REG - Ariana Resources PLC - Current Exploration & Development at Kiziltepe

Ariana ResourcesAnnouncement

15/08/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230815:nRSO2699Ja&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2699J  Ariana Resources PLC  15 August 2023

 

 

 

 

15 August 2023

AIM: AAU

CURRENT EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT AT KIZILTEPE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral
exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, is
pleased to announce the results of recent exploration and development work
conducted at Kiziltepe ("Kiziltepe" or "the Project"). The Kiziltepe Project
is operated via Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Zenit") in partnership
with Proccea Construction Co. and Ozaltin Holding A.S. and is 23.5% owned by
Ariana.

Highlights:

●     Recent drilling undertaken at the Kiziltepe Sector has defined the
likely economic limits of the known vein systems.

●     Drilling remains underway at Karakavak, with progression onto
Kepez and with a separate programme ongoing at Kizilcukur.

●     Targets defined following a recent Induced Polarisation
(IP)/Resistivity survey will become the focus of further drilling across the
Kiziltepe Sector.

●     Opportunities to further extend mine life to nine years, through
to 2025, and potentially beyond are being assessed.

 

To read a pdf version of the release, please click here:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2699J_1-2023-8-14.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2699J_1-2023-8-14.pdf)

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"Kiziltepe currently remains our most important mining operation pending the
successful commissioning of Tavsan which is currently under construction.
Meanwhile, we have been working with the Zenit team to define further resource
upside in the vicinity of the Kiziltepe operation. Successive drilling
programmes conducted in recent years have already yielded success, extending
mine life at a time when milling capacity was doubled. We are now looking to
identify additional resources in the wider area and at several satellite
locations such as Kizilcukur and Ivrindi. In addition, we remain excited by
the potential for further discovery at Kepez, and we are now preparing for a
new drilling programme to test this area appropriately. Road building for the
drill rig is underway and we are looking to initiate the drilling programme in
this location as soon as possible once drilling concludes at Karakavak.

Meanwhile, drilling at Kiziltepe specifically has tested most of the known
vein extensions and some additional resource upside has already been
determined, particularly at the northwest ends of both Arzu South and Arzu
North. Beyond this, a recent geophysical survey has identified several
priority drilling targets, one of which lies beneath cover to the northeast of
the Arzu vein system and is currently under review to design a well-planned
deep drilling programme. This has the potential to represent a capped vein
system, which has been preserved beneath cover.

Once the drilling programmes across the Kiziltepe Sector are completed,
including the active programmes in the Karakavak and Kepez areas and the
programme recently started at Kizilcukur, we will be undertaking a further
review and reassessment of our resources and reserves."

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").

Summary of Kiziltepe Operations

The Kiziltepe mine has been operational since March 2017 and has produced over
133,000 ounces of gold and over 1.4 million ounces of silver up to the end of
2022, which compares to a total mine production of 117,000 ounces of gold over
an envisaged mine life of eight years as per the Feasibility Study.
Kiziltepe's most productive year was 2022, producing 28,421 ounces of gold and
326,206 ounces of silver. In July 2023, mining was initiated at Banu, the last
of the five currently planned pits at the Kiziltepe Project identified in the
Feasibility Study. Based on current estimates, mining is expected to continue
at Kiziltepe until 2024, with additional potential sources of ore being
developed as satellites at Kizilcukur and Ivrindi, among others. The
opportunities to add additional years to the mine life through further
exploration remain positive. This presents itself in two forms:

1) Current exploration or short-term input; primarily consisting of step-out
drilling which was completed between 2020 and 2023, testing extensions along
strike and down dip of known mineralisation.

2) Conceptual exploration or longer-term input; ongoing work to discover new
mineralisation under cover, or in areas where geological factors such as
structure, geophysical signatures, and/or subtle geochemical anomalies may
provide vectors toward new discoveries.

Once all open pittable resources have been mined at Kiziltepe, the final phase
of mining activities to be evaluated is the potential for underground
development which target residual resources at depth beyond the open pit
limits and in an area under cover to the northeast of the Arzu structure.
Another area of underground potential is also being evaluated at Arzu Central,
between the Arzu South pit and the Derya pit, where strip ratios exceed
viability to open pit any deeper than the currently planned pit floors.

Current Exploration Activities

Since December 2020, the Ariana and Zenit exploration teams have been working
on back-to-back drilling campaigns on all projects across Turkey. However, the
most significant focus of this work has been at Kiziltepe. Over 33,000 metres
of drilling for 258 diamond drill holes have been completed over the last
three years. Results from each phase of this ongoing work have been
systematically reported to the regulators. This work is now largely concluded
and the extent of peripheral mineralisation beyond the existing open pit
limits is now well established.

Through 2020 and 2021, the primary exploration objective at Kiziltepe was to
define potential for deepening and widening the Arzu South pit (AIM: 17 August
2021); in particular, to fully understand the potential to push the northern
pit wall into the target area of Zone A (Figure 1). This work was successfully
completed, and over the next year, the Company will be undertaking work to
widen the Arzu South pit and then progress northwards to mine Zone A.

Figure 1: A long section through the Arzu South Pit, illustrating the
approximate location of mineralised pierce points. An outline of the 2023
optimisation results can be seen as a dashed purple line, with the most
significant area (Zone A) shown as a thick black line, where additional
economic mineralisation is defined.

Through 2021 and 2022, focus turned to Arzu North, where the objective was to
test the potential for pit expansion opportunities in both the north-west and
south-east strike extensions of the vein system. Early results from the
northern end of Arzu North identified significant potential in an area which
is now known as Arzu Far North (AIM: 29 April 2021). Follow-up drilling
through 2022 and into early 2023 went on to fully test the 300m Arzu Far North
strike extent. A new optimisation study completed in March 2023 has outlined
some potential to expand the Arzu North pit a further 150 metres into the Arzu
Far North area, (Figure 2, Zone D). This potential expansion is part of a
further study, which may include additional drilling.  If the expansion goes
ahead, this would increase the currently projected life of mine by potentially
six months.

Other objectives completed in 2022 and 2023 included completing additional
drilling at Banu to significantly increase the confidence of the estimated
resource, particularly along its southern and northern limits. Exploration
work was also completed at Ceylan, testing for low-grade bulk tonnage
potential in this stockwork dominated region of the Kiziltepe vein system.

Drilling in 2023 primarily focused on testing lower-priority peripheral zones
of the Kiziltepe vein system, with targets defined mainly from surface
geochemistry and geological mapping. This work, partly as predicted,
intercepted short zones of mineralisation (0.6 - 2.6m thick), and typically
with lower grades ranging from 0.2 to 1.5g/t Au.

The 2023 phase of drilling at Kiziltepe consists of a total of 65 diamond
drill holes for a total of 7,026 metres. Notable results from this programme
include (see Table 1 for full results):

·    Arzu Central

o  KTP-D07-23: 1.1m @ 14.16g/t Au + 13.0g/t Ag from 89 metres

o  KTP-D06-23: 1.3m @ 2.77g/t Au + 7.0g/t Ag from 31.4 metres

o  KTP-D05-23: 1.2m @ 1.43g/t Au + 33.6g/t Ag from 91.9 metres

·    Arzu Far North

o  KTP-D14-23: 2.1m @ 6.16g/t Au + 131.5g/t Ag from 125.3 metres

o  KTP-D12-23: 1.8m @ 2.94g/t Au + 100.0g/t Ag from 152.7 metres

o  KTP-D13-23: 1.8m @ 2.89g/t Au + 61.1g/t Ag from 110.5 metres

·    Derya West

o  KTP-D40-23: 3.8m @ 1.85g/t Au + 103g/t Ag from 24.7 metres

o  KTP-D48-23: 1.3m @ 1.43g/t Au + 1.3g/t Ag from 56.7 metres

·    Fidan

o  KTP-D23-23: 0.6m @ 13.23g/t Au + 330.0g/t Ag from 44.4 metres

o  KTP-D37-23: 0.7m @ 9.40g/t Au + 144.0 Ag from 57.5 metres

o  KTP-D29-23: 1.3m @ 4.04g/t Au + 41.0g Ag from 6.1 metres

Figure 2: A long section through the Arzu North Pit, illustrating the
approximate location of mineralised pierce points. An outline of the 2023
optimisation results can be seen as a dashed purple line, with the most
significant area (Zone D) shown as a thick black line, where additional
economic mineralisation is defined.

Figure 3: Summary map of drilling at Kiziltepe 2020 - 2023.

The final phase of drilling work completed at Kiziltepe during 2023, was
designed to test lower priority peripheral targets on the northern extents of
the Banu, Fidan, Arzu Central and Derya Far West vein.

Conceptual Exploration and Future Targets

Future exploration work at Kiziltepe will focus on conceptual targets based on
key features identified in IP geophysical data (Figure 4). These targets were
discussed in detail in early 2023 (AIM: 21 February 2023). However, a summary
of the targets is presented below.

The Company is now planning a further 2,500m of priority drilling with up to
5,000m planned in total. This next phase of drilling is expected to start in
Q3/Q4 2023, with the aim to systematically test the targets described below.
 

Figure 4: Merged 3D resistivity model of the Kiziltepe vein system with the
mapped and modelled veins in red and interpreted structures in blue. Targets
numbered 1-5, as described below.

1) At the northwest end, the resistivity anomaly is consistent at about 600m,
suggesting a similar trend to the Banu vein.

2) The north-west extension of Arzu North vein is confirmed with both IP and
resistivity anomalies, which have already been largely drill tested as part of
the 2023 programme.

3) A new zone of high resistivity defined to the immediate northeast side of
Arzu North.

4 & 5) The two resistivity trends supported by moderate IP anomalies to
the northeast of Arzu North, in the vicinity of the waste rock dump, which was
defined in earlier surveys, are confirmed with the recent survey, and will be
used to generate new deep drilling targets.

6) The survey also defined several potential structures at the south-east
extensions of both the Arzu South and Fidan vein systems, which are less
well-characterised and form future target areas.

Table 1: Results of the 2023 phase of drilling at Kiziltepe.

 Hole ID     From (m)  To (m)  Interval (m)  Gold g/t  Silver g/t  Area
 KTP-D02-23  112.9     113.6   0.7           2.51      23.9        Arzu Central
             114.1     114.9   0.8           1.33      11.8
             119.7     120.3   0.6           1.35      8.5
 KTP-D03-23  124.3     125.1   0.8           1.05      24.8
             131.8     133     1.2           3.25      1.3
 KTP-D04-23  67.8      68.3    0.5           2.15      11.3
             79.3      79.8    0.5           3.44      178.0
             83.7      84.2    0.5           6.00      110.7
 KTP-D05-23  11.1      12.2    1.1           1.07      21.4
             18.2      19.2    1             1.01      23.9
             35.3      36.4    1.1           1.12      17.6
             38.3      39.3    1             1.58      8.1
             41.3      42.1    0.8           1.51      6.3
             43.8      44.6    0.8           1.28      5.6
             91.9      93.1    1.2           1.43      33.6
 KTP-D06-23  17.7      18.6    0.9           1.11      22.0
             20.6      21.7    1.1           1.11      5.7
             26.4      28.4    2             1.41      3.1
             31.4      32.7    1.3           2.77      7.0
 KTP-D07-23  59.2      59.8    0.6           14.07     135.0
             78.9      81.5    2.6           1.71      11.2
             89        90.1    1.1           14.16     13.0
             91.2      92.8    1.6           3.23      16.0
             94.9      96.2    1.3           1.00      6.3
             103.5     104.4   0.9           1.06      2.8
 KTP-D08-23  96.2      96.6    0.4           2.16      59.4
             99.5      101.1   1.6           5.25      140.0
             102.4     103.5   1.1           1.03      7.3
 KTP-D09-23  42.7      43.1    0.4           2.87      31.2        Arzu Far North
             44.8      47.2    2.4           1.13      14.6
 KTP-D10-23  80.5      82.9    2.4           1.30      22.5
 KTP-D11-23  82.1      82.8    0.7           1.09      41.8
             84        85      1             1.73      54.1
 KTP-D12-23  114.9     115.9   1             1.35      1.0
             152.7     154.5   1.8           2.94      100.0
 KTP-D13-23  110.5     112.3   1.8           2.89      61.1
 KTP-D14-23  125.3     127.4   2.1           6.16      131.5
 KTP-D16-23  2.8       4.1     1.3           2.35      1.7
             22.7      23.5    0.8           1.24      27.6
 KTP-D18-23  66        66.9    0.9           1.03      3.7
 KTP-D21-23  40.1      40.6    0.5           2.33      66.9        Fidan
 KTP-D22-23  30.5      31.8    1.3           1.33      53.2
 KTP-D23-23  44.4      45      0.6           13.23     330.0
 KTP-D24-23  13.7      14.6    0.9           1.68      59.6
 KTP-D25-23  19.8      20.2    0.4           2.50      81.5
 KTP-D26-23  15.9      16.7    0.8           3.00      89.7
 KTP-D27-23  18.3      18.8    0.5           1.43      75.2
             32.4      32.8    0.4           1.50      21.1
 KTP-D29-23  6.1       7.4     1.3           4.04      41.0
             20.8      22      1.2           1.23      8.6
 KTP-D32-23  60.4      60.8    0.4           1.24      12.1
 KTP-D36-23  40        41.1    1.1           2.82      43.4
 KTP-D37-23  39.3      39.9    0.6           1.44      22.7
             57.5      58.2    0.7           9.40      144.0
 KTP-D40-23  5.8       6.5     0.7           2.98      52.7        Derya West and Derya Far West
             21.2      21.8    0.6           1.68      76.4
             24.7      28.5    3.8           1.85      103.3
 KTP-D42-23  33.6      34      0.4           3.69      35.3
 KTP-D47-23  35        35.7    0.7           1.57      12.0
 KTP-D48-23  56.7      58      1.3           1.43      1.3

 

Contacts:

 

 Ariana Resources plc                           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616
 Michael de Villiers, Chairman
 Kerim Sener, Managing Director
 Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)   Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
 Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
 Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint Broker)     Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
 John Prior / Hugh Rich / Atholl Tweedie
 WHIreland Limited (Joint Broker)               Tel: +44 (0) 207 2201666

 Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell / George Krokos

 Yellow Jersey PR Limited (Financial PR)        Tel: +44 (0) 7983 521 488
 Dom Barretto / Shivantha Thambirajah /         arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com (mailto:arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com)

Bessie Elliot

 

 

Editors' Note:

 

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is
based on information compiled by Dr. Kerim Sener BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD,
Managing Director of Ariana Resources plc. Dr. Sener is a Fellow of The
Geological Society of London and a Member of The Institute of Materials,
Minerals and Mining and has sufficient experience relevant to the styles of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
that has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the
2012 edition of the Australasian Code for the Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) and under the AIM
Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies.  Dr. Sener consents to
the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the
form and context in which it appears.

 

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 (http://www.arianaresources.com) .

 

Ends.

 

Glossary of Technical Terms:

 

"Ag" chemical symbol for silver;

 

"Au" chemical symbol for gold;

 

"g/t" grams per tonne;

 

"IP" Induced Polarization;

 

"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;

 

"JORC 2012" is the current edition of the JORC Code, which was published in
2012.  After a transition period, the 2012 Edition came into mandatory
operation in Australasia from 1 December 2013;

 

"km" Kilometres;

 

"m" Metres;

 

 

Ends.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  DRLBSGDIBUBDGXS