REG - Ariana Resources PLC - Venus Minerals IPO Proceeding

Ariana ResourcesAnnouncement

20/07/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 5602G  Ariana Resources PLC  20 July 2023

 

 

20 July 2023

AIM: AAU

VENUS MINERALS IPO PROCEEDING

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or the "Company"), an AIM-listed mineral
exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe,
provides the following update on Venus Minerals Limited ("Venus"). Venus, in
which Ariana currently has a 58% shareholding, has re-engaged with its
advisers and is now actively proceeding with its intention to seek admission
to AIM.

Highlights:

· Venus is proposing to raise up to £3 million from new investors,
following which Ariana will hold approximately 35% of Venus.

·   Venus is progressing towards an IPO on AIM during Q3 2023, with
marketing to commence imminently.

·  The IPO will enable Venus to undertake a further exploration programme
on its portfolio of 100%-owned copper/gold assets in Cyprus.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are very pleased to report the latest progress on Venus. With the support
of its brokers and other advisers, Venus is currently expecting to advance
toward listing on AIM during Q3 2023.

"With a very strong pipeline of copper-gold exploration and development
projects in Cyprus and a cutting-edge exploration model, Venus is
strategically placed to capitalise on the global deficit currently predicted
in the years ahead for the copper market. Cyprus is a well-established and
low-risk mining jurisdiction in Europe, so now it is imperative for Europe to
develop its own copper resources to support the global decarbonisation agenda.
We expect Venus to help advance and develop a series of high-quality copper
projects to satisfy this demand.

"Ariana looks forward to reporting further progress from Venus in due course.
Anyone who has any questions with respect to Venus, please contact
info@venusminerals.co for further detail."

Peter van der Borgh, Managing Director of Venus, added:

"The Venus project portfolio is the culmination of years of geological
fieldwork and research, which has resulted in a proprietary, island-wide
database of historical exploration, and innovative exploration models for
target selection. Ariana's involvement over the past few years has enabled us
to define JORC 2012 Resources, expand our portfolio to include several
exciting new projects, and position ourselves for the IPO."

Latest Developments

Venus is in the process of being converted to a PLC in final preparation for
its stock exchange listing, and marketing of the company is due to commence
imminently. An up-to-date presentation on the company is available for
download here: https://www.venusminerals.co/news-media/presentation. Further
information concerning the fundraising will be made available on the Venus
website in due course.

Venus is being advised by Beaumont Cornish (nomad), Tavira Securities Limited
(broker), Fieldfisher (legal), Coffey Group (technical advisor and competent
person), Moore Kingston Smith LLP (auditor), and other parties.

Venus has undertaken further fieldwork and is refining targets at several of
its exploration projects in Cyprus in order to carry out drilling once it has
completed its planned IPO. Venus has developed a robust geological model for
the exploration of Cyprus-type Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide ("VMS") systems
based on its recent exploration successes, including the discovery of
significant gold-rich zones at the Magellan Project and the recent greenfields
discovery of copper mineralisation (>0.1% Cu in soils over >600m of
strike) at the Troulli Prospect, which is part of the Mariner Project in
eastern Cyprus. The latter emphasises the diligent exploration approach taken
by the Venus team and particularly in the application of field portable XRF
technology. In addition, the company has recently defined a significant
drilling target at the Margi Prospect (Magellan Project), following detailed
mapping and pXRF soil sampling. This work has identified an extensive copper
anomaly associated with broad zones of chloritisation occurring along a
structural discontinuity. Accordingly, the company has identified several new
drill targets across its projects ready for testing.

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 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:

 

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.

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