Ariana Resources PLC AGM Statement (7275D)
28 June 2019 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAAU
RNS Number : 7275D
Ariana Resources PLC
28 June 2019
28 June 2019
AIM: AAU
AGM Statement
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the
exploration and development company operating in Turkey, announces
that at its Annual General Meeting, which is to be held at 11am
today, Michael de Villiers, Chairman, will make the following
statement:
"2018 was an exceptional year for Ariana Resources, as the
Company continued to make significant progress at its Red Rabbit
Gold Project. In its first full year of commercial production, the
Kiziltepe Mine produced 27,110 ounces of gold. This was 36% higher
than forecast for the year and it achieved an average operating
cash-cost of US$415 per ounce, placing Ariana among the lowest cost
quartile of gold producers globally. Following this positive
performance last year, we remain on track to hit our 2019
production target of 25,000 ounces of gold. The strong positive
cashflow generated from Kiziltepe has enabled the repayment of
c.70% of the US$33 million JV construction capital loan to date.
Full repayment of this loan is to occur by April 2020.
"There were also a number of important developments during the
year at our highly prospective Salinbas Gold Project in
north-eastern Turkey. The recent upgrade of one of the key licences
to operational status confers our rights to that asset for a
further 10 years, allowing us to advance our exploration and
development plans, while the remaining two licences await renewal
or upgrade to operational status for a further 10 years. We look
forward to providing further updates on Salinbas once we have
received and assessed the results of the recent drilling
programme.
"The rally in the gold price in recent weeks has clearly placed
gold and gold miners back on the agenda of investors and market
commentators. Pleasingly, this rally is also being reflected in our
share price, which has strengthened significantly and is up 60%
over the past six months. This creates a robust environment in
which the Company can develop its other Turkish gold projects and
to reach its goal of achieving production of 50,000 ounces per
annum.
"Looking ahead, we are also at an advanced stage of evaluating
other interests in the geographic region of Turkey, whilst
maintaining our focus on the highly prospective region of the
Tethyan Metallogenic Belt. We recognise the importance of
diversifying our portfolio partly in to other commodities, and
particularly those associated with the development of new
technologies, within countries representing low risk profiles. We
look forward to updating the market on these developments in due
course.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow board
members, our management team and employees in Turkey, including
those within our JV Company, and our shareholders for their
continued support and engagement."
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) 20 3004
9512
Felicity Winkles/ Tim Thompson / Harriet arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com
Jackson
/ Henry Wilkinson
Editors' Note:
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.
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 or visit www.rns.com.
END
AGMSEWFMWFUSEFM
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 28, 2019 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Ariana Resources (LSE:AAU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Ariana Resources (LSE:AAU)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024