Additional vein system discovered at Kiziltepe

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the discovery of a new buried gold-silver vein system, the Hande Vein, at the Kiziltepe target of its Red Rabbit Gold Project in western Turkey.

Highlights:

  • High-grades of up to 7.74 g/t Au equivalent demonstrated at Hande Vein, with a possible extension towards the planned Banu pit
  • Continuity of grade identified along the strike length of 950m
  • Discovery of Hande Vein follows recent discovery of Gamze Vein at Kiziltepe – underpins high prospectivity of Red Rabbit Project area where production is targeted for Q4 2012
  • Structural trend of Hande and Banu Veins, like the Fidan/Gamze system, is parallel and proximal to the Arzu North/Arzu South structure – drilling on these structures has been prioritised
  • Drilling programme scheduled to commence during September

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

“The identification of an additional high grade vein system at the Kiziltepe deposit further underpins the high prospectivity of the Red Rabbit Project area, and demonstrates the potential for increases to our current JORC compliant resource of 448,000oz Au equivalent.  These new vein discoveries represent a key development in the evolution of the Red Rabbit Project, as we simultaneously advance towards production in 2012 and conduct exploration activities across the project area to feed into the current resource, extending the mine life and further improving the economic fundamentals of the project.

"In addition to these new discoveries at Kiziltepe, our recently completed geophysical programmes at the satellite prospects of Kepez West, Karakavak and Kizilcukur have also identified numerous chargeability and resistivity anomalies which have been identified as high priority drill targets ahead of our drilling campaign which will commence in September. It is anticipated that this drilling programme will determine the resource potential of these additional target areas contained within the wider Red Rabbit project area.  These target areas could then be rapidly advanced in tandem with production from Kiziltepe, creating multiple mining areas and a consistent production profile over several years.”

Details of Sampling Programme

Since the discovery of the Gamze Vein in May 2011, the Company has continued surface sampling along multiple geophysical targets at the Kiziltepe deposit.

A field team from Ariana's subsidiary, Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd., recently completed a follow-up float and rock-chip sampling programme over an area covering the newly named Hande Vein (Figure 1).  This was designed to confirm the distribution of near surface mineralisation and to determine the relationship of this structure to the Banu Vein, which outcrops to the southeast.

At the Hande Vein, sampling was undertaken with the intention to map the partially buried vein through float sampling and a combination of soil geochemistry and geophysical evidence.  Samples were taken every 20m along strike where vein material was present and, at each sample location, randomly selected float and subcrop samples were collected as composites from a circular area of 10m radius around the sample point.  This ensured that the vein area was comprehensively sampled with minimum bias.

High grades were obtained on the Hande Vein, with a maximum of 7.74 g/t Au equivalent, and the overall average being 1.47 g/t Au equivalent.  The continuity of grade identified along the strike length of this vein, totalling 950m, identify this area as an important target for future exploration.  Field and geophysical evidence suggest that the Hande and Banu vein systems are connected within the same mineralised structure.  Consequently there is some potential to expand the planned Banu pit to the north-west, following new exploratory drilling.

The structural trend of Hande/Banu veins, like Fidan/Gamze, is parallel and proximal to the Arzu North/Arzu South structure.  These observations provide further confidence in the potential for a buried vein interconnecting Arzu South and Arzu North, beneath cap rocks of rhyodacitic ignimbrite.  The zone connecting these two vein systems has also been identified as an important drilling target.

Figure 1: Map of the surface sampling completed on the Hande Vein.  Note the trend of the Gamze/Fidan veins and the zone situated between Arzu North and Arzu South, which has been scheduled for drill testing.

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

The Hande Vein sampling programme consisted of the collection of 32 composite float and rock-chip samples of quartz vein material.  Due to the lack of visible outcrop, the samples were a composite of subcrop and float material.  However, the linear distribution and density of quartz vein float, combined with the soil geochemical and geophysical evidence, enable these samples to be attributed to a single coherent vein system.

Of the 32 samples collected, two returned grades less than 0.1 g/t Au equivalent (6.25% of total); 14 samples assayed between 0.10-1.0 g/t Au equivalent (43.75% of total), 12 samples between 1.0-2.5 g/t Au equivalent (37.5% of total) and 4 samples between 2.5 and 7.74 g/t Au equivalent (12.5% of total), with a peak grade of 7.74 g/t Au equivalent.

All samples were prepared by the ALS Chemex preparation facility in Izmir and assayed by 30g fire assay at the ALS Chemex laboratory in Romania.  Routine re-assaying of all samples assaying greater than 10 g/t Au has also been completed by ALS Chemex.  Regular standard and blank samples are being used in the sample sequence in line with the Company's quality control procedures.

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 / Felicity Geidt

 

Fairfax I.S. PLC

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7598 5368

Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley

 

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.

Fairfax I.S. PLC are 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

 

“Au” the chemical symbol for gold;

“Au equivalent” sum of the gold grade and the gold equivalent grade of silver utilising a price ratio of 1:55, based on historic gold/silver prices;

“float” loose fragments of rock visible on surface, that may represent sub-surface in-situ rock;

“g/t” grammes per tonne;

“geophysics” remote sensing exploration methods, in this case IP and resistivity measurements

“induced polarisation/IP” geophysical imaging technique to measure chargeability of sub-surface rock

"m"​Metres

“outcrop” in-situ rock visible at surface;

"oz" Ounces;

“resistivity” pertains to geophysical surveys that measure variations in the electrical resistivity of the ground by applying small electric currents across arrays of ground electrodes

“rock-chip” sample taken from in-situ rock on surface;

"stockwork" a mineral deposit in the form of a branching network of small irregular veins;

“subcrop’ blocks of rock that are unlikely to have moved far from their original in-situ position;

“vein” refers in this case to epithermal, gold-silver bearing quartz veins;

 

Ends

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