REG - Ariana Resources PLC - Project Leopard: First Exploration Licenses Given

Ariana ResourcesAnnouncement

14/03/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8137S  Ariana Resources PLC  14 March 2023

 

 

 

14 March 2023

AIM: AAU

PROJECT LEOPARD: FIRST EXPLORATION LICENSES GRANTED

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 that its wholly-owned Turkish operating subsidiary, Galata
Mineral Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Galata") has been granted the exclusive
exploration rights for three new licenses in Eastern Turkey as part of Project
Leopard.

Highlights:

●     Three contiguous licences valid for seven years cover an area of
6,000 hectares and are owned 100% by Ariana ("Gulluce Project").

●     Dynamic exploration targeting multi-million ounce copper-gold
deposits in Eastern Turkey, with further licence applications expected.

●     Project generation process augmented by the Newmont 2D Database;
right-of-first-refusal plus 1% NSR payable to Newmont if a project enters
production.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are exceptionally pleased with the grant of these new licences following
our application to the General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs in
2022.  The grant follows a revised approval and licence-issuing process,
which was successfully achieved by the Company on the first attempt.  These
licences also represent the first new licences secured in Turkey by the
Company in over ten years and signify our pivot towards greenfield exploration
in the country.  The fact that several licences adjacent to ours were
recently acquired in auction for c. £5 million bodes well for the potential
of this area and simultaneously demonstrates the potential value of our
ground.

Over recent months, we have been identifying multiple prospective locations
across eastern Turkey using our proprietary exploration datasets coupled with
the use of the Newmont 2D Database under licence.  This work has also
involved extensive new satellite remote-sensing and geophysical data
processing and interpretation which we are conducting in-house.  We are now
poised to make further applications for ground across the region in the
future, with a view to initiating a major greenfields exploration effort
targeting the discovery of significant new copper-gold deposits."

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").

Project Leopard

The mineral potential of eastern Turkey offers significant opportunities for
exploration and development of various minerals, particularly precious and
base metals.  The area is characterised by a complex geological history,
involving the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates.  Several major
mineral deposits such as Çöpler (11.3Moz Au), Hot Maden (4Moz Au), Mollakara
(3Moz Au) and Salinbas (1.5Moz Au), among others (Figure 1) have been
discovered across this region during the past 25 years.  The region hosts
several important geological structures between the Pontides Belt and the
Bitlis-Zagros suture zone, which contribute to the prospectivity of this
metallogenic province.  The region remains highly underexplored and little
work has been completed in recent years in this part of the country.

Ariana is making particular use of the Newmont Two Decade ("2D") Database,
announced on the 24(th) March 2022, as it was extended by all parties until
March 2031.  This grants Ariana and Galata a non-exclusive licence to the
database.  Ariana has granted Newmont a right-of-first-refusal plus 1% Net
Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty if a project identified by the Company enters
production.

The Company is advancing a strategy to secure 100% owned exploration projects
in eastern Turkey with the input of the Project Leopard team, which will be
further augmented for the upcoming field season.  The exploration effort will
focus on areas that have previously received only cursory prior exploration,
primarily for logistical reasons.  As such, many of the areas currently
targeted are situated at significant altitude across the mountainous regions
of eastern Turkey and are subject to a campaign-based and seasonally-driven
exploration strategy.

Figure 1: Three dominant metallogenic arcs are present in eastern Turkey, the
focus of Project Leopard, showing the location of significant gold deposits.
The location of the Gulluce Project is shown as a black dot.

About the Gulluce Project

The three exploration licences granted cover a total area of about 6,000
hectares which are located at the north of the Gulluce village, about 50km
northwest of Erzurum, eastern Turkey (Figure 2).  The approval of the
Company's application to the General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum
Affairs for three adjacent mineral exploration licenses was made on the 7(th)
March 2023 and the licences were certificated for a period of seven years from
the 10(th) March 2023 (Figure 2).

The Gulluce Project sits between the Pontide subduction zone and
İzmir-Erzincan-Ankara suture zone which developed a north-easterly trending
basin filled with Cretaceous - Paleogene volcanic and sedimentary rocks.
 This area hosts several copper-dominant base metal mineral deposits,
including Maden-Bayburt, Otlukbeli-Erzincan and Oltu-Erzurum.  The central
part of the project area lies at an altitude of up to 2,858m above sea level.

The main lithological units are Cretaceous pelagic limestone, Palaeocene
volcanic rocks and Upper Palaeocene - Eocene clastic and carbonate rocks.
 The Ariana exploration team has already conducted an initial assessment of
the local geology and followed up on prior stream sediment sampling with rock
chip sampling.  This work has confirmed the historic exploration results and
has identified several areas of geochemical anomalism.

In addition, five contiguous exploration licenses situated immediately to the
northeast of the Gulluce Project were auctioned by the Mines Department
recently.  Four of these licenses have now been granted to the participating
parties, following a payment of approximately £5 million to the Turkish
Government.  This demonstrates the significant exploration potential of the
broader area.

Figure 2: Location and geology of the Gulluce Project.

 

Contacts:

 

 Ariana Resources plc                     Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616
 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 / 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 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 February 2022). 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 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 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.  Construction
progress is temporarily suspended pending the outcome of a local court
decision pertaining to the EIA.  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
(http://www.newmont.com) ).

 

Ariana owns 50% (increasing to 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 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) .

 

Glossary of Technical Terms:

 

"km" Kilometres;

 

"m" Metres;

 

"NSR" Net Smelter Return;

 

"Moz" Million Ounces;

 

 

Ends.

 

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