Ariana Resources PLC ROYALTY AND DATABASE ACQUISITION (9824P)
October 16 2019 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAAU
RNS Number : 9824P
Ariana Resources PLC
16 October 2019
16 October 2019
AIM: AAU
ROYALTY AND DATABASE ACQUISITION
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the
exploration and development company with gold mining operations in
Turkey, is pleased to announce its conditional agreement to acquire
100% of Dogu Akdeniz Mineralleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. ("Dogu"), a
subsidiary of KEFI Minerals plc ("KEFI"). Dogu holds a Net Smelter
Return ("NSR") on the Kizilcukur Project and a valuable exploration
database encompassing the Republic of Turkey.
Highlights:
-- Dogu to be purchased outright by a subsidiary of Ariana, in
exchange for total cash consideration of GBP90,000 to KEFI.
-- Dogu owns a 2% NSR on the Kizilcukur Project and KEFI's
exploration database on Turkey (compiled since 2007), which will
complement and enhance the existing databases of the Company.
-- Initial payment of GBP15,000 made to KEFI to confer
exclusivity during a one month final due diligence period.
-- Staged payments to be made by the end of 2019 to complete the agreement.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"The acquisition of Dogu from KEFI is an important development
for the Company as we look to progress and further de-risk the
Kizilcukur Project. In particular, the acquisition of the NSR
royalty on Kizilcukur ensures that we limit any extraneous
financial impacts on any future operation at this site. Meanwhile
we are gaining exclusive rights to a significant exploration
database covering Turkey which was compiled by KEFI over several
years during their time in the country. Furthermore, we intend to
make use of Dogu as an entity through which we can develop new
project opportunities for the Company, enabling us to keep them
distinct from our operational entity in Turkey, Galata Madencilik,
and our other project interests in the country."
Kizilcukur Project
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 70km 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 veins exhibit classic
low-sulphidation epithermal features and attains a maximum true
width of 8m. The Zeki 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 2019/2020.
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
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886
2500
Atholl Tweedie / James Stearns
Yellow Jersey PR Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004
9512
Dom Barretto / Harriet Jackson arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com
/ 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.
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
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