed a number of Central Asian exploration
opportunities.  But most importantly we wanted to work in parallel with a
first-class team and in Pallas we have found our match.  Kazakhstan
represents a jurisdiction which satisfies our criteria and one which has the
distinct advantage of having implemented a new mining law modelled on that for
Western Australia; a legislation with which we are very comfortable.  Another
advantage is our familiarity with the language, which will become even more
straightforward for our Turkish team following the implementation of Latin
script for Kazakh by 2025.

 

"With an extensive portfolio focused on gold and copper, encompassing over
800km(2), Pallas is well-positioned across several of Kazakhstan's highly
prolific mineral belts.  These areas are host to several multi-million ounce
gold deposits, some of which are in production and under the ownership of
western companies.  It is one of the few areas globally which retains the
potential to make further greenfield discoveries of Tier 1 deposits.  While
gold remains a focus, we are also encouraged to see opportunities for copper,
which is the commodity of the future, enabling a technologically-advanced and
more environmentally aware world.

 

"This investment exemplifies Ariana's expanded reach and strategic direction
via the Asgard Metals Fund.  We are actively pursuing opportunities
throughout the Eastern Hemisphere, as we develop future growth opportunities
for the Company across new horizons.  We now look forward to assisting Pallas
in its development, ultimately towards an IPO.  They have a great team, with
which we share mutual characteristics, and we are keen to collaborate closely
with them in the years ahead.  We look forward to providing further updates
in due course."

 

Daniel Rickleman, Director, Pallas Resources, commented:

 

"Pallas is excited to be welcoming Ariana both onto the register and as a key
technical partner through the Consultancy Agreement.  The natural synergies
between Ariana and Pallas come at an opportune time as we look to
significantly scale up our portfolio in Kazakhstan and advance our exciting
projects.  We look forward to working with Ariana's exceptionally strong
technical team, who bring with them an enviable track-record of exploration
and development success."

 

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: +44 (0) 20 3476 2080
 Michael de Villiers, Chairman
 Kerim Sener, Managing Director

 Beaumont Cornish Limited                         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
 Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt

 Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited                      Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
 John Prior / Hugh Rich / Atholl Tweedie

 Yellow Jersey PR Limited                         Tel: +44 (0) 7951 402 336
 Dom Barretto / Henry Wilkinson / Matthew McHale  arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com (mailto:arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com)

 

 

Editors' Notes:

 

About Pallas Resources Limited:

 

Pallas Resources is a UK-registered Central Asian explorer targeting large
copper and gold discoveries in the underexplored yet prolific mineral belts of
Kazakhstan (Figure 1).  The company has taken a technologically-advanced
approach to discovery on a regional scale, utilising Machine Learning in
combination with one of the largest privately-held exploration datasets for
Central Asia.  The company is focused on highly prospective belts where its
aim is to exploit a gap in discovery brought about by a lack of modern
exploration within a region containing several Tier 1 Soviet era discoveries.
 Pallas holds a large 811km(2) land position over two world class regions,
each owned 100% under Kazakhstan's reformed 2018 Mining Code which was
modelled on Western Australian legislation.  Pallas' founders have more than
10 years' experience in the region and have previously been involved with one
gold discovery in the region and multiple drill-outs.

 

Further information on Pallas is available via their website:
https://www.pallasresources.com (https://www.pallasresources.com) , from which
the information set out herein is derived.

 

 

 

 

Figure 1: Pallas project locations in Kazakhstan and location of two major
mineral belts.

 

Sulukol and Alakol Projects (100% Pallas)

 

Sulukol and Alakol are licence areas (317km(2) and 374km(2) respectively) in
the Stepnyak-Kokshetau Gold Belt in Northern Kazakhstan which hosts >45
million ounces within six deposits held by other companies.  Machine Learning
successfully identified five of these deposits, and led to the acquisition of
Sulukol and Alakol licences following confirmatory traditional empirical
targeting (Figure 2 & 3).  Multiple Soviet-era reconnaissance geochemical
anomalies of up to 40g/t Au (Sulukol) and 2.5g/t Au (Alakol) identified in
outcropping quartz veins are present in the licences.

 

Major gold deposits in this region are intrusion-related or orogenic in
nature, controlled by strike-slip faults and their intersection with major
oblique structures, which include major terrane-scale dislocations.  Host
rocks are variable, from all phases of the Stepnyak Complex (granodiorite,
tonalite, norite, diorite and gabbro), to the intruded flysch (greywacke,
lithic sandstone, siltstone, mudstone) and mixed volcanic rocks.
 Mineralisation occurs as typical orogenic-style quartz veins with associated
quartz-carbonate-sericite alteration along near vertical controlling
structures.  Broader stockworks and disseminated mineralisation are also
common and can be up to tens of metres wide at some deposits.

 

 Figure 2: 50K scale magnetic anomaly map of the Sulukol Licence with  Figure 3: 50K scale magnetic anomaly map of the Alakol Licence with historical
 historical gold anomalies overlain.                                   gold anomalies overlain.

 

Sarybastau Project (100% Pallas)

 

Sarybastau is a 120km(2) licence, in the Ili-Balkash Copper-Gold Arc in
Southern Kazakhstan (Figure 4).  This is the most well-endowed
copper-porphyry terrain in Kazakhstan, containing the 12Mt Cu Aktogay deposit,
among others, which are not owned by Pallas.  The licence was selected on the
basis of two 7km x 3km copper stream sediment anomalies which is reinforced by
in-situ copper sampling, as well as in-situ gold sampling several kilometres
from the copper anomalies.

 

During a first-pass field reconnaissance visit by Pallas to the licence in
October 2021, encouraging copper mineralisation (malachite) was noted in
several locations within granite.  The presence of andesite porphyry, as well
as silicified, quartz-veined volcanic rocks (potentially rhyodacitic) support
the model of a geological setting prospective for porphyry copper-gold.

 

Figure 4: Oblique view of Sarybastau Licence area with historical copper
anomalies overlain.

 

Financial Information

 

For the year ended 31 December 2020 Pallas reported unaudited net assets of
£440,150.  Once fully invested, Asgard will own approximately 6% of Pallas.

 

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 joint
venture 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 July 2020). The joint venture 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 227,000 ounces gold
and 3.7 million ounces silver (as at April 2020). 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 Project is located in western Turkey and contains a JORC
Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 253,000 ounces gold and 0.7
million ounces silver (as at June 2020). The project is being progressed
through permitting and an Environmental Impact Assessment, with the intention
of developing the site to become the second joint venture gold mining
operation. 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 75% of Western Tethyan Resources Ltd ("WTR"), which operates
across 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.

Ariana owns 50% 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 Inferred Resource of 9.5Mt @ 0.65% copper (excluding
additional gold, silver and zinc).

Ariana operates its wholly-owned 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.

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited is broker to the Company and Beaumont Cornish
Limited is the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker.

For further information on Ariana you are invited to visit the Company's
website at www.arianaresources.com (http://www.arianaresources.com) .

Ends.

 

 

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