Proposed aquisition of new exploration properties

16 March 2011

AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU

PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF NEW EXPLORATION PROPERTIES

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Heads of Agreement ("HoA") for the acquisition of four key exploration properties in western Turkey, from AIM-listed Turkish explorer, KEFI Minerals plc ("KEFI").

Highlights:

• Acquisition of four exploration properties including the Kizilcukur and Muratdag projects (as described here).
• Properties show potential to add to the Company's resource inventory within western Turkey.
• Properties provide an opportunity for Ariana to create synergies with its Red Rabbit Gold Project ahead of scheduled production in 2012.
• 2km of mineralised quartz veins containing high-grade gold and silver delineated on Kizilcukur project.
• Gold and silver soil geochemical anomaly identified on the Muratdag project, which has not previously been drill tested.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: 

"This proposed acquisition is an important step for Ariana, and one which will consolidate our position and exploration footprint in western Turkey, focusing primarily on the highly prospective Red Rabbit Gold Project and the surrounding area.

"The acquisition of the Kizilcukur property is a strategically significant move, as it will provide Ariana and its Red Rabbit Joint Venture with access to the entire gold mineralised trend within the Sindirgi Gold Corridor. Surface sampling results including 152g/t gold and 1,320g/t silver and several high-grade drill intercepts underpin the prospectivity of the property. We are expecting that, with further exploration at Kizilcukur, we will be able to define a mineral resource to integrate into our Red Rabbit project development. Our target resource base for this Red Rabbit region is 1 million oz Au equivalent and we are putting all the building blocks in place to achieve this in the medium term."

Heads of Agreement 

Details of the Heads of Agreement, which are subject to due diligence (particularly with respect to the licences) and the completion of a definitive agreement, are as follows: 

• A nominal cash payment by Ariana to KEFI's Turkish subsidiary.
• The issue to KEFI of such number of ordinary shares in the Company that are equal to a value of £50,000 based on a 30% premium to the average Volume Weighted Average Price ("VWAP") of Ariana's ordinary shares calculated for the 30 days of trading prior to the date of completion of a definitive agreement; which KEFI agrees not to trade for a period of 12 months from the date of issue.
• The grant to KEFI of a 2% Net Smelter Royalty on all future mineral production from the licences.
• The HoA expires on 29th April 2011 unless both parties agree to extend this date.

Kizilcukur Project

The Kizilcukur project consists of one licence located in the Balikesir Province in Western Turkey. The licence covers an area containing a series of parallel quartz veins that trend northwest and extend for at least two kilometres. The main vein exhibits classic low-sulphidation epithermal features and attains a maximum true width of 8m. Preliminary rock chip sampling by KEFI in 2007 returned encouraging assay results of up to 152g/t gold and 1,320g/t silver in an area containing old workings. Later channel sampling of this area returned assays of 8m at 3g/t gold and 152g/t silver.

The western quartz vein extends over a strike length of 800m. In 2007, composite rock chip sampling of 80m strike along this quartz vein returned encouraging assay results of 6m at 3.3g/t gold, 2m at 9.6g/t gold and 1m at 7.2g/t gold. A total of 17 drill holes were then completed by KEFI on the property (Table 1) during 2007 and 2008. No mineral resource has been calculated by KEFI for the area drilled to date.

Table 1: Example drilling results from exploration on the Kizilcukur licence undertaken by KEFI. These intersections are those previously reported by KEFI in news releases published in September 2007 and July 2008.

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Intercept (m) Grade

KDTD04 38.0 41.6 3.6 3.4 g/t Au, 90 g/t Ag

And 44.0 45.0 1.0 3.3 g/t Au, 327 g/t Ag

KDTD05 42.0 43.7 1.7 2.0 g/t Au, 72 g/t Ag

KDTD10 71.6 75.1 3.5 47 g/t Ag

KDTD13 110.0 112.9 2.9 16.1 g/t Au

And 106.6 114.7 8.1 29 g/t Ag

KDTD15 54.7 56.1 1.4 1.4 g/t Au, 42 g/t Ag

And 60.3 61.0 0.7 1.0 g/t Au, 28 g/t Ag

KDTD16 116.0 122.9 6.9 25.3g/t Ag

Muratdag Project

The Muratdag Project consists of two licences located in the Usak Province in Western Turkey that are considered by Ariana to be prospective for listwaenite-hosted gold-silver and laterite-hosted nickel-cobalt mineralisation. The Muratdag licences contain extensive areas of listwaenites which are located within a thrust-sequence of Upper Cretaceous ophiolite and Jurassic carbonates, lying in the vicinity of an Oligocene granitoid. The gold mineralisation is associated with silicification and haematite/limonite alteration.

In 2007, KEFI completed geological mapping, rock-chip sampling and soil sampling on the licences. A number of historical workings for mercury are present immediately to the west and north of the project area. A triangular shaped gold-silver soil anomaly up to 350m north-south and 250m east-west at >20ppb gold is present within the northern licence. This anomaly has not been followed up with any drilling by KEFI.

Ariana considers that there are several geological similarities between the Muratdag project and Ariana's Tavsan and Demirci gold projects. All three projects lie on the same stratigraphic horizon, which is a regionally significant zone for gold mineralisation.

Contacts:

Ariana Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616

Michael Spriggs, Chairman

Kerim Sener, Managing Director

Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Roland Cornish

Alexander David Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7448 9820

Nick Bealer / David Scott

Loeb Aron & Company Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 1128

Jonathan Willis-Richards / Frank Lucas

St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177

Hugo de Salis / Susie Geliher

Editors' note:

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 Southern Africa and Australia. 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 selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, on its own in western Turkey and in Joint Venture with European Goldfields Limited in north-eastern Turkey. European Goldfields owns 51% of this joint venture and, as the operator, is fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties until delivery of a feasibility study.

The Company's flagship assets are its Sindirgi 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, are presently being assessed as to their economic merits and now form part of a Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co. The total resource inventory of the Company stands at 448,000 ounces of gold equivalent.

Ariana also has a strategic investment in Tigris Resources Limited (www.tigrisresources.com), a private Jersey-based exploration company, which is focused on the exploration of copper and gold deposits in southeastern Turkey. Ariana retains 15% of Tigris Resources Limited.

Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. and Alexander David Securities 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.

About KEFI Minerals 

KEFI Minerals is an exploration company focussed on exploring for world-class mineral deposits in the well-endowed and under-explored Tethyan Mineral Belt of Turkey and Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia. Following its listing on AIM in late 2006, KEFI Minerals has established itself as an innovative gold and copper exploration Company and has rapidly expanded its exploration portfolio.

In Turkey, KEFI is primarily targeting large low-sulphidation epithermal gold systems and porphyry-style gold-copper systems, analogous to several >1 million ounce gold deposits recently discovered and developed in the western part of the country. KEFI Minerals recently expanded its sphere of interest with the formation of a new minerals exploration joint venture within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, KEFI is exploring for mesothermal vein-hosted gold mineralisation, listwaenite-hosted gold deposits and Kuroko-style volcanogenic copper-zinc mineralisation.

KEFI has a strong Board of Directors and management team with highly demonstrable track records in the resources industry in Australia and Europe. The Board of KEFI's aim is expand the company through the discovery, acquisition and development of high quality precious and base metal projects. KEFI's reputation has been built on treating safety, environment and community relations as a priority at all times.

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