TIDMAAU
RNS Number : 5673N
Ariana Resources PLC
21 January 2019
21 January 2019
AIM: AAU
KIZILCUKUR DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
Positive results of bulk sampling and drilling update
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the
exploration and development company with gold mining operations in
Turkey, is pleased to announce a development update for the
Kizilcukur Project ("Kizilcukur" or "the Project"). Kizilcukur is
located outside of the Red Rabbit Joint Venture ("JV") with Proccea
Construction Co. and is 100% owned by Ariana. The project lies 22km
to the northeast of the Kiziltepe Mine ("Kiziltepe").
Highlights:
-- Bulk sample obtained from the Kizilcukur vein returned c. 20
tonnes at 4.22 g/t gold + 284 g/t silver.
-- Approximately 2,800 tonnes of mineralised material currently
stockpiled on site, with potential to double with limited
additional trial mining in 2019.
-- Planning underway to truck 300 tonnes of this material
grading 4.30 g/t gold + 239 g/t Ag to the Kiziltepe plant site for
bulk processing during summer 2019.
-- Company will expand its operations at Kizilcukur and truck
remaining 2,500 tonnes of ore to Kiziltepe if processing of the
first batch of 300 tonnes is successful.
-- Drilling at Kizilcukur has been continuing despite adverse winter weather conditions.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"These bulk sampling results demonstrate that the Kizilcukur
deposit has the capacity to act as a source of high-grade satellite
feed to the Kiziltepe processing plant. We are encouraged by the
results of this recent work and the current drilling programme will
add confidence to the resource estimate for the Zeki Pit as part of
our feasibility work programme. We are planning to truck a 300
tonne batch of ore to Kiziltepe for test processing during the
summer, in order to assess the merits of potentially expanding our
operations at Kizilcukur."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Bulk Sampling Results
In December 2018, the Ariana team completed a series trenches
along the strike of the Kizilcukur vein system, where it was
previously exposed in trial mining within the Zeki Pit. This work
was planned in conjunction with drill pad preparation and road
building for the current drilling programme. The aim of the
trenching was to obtain a high-grade bulk sample for test
processing at the Kiziltepe processing plant during the summer of
2019. A total of five trenches measuring 5m long, 1.3m wide and
1.2m deep were excavated directly along the vein. Care was taken to
ensure that each trench was positioned over the exposed vein so as
to only extract mineralised material, resulting in five quartz-vein
dominant stockpiles being formed. Two systematically collected and
unbiased composite samples of approximately 10kgs each were taken
from each quartz-vein stockpile, and sent to ALS in Izmir for fire
assay and ME-ICP analysis. Average results for each stockpile
include:
-- Stockpile 1: 3.70 g/t Au + 345 g/t Ag
-- Stockpile 2: 5.85 g/t Au + 357 g/t Ag
-- Stockpile 3: 5.57 g/t Au + 286 g/t Ag
-- Stockpile 4: 1.36 g/t Au + 114 g/t Ag
-- Stockpile 5: 4.61 g/t Au + 319 g/t Ag
Collectively, the five stockpiles represent a bulk sample of 20
tonnes collected over a total strike length of 25m at an average
grade of 4.22g/t Au + 284 g/t Ag.
Drilling Programme
Since early December 2018, the Ariana exploration team have
focused on drilling activities at Kizilcukur. The team have been
working through the winter season, although drilling has been
intermittently hindered by heavy snow and freezing of equipment at
the altitude of the project (1,170m). However, access to the site
has not been prohibited and the team are planning to continue to
work through a window of more favourable weather in the coming
weeks. Drilling will continue for as long as possible but will be
suspended temporarily should weather conditions prevent the team
from operating safely. The team have made good progress to date and
the drilling programme is currently about a quarter completed.
Operational Plans
During the summer of 2019 the Company is planning to truck
approximately 300 tonnes of high-grade (4.30 g/t gold and 239 g/t
Ag) material currently held in stockpile to Kiziltepe for test
processing through the CIL processing plant. Approximately 2,800
tonnes of mineralised material is currently stockpiled on site
following the trial mining conducted in 2017 and 2018. It is
expected that further trial mining during 2019 could potentially
double this tonnage. If test processing of the first batch of 300
tonnes concludes successfully, the Company will give consideration
to expanding its operations at Kizilcukur with a view to trucking
2,500 tonnes of ore to Kiziltepe. The Company intends to ensure
that any material sent to the Kiziltepe plant averages >4 g/t Au
and >150 g/t Ag.
Project Summary
The Kizilcukur Project consists of one operational licence
located in the Balikesir Province in Western Turkey (coordinates:
626150 mE; 4360440 mN). The property lies 22km to the northeast
(straight line) and 50km by road from the Kiziltepe Sector of the
Company's Red Rabbit Project. A royalty will be payable to Dogu
Akdeniz Mineralleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. of 2% Net Smelter Return on
commercial production from the Project. Ariana has the option to
sell the project to Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. (the
operating company for the Kiziltepe Mine) at three times the
exploration cost.
The Project covers an area containing a series of sub-parallel
quartz veins hosted by ophiolitic units that trend northwest and
extend for about two kilometres. The Main Vein exhibits classic
low-sulphidation epithermal features and attains a maximum true
width of 8m. The western quartz vein extends over a strike length
of 820m. Composite rock-chip sampling of 80m strike along this
quartz vein returned encouraging assay results of 6m at 3.3 g/t
gold, 2m at 9.6g/t gold and 1m at 7.2 g/t gold prior to
drill-testing. The peak rock-chip assay result in this area was 152
g/t gold and 1,320 g/t silver.
A JORC 2012 compliant Mineral Resource estimate was prepared for
the Kizilcukur Project and Whittle optimisation conducted in 2016
identified the potential for the development of three open pits.
The Mineral Resource in Indicated and Inferred JORC categories
stands at c.308,000 tonnes at 2.11g/t gold + 73.4g/t silver (for
33,000 oz gold equivalent) and demonstrates potential for further
growth with additional drilling. The management resource target for
future exploration at Kizilcukur is currently 500,000 tonnes at
>2 g/t gold + >70g/t silver.
Trial mining commenced within the central part of the Zeki Pit
during 2017. This pit is the largest and highest grade of the three
pits defined following Whittle optimisation of the Kizilcukur
resource. The General Directorate of Mining Affairs approved
blasting operations on the licence as part of the Mining Permit (as
announced on 18 November 2015). Further trial mining is being
planned for 2019.
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
Atholl Tweedie / James Stearns
Yellow Jersey PR Limited Tel: +44 (0) 7544 275
882
Felicity Winkles/ Tim Thompson / Harriet arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com
Jackson
/ Henry Wilkinson
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 exploration and development company with mining
operations focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry
copper-gold deposits in Turkey, the largest gold producing country
in Europe. The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective
licences originally selected on the basis of its in-house
geological and remote-sensing database, which now contain a total
of 1.6 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at end-2017).
Ariana's objective is to cost-effectively add value to its projects
through focused exploration and to develop its operations,
primarily through well-financed joint ventures.
The Company's flagship assets are its Kiziltepe and Tavsan gold
projects which form the Red Rabbit Gold Project. Both contain a
series of prospects, within two prolific mineralised districts in
the Western Anatolian Volcanic and Extensional (WAVE) Province in
western Turkey. This Province hosts the largest operating gold
mines in Turkey and remains highly prospective for new porphyry and
epithermal deposits. These core projects, which are separated by a
distance of 75km, form part of a 50:50 Joint Venture with Proccea
Construction Co. The Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project is
fully-permitted and is currently in production. The total resource
inventory at the Red Rabbit Project and wider project area stands
at c. 605,000 ounces of gold equivalent (as at end-2017). At
Kiziltepe a Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of up to 2.5% on
production is payable to Franco-Nevada Corporation. At Tavsan an
NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to
Sandstorm Gold.
In north-eastern Turkey, Ariana owns 100% of the Salinbas Gold
Project, comprising the Salinbas gold-silver deposit and the Ardala
copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry among other prospects. The total
resource inventory of the Salinbas project area is c. 1 million
ounces of gold equivalent. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future
production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited are broker 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:
"Ag" chemical symbol for silver;
"Au" chemical symbol for gold;
"g/t" grams per tonne;
"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;
"m" Metres;
"oz" Troy ounces;
Ends.
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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 or visit www.rns.com.
END
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