Ariana Resources PLC Ariana Resources Plc: Extensive Vein System Identified At Arzu Central
24 January 2017 - 6:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAAU
24 January 2017
AIM: AAU
EXTENSIVE VEIN SYSTEM IDENTIFIED AT ARZU CENTRAL
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration
and development company operating in Turkey, is pleased to announce
results for its Phase Two drilling programme of 2016, completed in
December at the Kiziltepe Project. Kiziltepe is part of the Red Rabbit
Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co. and will be 50% owned by
Ariana once the mine is operational in Q1 2017.
Highlights:
-- Vein mineralisation intercepted in every drill hole with robust infill
drilling results from the south-western end of Arzu Central providing 7m
@ 4.00 g/t Au + 27.51 g/t Ag, 12m @ 1.96 g/t Au + 34.45 g/t Ag and 11m @
1.83 g/t + 45.07 g/t Ag.
-- Newly identified vein system within Arzu Central provides results
including 11m @ 0.95 g/t Au + 35.91 g/t Ag and 2m @ 1.64 g/t Au + 35.70
g/t Ag.
-- Arsenopyrite-rich style of mineralisation encountered c.70m from a
previous bonanza-grade hole (12.1m @ 13.1 g/t Au+ 188 g/t Ag) provides an
intercept of 11m @ 2.24 g/t Au + 11.06 g/t Ag.
-- South-eastern extension of Arzu North provides results including 8m @
1.14 g/t Au + 15.64 g/t Ag, 2m @ 1.01 g/t Au + 17.50 g/t Ag and 1m @ 1.86
g/t Au + 46.30 g/t Ag.
-- Substantial scope to identify further mineralised veins in the Arzu
Central area; system represents a structural splay which widens towards
Arzu North and Derya.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are very excited to have confirmed the continuity of mineralisation
beneath the cap rocks at Arzu Central. These initial results
demonstrate for the first time that an extensive and still only
partially tested vein system is developed over 650m of strike connecting
Arzu South with Arzu North. Significantly the system appears to be more
structurally complex than first thought and it appears to represent a
structural splay which widens from Arzu South towards Arzu North and
Derya.
Future work will be directed towards the further expansion of the
planned open pits at Arzu South, Arzu North and Derya in order to
capture as much economic mineralisation as possible in this area.
Alternatively, the Company may consider the development of a potential
underground operation at Arzu Central in the event that further targeted
drilling is successful in identifying higher-grade zones that could be
accessed by underground development."
Drilling Programme
In 2016, Ariana Resources successfully completed a two phase exploration
and resource drilling programme with the objective to define the extent
of potential mineralisation between the Arzu North, South and Derya vein
systems at Kiziltepe. At surface, the extensions of these mineralised
vein systems are largely obscured by a unit of pumice ignimbrite cap
rocks; a geological unit of different age and composition to the crystal
dacite rocks hosting the majority of the veins at Kiziltepe. In early
2012, Ariana's exploration team successfully completed two conceptual
exploration holes to test for the possible existence of a mineralised
vein extension beneath the pumice ignimbrite from the southeastern
limits of Arzu North. These holes returned with excellent intercepts
including; 34.1m @ 0.89 g/t Au + 8.47 g/t Ag and 7.6m @ 5.24 g/t Au +
129.72 g/t Ag (KTP-D19A-11).
In 2015, further conceptual drilling was completed to test for the
possibility of mineralisation to exist within Arzu Central between the
Arzu North, South and Derya vein systems. On this occasion, extensions
to mineralisation were tested from the northwestern limits of Arzu
South. Again exceptional mineralisation was intercepted including; 22m @
2.93 g/t Au + 29.76 g/t Ag (KTP-RC07-15). Both the 2012 and 2015
drilling results generated sufficient additional confidence in a
conceptual 650m long exploration target through the Arzu "Gap Zone",
hereafter referred to as Arzu Central. Once this level of confidence
was secured, further drilling was warranted.
In 2016, 2,342m of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling was successfully
completed at Arzu Central. The first phase of the two phased programme
aimed to define the subsurface limits of the overlying pumice
ignimbrites and to target an area that contained the highest probability
of vein mineralisation. This work was crucial in order to generate
refined targets for drill testing along strike from last known vein
intercepts. By November 2016, the exploration team had a robust
understanding of the Arzu Central geology, in particular the geometry of
the pumice ignimbrite unit. As part of the Phase Two programme,
drilling continued through Arzu Central, starting from the Arzu South
side and progressing to Arzu North and Derya. The drilling programme
consisted of typically 50m spaced drill fences, with a total of 15 drill
holes, to cover approximately 400 meters of strike within the Arzu
Central region. Mineralisation was intercepted in every hole with best
intercepts including 11m @ 0.95 g/t Au + 35.91 g/t Ag and 2m @ 1.64 g/t
Au + 35.70 g/t Ag. Towards the Derya end of Arzu Central, where bonanza
grades (KTP-D18-11: 12.1m @ 13.1 g/t Au + 188 g/t Ag) were intercepted
in previous drilling, unusual disseminated arsenopyrite-rich stockwork
zones were identified in drill hole KTP-RC44-15 providing 11m @ 2.24 g/t
Au + 11.06 g/t Ag. This area requires priority follow-up, given that
the bonanza grade intercept occurs only c.70m away from the new
intercept.
Vein trends identified from mineralised intercepts at Arzu Central
suggest that non-outcropping mineralisation trending from Arzu South is
orientated at 295 degrees in strike, towards Derya Vein. In isolation
this suggests that the strike connection from Arzu South to Arzu North
may not be the dominant trend. However, two test holes (KTP-RC45-16 and
KTP-RC46-16), drilled southeast of the last know intercepts at Arzu
North have both returned with significant intercepts including 8m @ 1.14
g/t Au + 15.64 g/t Ag, 2m @ 1.01 g/t Au + 17.5 g/t Ag and 1m @ 1.86 g/t
Au + 46.3 g/t Ag. This suggests that mineralisation between Arzu North
and Arzu South probably does exist but is not trending at the 315 degree
strike orientation as originally modelled. Consequently, the Arzu
Central area is significantly more complex than first considered.
Further drilling is required to fully define what could be a significant
subsurface extension of Arzu North and the continuation of
mineralisation within a corridor connecting Arzu South to Derya.
In addition to the drilling undertaken as part of the Phase Two
assessment of Arzu Central, the Ariana exploration team also completed
five infill resource drill holes on the north western end of Arzu South.
Significant intercepts from this drilling include 7m @ 4.00 g/t Au +
27.51 g/t Ag, 12m @ 1.96 g/t Au + 34.45 g/t Ag and 11m @ 1.83 g/t Au +
45.07 g/t Ag.
Table 1: Significant RC drilling results from the 2016 programme at
Arzu Central, arranged in order of the gram x metre intercepts
(down-hole gold equivalent grade multiplied by intercept thickness).
The intercepts reported in this table are the down-hole lengths.
Intercept grades have been calculated using a 0.5 g/t Au minimum cut-off
with up to 2m internal waste allowed.
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Grade Au (g/t) Grade Ag (g/t)
KTP-RC49-16 51 58 7 4.00 27.51
KTP-RC44-16 124 135 11 2.24 11.06
KTP-RC52-16 136 148 12 1.96 34.45
KTP-RC50-16 99 110 11 1.83 45.07
KTP-RC38-16 162 173 11 0.95 35.91
KTP-RC45-16 111 119 8 1.14 15.64
KTP-RC52-16 107 111 4 1.73 13.93
KTP-RC43-16 61 66 5 0.87 15.74
KTP-RC40-16 59 61 2 1.64 35.70
KTP-RC45-16 128 130 2 1.01 17.50
KTP-RC46-16 146 147 1 1.86 46.30
Figure 1: Map of the Arzu Central area showing the Phase Two drilling
and selected previous drilling (shown with *). The map shows the
outline of the feasibility designed pits and the potential expanded pits
based on Whittle optimisation completed in 2016. The vein system as
identified in Phase Two drilling is shown in yellow, while previous
resource panels are shown in red.
Link: http://hugin.info/138153/R/2072974/779138.pdf
Sampling and Assaying Procedures
434 samples were selected based on geological logging of RC chips during
drilling and sent for assay. All samples from the drilling programme
undertaken by Ariana Resources plc, were prepared and assayed by 30g
fire assay, and ICP-MS multi-element analysis, at the ALS Global
laboratory in Izmir. Routine re-assaying of all samples assaying
greater than 10 g/t of gold and 100 g/t of silver has also been
completed by ALS Global. Standard, blank and duplicate samples are
being used in the sample batches, which is in line with the Company's
quality control procedures. Laboratory sample preparation, assaying
procedures and chain of custody are appropriately controlled. The
Company maintains an archive of reference RC chip samples, in addition
to all sample pulps and splits.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of
Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
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
Beaufort Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7382 8300
Jon Belliss
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
Adam James / Tom Salvesen
Editor's Notes:
Dr Kerim Sener, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, is the Managing Director of Ariana
Resources plc. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology,
he also holds a Master's degree from the Royal School of Mines (Imperial
College, London) in Mineral Exploration and a doctorate from the
University of Western Australia. He is a Fellow of The Geological
Society of London and has worked in geological research and mineral
consultancy in Africa, Australia and Europe. He has read and approved
the technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement.
About Ariana Resources:
Ariana is an exploration and development company focused on epithermal
gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey. The Company is
developing a portfolio of prospective licences originally selected on
the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database.
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 construction. The total resource inventory at the Red
Rabbit Project and wider project area stands at c. 525,000 ounces of
gold equivalent. At Kiziltepe a Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of
up to 2.5% on future 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.
Beaufort Securities Limited and Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited are joint
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:
"Ag" Silver
"Au" Gold
"g/t" grams per tonne
"m" Metres
"oz" Ounces
Ends
Figure 1: https://hugin.info/138153/R/2072974/779138.pdf
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information
contained therein.
Source: Ariana Resources plc via Globenewswire
http://www.arianaresources.com/s/Home.asp
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January 24, 2017 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
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