REG - Ariana Resources PLC - Dokwe Project Exploration Upside

Ariana ResourcesAnnouncement

24/10/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 3557J  Ariana Resources PLC  24 October 2024

 

24 October 2024

AIM: AAU

DOKWE PROJECT EXPLORATION UPSIDE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral
exploration and development company with gold project interests in Africa and
Europe, is pleased to provide an update on its internal exploration data
review for the 100% held 1.8Moz Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe, focusing on
the near-term potential exploration upside at Dokwe North and Dokwe Central.

Highlights:

·    The resources at both Dokwe North and Central remain open along
strike and at depth, and there are excellent prospects of increasing the
resource with further drilling in the following areas, specifically:

o  Several moderately angled southwest plunging higher-grade shoots at the
Dokwe North deposit remain untested at depth and demonstrate that the deposit
remains open to the south.

o  Northwest flank of the Dokwe North deposit shows potential for further
mineralisation to be identified at depth within an area of repeated
prospective stratigraphy.

o  The Dokwe Central deposit remains open to the west and historical
intercepts (notably 7.3m @ 6.63g/t gold intercept from 32.2m) to the east
indicate that the prospectivity of the Dokwe Central fault zone extends for at
least 1km.

·    Step-out and infill drilling are being planned to enable appropriate
testing of the exploration potential defined to date, with a view to
increasing the resource to 2Moz of gold.

 

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

 

"Our review of the exploration data and geology of the Dokwe North and Central
areas has led to the identification of several zones showing potential for
significant resource upside. Based on our current assessments, we are
targeting potential enhancement of the resource to at least 2Moz of gold.

"At Dokwe North, a detailed reassessment of the geology and the structural
controls on mineralisation is yielding a refined understanding of the upside
opportunities. In particular, several high-grade zones are noted which display
good strike continuity through the deposit, trending northeast-southwest and
plunging at a moderate angle to the southwest. This opens up the southern end
of the deposit for further exploration. In addition, deeper holes on the
deposit in the northwest, suggest the potential for repeated prospective
stratigraphy, notably dacite and tuff, indicating that there is an opportunity
to encounter good mineralisation on the northern flanks of the deposit.

"At Dokwe Central, we have now demonstrated an opportunity to define further
mineralisation along strike over a distance of approximately 1km along a
faulted contact between volcanic and sedimentary units. Several historic drill
hole intercepts along this structure suggest that a well-defined mineralised
zone developed in the immediate vicinity of the fault zone and trends broadly
east-west. Notably, a historic 7.3m @ 6.63g/t gold intercept from 32.2m
identified gold mineralisation within the Archaean units just beneath the
cover sequence and has not yet been followed up with further drilling.

"In summary, there is excellent potential at Dokwe North and Central to
continue growing the resource base in a material way and we are designing new
drilling programmes accordingly. We look forward to updating the market on
this work in due course."

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
EU Regulation 596/2014.

 

Background

The prospective Archaean rocks at the Dokwe Project were buried, deformed,
metamorphosed, and mineralised, before being uplifted and partially eroded to
form a basin into which the post-Permian Karoo sedimentary and volcanic rocks
were deposited. The Karoo-aged rocks and the later Kalahari sediments form a
cover layer over the Archaean rocks, ranging in thickness from a few metres at
Dokwe South, gradually thickening northwards to approximately 40 metres at
Dokwe North (Figure 1).

 

 

 

Figure 1: Map and schematic cross-section highlighting the distribution of
Karoo and Kalahari cover across the Dokwe Project.

 

In 2001, a regional soil sampling programme commenced, and over the following
few years, several areas of gold anomalism were highlighted as targets for
drilling. In 2004, Dokwe North and Dokwe Central were discovered by drilling
beneath two of these targets (Figure 2). An intriguing aspect of the
geochemical targets is the apparent regular spacing of approximately 2.5km
between each anomaly area (Figure 2).

 

Ariana is currently undertaking a review of historical exploration data across
the Dokwe Project and a range of opportunities are identified. These include
potential expansions to the Dokwe North Deposit; strike and depth
continuations to the Dokwe Central deposit, with exploration potential over a
strike length of at least 1km.

 

 

 

Figure 2: Gold in soil contour (1.2ppb Au) that led to the discovery of the
Dokwe North and Central gold deposits.

 

Future Exploration Methodology

The deepening cover northwards across the project area means that different
exploration methods will need to be applied to different sub-areas. In the
south, where the cover is relatively shallow, mapping, testing of sub-crop and
portable XRF soil sampling are likely to produce results, whereas further
north, testing the greenstones will require techniques capable of testing
greater depths, such as drilling and geophysics.

 

Following an assessment of the cover rocks and uppermost greenstones, it is
apparent that the area is ideal for Rotary Air Blast drilling ("RAB"), a
rapid, relatively inexpensive and widely employed drilling technique that has
been successful in discovering numerous gold deposits in similar terranes
across Western Australia, which has not been used at Dokwe previously. It is
expected that the degree of weathering of the greenstones beneath the cover
will enable at least 20m of greenstones to be tested in each hole before blade
refusal. As part of a comprehensive new exploration programme, the Company is
designing an RAB drilling grid to test the project area in more detail,
intending to penetrate the underlying Archaean units throughout a large part
of the project.

 

Dokwe North Extensions

The collection and interrogation of new geological information acquired by the
Ariana team over the past year has improved the understanding of the geology,
geometry, and exploration upside of Dokwe North. The current interpretation is
that gold mineralisation is primarily hosted within a folded sequence of
felsic-to-intermediate volcaniclastic rocks. Almost all mineralisation
discovered at Dokwe North occurs within the eastern limb of this fold, which
is partly intruded by a quartz-feldspar porphyry and later dolerite sills
(potentially masking any geochemical response at surface). The primary host
rocks are a felsic tuff and dacite, with some peripheral mineralisation within
the overlying quartz-feldspar porphyry, and underlying agglomerate and
andesitic rocks. The geometry of all these units, based on litho-geochemical
modelling of over 28,000 pXRF samples, is now well understood and provides
excellent insight for down dip and plunge exploration.

 

Almost all drilling within Dokwe North is constrained to the eastern limb of
the Dokwe North fold structure, with only two holes drilled into the western
limb. One of these, DPD7, ended in a moderately mineralised western tuff unit
(26m @ 0.73g/t Au, including 2m @ 4.62g/t Au), which has not been followed up.

 

The apex of the Dokwe North fold was exposed and eroded from at least the
Permian Period, before the deposition of the Karoo-aged rocks. Furthermore,
the eastern and western limbs are separated by a major NE-SW fault intruded by
later dolerite dykes. The mineralisation in the western limb is interpreted to
have been down-faulted, making it a significant exploration target for the
next phase of work (Figure 3).

 

In addition, Dokwe North has at least three south plunging higher-grade zones,
which form part of the Indicated and Inferred components of the Resource
(Figure 3) and remain open down plunge. A better understanding of the geology
has provided significant confidence to the understanding of the distribution
of higher-grade mineralisation and how it should be extrapolated within the
model. To date and based on the June 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate (AIM: 13
June 2024
(https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/AAU/dokwe-project-revised-mineral-resource-estimate/16516838)
), there is potential for 390,000 ounces of gold, currently classified as
Inferred, to be reclassified following further drilling. This will be a
primary target for future resource development, and eventual addition to
future Reserves, subject to the appropriate studies and modifying factors.

 

Figure 3: NNE-SSW long section through the Dokwe North block model,
colour-coded according to the MRE classification. A new understanding of the
geology and geometry of mineralisation has identified three potential plunging
shoots for high-priority targeting.

 

Dokwe Central Extensions

Gold mineralisation along the Dokwe Central fault zone has already been
demonstrated with the definition of the 165,000oz Au Dokwe Central deposit.
The deepest intercept to date is in DPD73 with 17m @ 5.91g/t Au from 411.7m,
such that the mineralisation remains open at depth.

 

Western Extension:

After reviewing the historical drilling data at Dokwe Central, the Company
understands that the deposit is not adequately tested to close off
mineralisation to the west (Figure 4). The two most westerly mineralised drill
holes define a broad mineralised envelope containing two high-grade
mineralised zones. DPD67 intercepted 8m @ 18.34g/t Au from 83.3m and 17m @
3.21g/t Au from 106.4m, whilst DPD72 intercepted 2m @ 16.01g/t Au from 141.1m
and 6m @ 9.74 g/t Au from 153.1m. Only two holes, DPD65 and DPD66 have been
drilled further west to close off this broad zone of mineralisation.

 

Both holes, DPD65 and DPD66, intercepted the footwall sedimentary rocks
approximately 90m south of where they would be predicted to be, implying a
faulted displacement. If that is the correct interpretation, then the
mineralisation is likely to have been faulted southwards too, and remains
untested, presenting a highly significant exploration target adjacent to the
Dokwe Central resource.

 

Figure 4: Structural interpretation of the Dokwe Central fault zone, showing
the deposit and significant intercepts in the vicinity.

 

Eastern Extension:

In 2003, two 'scissor' holes were drilled approximately 750m west of the Dokwe
Central deposit. One, DPD4, was drilled from south to north, intercepting 7.3m
@ 6.63g/t gold from 32.2m, just beneath the cover sequence. Ariana has
confirmed that the rock type hosting the mineralisation is similar to the
veined felsic schist hosting the main zone of mineralisation at Dokwe Central.
The second hole, DPD5, was drilled from north to south but did not go far
enough south to intercept the depth projection of the intercept in DPD4.

 

These holes were two of the earliest drilled at the Dokwe Project, and at
about the same time they were drilled, Dokwe North was discovered (DPD7). Soon
after, Dokwe Central and the intercept in DPD4 became a lesser exploration
priority. Many years later a hole was drilled northwards stepping back from
the intercept in DPD4 (DPD106), although the northwest orientation of the hole
indicates it was not an adequate test of the DPD4 mineralisation. Ariana is of
the view that the target remains open and follow-up drilling is required.

 

Furthermore, DPD102 intercepted a metre at 13.65g/t Au from 189.61m,
approximately 80m east of the mineralisation at Dokwe Central, along with two
further metre-wide intercepts greater than 2.0g/t Au, further confirming the
significance and potential of this fault zone. Confirmation that the Dokwe
Central deposit remains open to the west, in conjunction with intercepts 80m
and 750m to the east of the deposit, highlights a highly significant
exploration target along the Dokwe fault zone, which extends more than 1km in
strike and has seen only very sparse drill testing.

 

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
 Ord Minnett Limited (Lead Manager - Australia)  Tel: +61 2 8916 0124
 Damien Gullone / Robbie Dowling / Joe Hansen
 Panmure Liberum (Joint Broker)                  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
 Kieron Hodgson / Atholl Tweedie / Rauf Munir
 Zeus Capital Limited (Joint Broker)             Tel: +44 (0) 203 829 5000

 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

 

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated
Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's
responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a
responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under
the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed
solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and
will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections
afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them with the
proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter referred to
in it.

 

Editors' Note:

 

The information that relates to Mineral Resources is based upon information
compiled by Mr. Zack van Coller BSc (Hons), Targeting Group Leader, Ariana
Resources plc. Mr. van Coller is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London,
and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation
and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he is
undertaking 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). Mr. van Coller has over 10 years of
relevant experience in the Technical Assessments of Mineral Properties. Mr.
van Coller consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his
information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

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 a major gold development project in Zimbabwe,
gold production in Türkiye, and copper-gold exploration and development
projects in Cyprus and Kosovo.

 

Ariana owns 100% of the Dokwe Gold Project ("Dokwe") in Zimbabwe. Dokwe is
made up of the Dokwe North and Dokwe Central gold deposits which are located
in the Tsholotsho District near the city of Bulawayo. The deposits have a
combined JORC Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resource of over 1.83 million
ounces of gold (as at June 2024) and the project represents the largest
undeveloped gold project in Zimbabwe.

 

The Company holds a 23.5% interest in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. a
joint venture with Ozaltin Holding A.S. and Proccea Construction Co. in
Türkiye which contains a depleted total of c. 2.2 million ounces gold
equivalent (as at March 2024, using a price ratio of 90 Ag to 1 Au). The joint
venture comprises the Kiziltepe Mine and the Tavsan and Salinbas projects.

 

The Kiziltepe Gold-Silver Mine is located in western Türkiye and contains a
depleted JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 171,700 ounces gold
and 3.3 million ounces of silver (as of March 2024). The mine has been in
profitable production since 2017 and has been producing at an average rate of
c.22,000 ounces of gold per annum. 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 Türkiye and contains a JORC
Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resource of 311,000 ounces of gold and 1.1
million ounces of silver (as of March 2024). Following the approval of its
Environmental Impact Assessment and associated permitting, Tavsan is being
developed as the second gold mining operation in Türkiye and is currently in
construction. An NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to
Sandstorm Gold.

 

The Salinbas Gold Project is located in northeastern Türkiye 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. An NSR royalty of up to 2%
on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.

 

Ariana owns 76% 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 Mining Corporation
(www.newmont.com) and is separately earning-in to up to 85% of the Slivova
Gold Project.

 

Ariana owns 61% of UK-registered Venus Minerals PLC ("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 16.6Mt @
0.45% to 0.80% copper (excluding additional gold, silver and zinc.

 

Ariana owns several investments in listed and private companies via its
Australian subsidiary Asgard Metals Pty. Ltd. ("Asgard"), which also provides
technical input into the various investee company exploration programmes.
Investments have been made 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, Türkiye, the UK, and
Zimbabwe. Its most advanced interest is through a 5.5% holding of Panther
Metals Limited (ASX: PNT).

 

Panmure Liberum Limited and Zeus Capital 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.

 

Glossary of Technical Terms:

 

"Au" chemical symbol for gold;

 

"DD" Due Diligence;

 

"g/t" grams per tonne;

 

"Inferred Mineral Resource" is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated based on limited geological
evidence and sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but
does not verify geological and grade (or quality) continuity. It is based on
exploration, sampling, and testing information gathered through appropriate
techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill
holes. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that
applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to an Ore
Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral
Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued
exploration;

 

"Indicated Mineral Resource" is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape, and physical characteristics
are estimated with sufficient confidence to allow the application of Modifying
Factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of the
economic viability of the deposit. Geological evidence is derived from
adequately detailed and reliable exploration, sampling, and testing gathered
through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches,
pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to assume geological and
grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and
samples are gathered. An Indicated Mineral Resource has a lower level of
confidence than that applying to a Measured Mineral Resource and may only be
converted to a Probable Ore Reserve;

 

"JORC" Joint Ore Reserves Committee;

 

"k" thousand

 

"km" Kilometres;

 

"m" Metres;

 

"Measured Mineral Resource" is that part of a Mineral Resource for which
quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape, and physical characteristics
are estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the application of Modifying
Factors to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of the economic
viability of the deposit. Geological evidence is derived from detailed and
reliable exploration, sampling, and testing gathered through appropriate
techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill
holes, and is sufficient to confirm geological and grade (or quality)
continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.
A Measured Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than that
applying to either an Indicated Mineral Resource or an Inferred Mineral
Resource. It may be converted to a Proved Ore Reserve or under certain
circumstances to a Probable Ore Reserve;

 

"MRE" Mineral Resource Estimate;

 

"M" million

 

"oz" Troy ounces;

 

"t" tonnes;

 

Ends.

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