Ariana Resources PLC Ariana Resources Plc : Positive Drilling Results From Arzu South

 
TIDMAAU 
 
   19 October 2016 
 
   AIM: AAU 
 
   POSITIVE DRILLING RESULTS FROM ARZU SOUTH 
 
   Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration 
and development company operating in Turkey, is pleased to announce 
further results for its Phase One drilling programme of 2016, completed 
during early September at the Kiziltepe Project.  The results reported 
here relate to drilling at the SE end of the Arzu South vein at 
Kiziltepe.  Kiziltepe is part of the Red Rabbit Joint Venture with 
Proccea Construction Co. and will be 50% owned by Ariana once mine 
construction is completed in Q416. 
 
   Highlights: 
 
 
   -- 645 meters of Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling for 7 holes was 
      completed on the SE end of Arzu South, to drill-test the southern end of 
      the Arzu South vein to within 15m of surface and targeting the southern 
      extents of the recently discovered Arzu South Parallel vein trend 
      ("ASP"). 
 
   -- Best intercepts from the southern end of Arzu South include, 5m @ 6.9g/t 
      gold + 138.5g/t silver, 7m @ 4.0g/t gold + 23.9g/t silver and 2m @ 4.1g/t 
      gold + 35.4g/t silver. 
 
   -- Intercepts testing the ASP vein returned with anomalous grades including, 
      1m @ 3.7g/t gold + 9.7g/t silver, 1m @ 1.7g/t gold + 85.1g/t silver and 
      1m @ 0.5g/t gold + 30.5g/t silver. 
 
 
   Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: 
 
   "Although the drilling at the southern end of Arzu South comprised only 
seven holes, we are especially encouraged to have determined the 
continuity of high-grade and near-surface mineralisation at the very end 
of the Arzu South vein.  The current in-pit resource does not encompass 
this mineralisation, suggesting that the pit will capture additional 
ounces which have the potential to form part of the final reserve. 
 
   In addition, this drilling has confirmed the continuity of the ASP vein 
trend right through to the southern end of Arzu South.  It appears that 
the southern end of the ASP trend disperses in to wider zones of 
sub-economic stockwork mineralisation than at the northern end of Arzu 
South. Despite this, new work at the far southern end of Arzu South, 
demonstrates that the main vein structure jogs to the east and continues 
for perhaps a further 200m - this section of the vein system, referred 
to as Arzu Far South, remains completely untested by drilling and will 
now form part of the Phase Two programme." 
 
   Drilling Programme 
 
   On 14 September 2016, Ariana announced the completion of Phase One of 
its 2016 drilling programme. That announcement outlined the primary 
objectives for the Phase One programme, which included drilling at the 
southern end of Arzu South. 
 
   Seven RC drill holes totalling 645 meters were drilled to primarily test 
the southern extensions of Arzu South and of the Arzu South Parallel 
("ASP") vein, which was identified during 1:1,000 scale geological and 
alteration mapping within the limits of pre-stripping undertaken 
recently by the mining team (Figure 1). 
 
   The Arzu South vein was specifically targeted in three shallow holes 
which were drilled to test the structure within 15 vertical metres from 
surface at the southernmost limits of the currently designed Arzu South 
pit. Results from these holes include, 5m @ 6.9g/t Au + 138.5g/t Ag, 7m 
@ 4g/t Au + 23.9g/t Ag and 2m @ 4.1g/t Au + 35.4g/t Ag (Table 1). These 
intercepts reinforce the potential for high-grade ore to be accessed 
within the early stages of mining in this area. In particular, the 
southernmost two holes at the end of Arzu South intercepted 
mineralisation which lies outside of the current resource model but 
inside the Whittle pit shell.  This will have the effect of increasing 
in pit reserves. 
 
   In addition, two hundred meters of ASP vein strike was tested on three 
drill fences (100m fence spacing), testing the structure to a maximum 
vertical depth of 85 meters below surface and, in two places, 
intercepting the Arzu South vein on each fence.  Results from the ASP 
trend returned with intercepts including, 1m @ 3.7g/t Au + 9.7g/t Ag, 1m 
@ 1.7g/t Au + 85.1g/t Ag and 1m @ 0.5g/t Au + 30.5g/t Ag (Table 1). 
Compared to the drilling results in the northwest of Arzu South, ASP 
appears to decrease in width, from a maximum thickness of 4m to an 
approximate minimum thickness of 1m in the southeast. However, grades 
remain consistently anomalous along strike and depth, except to the far 
southeast, where the structure appears to disperse in to wider zones of 
low grade stockwork mineralisation. As an additional vein and stockwork 
zone sitting within the Whittle pit shell of Arzu South, ASP will 
potentially contribute to the resource, in addition to reducing 
waste-rock excavated from the footwall of the Arzu South vein. 
 
   Reporting of significant results for the Phase One drilling programme is 
now complete.  Plans for Phase Two of the 2016 programme are being 
finalised and drilling is currently scheduled to start on 24 October 
2016 for a total of 3,500m.  This represents a significant expansion to 
our original drilling plans for 2016 and is considered especially 
warranted given the exploration success of the earlier phase of the 
programme. 
 
   Table 1:  Significant RC drilling results from the 2016 programme, 
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.  The location of intercepts relative to the 
Whittle optimised pit shell is also identified, demonstrating that 
considerable additional mineralisation has been discovered within or 
just to the margins of the Whittle pit.  Where ASP was intercepted these 
are identified, otherwise the intercepts relate to the main Arzu South 
vein trend. 
 
 
 
 
                                      Grade  Grade      Au 
              From    To    Interval   Au     Ag    Equivalent  Inside/Outside 
  Hole ID      (m)    (m)     (m)     (g/t)  (g/t)    (g/t)           Pit 
KTP-RC15-16      13     18         5    6.9  138.5         9.2          Inside 
KTP-RC18-16      19     26         7    4.0   23.9         4.4          Inside 
KTP-RC16-16      18     20         2    4.1   35.4         4.7          Inside 
KTP-RC12-16      28     29         1    3.7    9.7         3.9      Edge (ASP) 
KTP-RC17-16      13     15         2    1.6    2.8         1.6          Inside 
KTP-RC13-16     101    102         1    1.7   85.1         3.1   Outside (ASP) 
KTP-RC13-16       3      4         1    1.2   11.8         1.4          Inside 
KTP-RC14-16      77     78         1    0.5   30.5         1.0   Outside (ASP) 
 
 
   Figure 1 
 
   FIGURE 1 is a map of the SE end of the Arzu South pit, showing the 
limits of the feasibility designed pit and the recent Whittle 
optimisation.  The positions of all new and historic drill collars are 
shown, with drill traces and intercept locations identified for all 
recent holes.  The ASP vein trend (with associated low-grade stockwork 
zones) is apparent even at the southern end of Arzu South and these 
initial holes demonstrate the continuity of mineralisation along this 
trend, though to a lesser degree than the NW end of Arzu South.  The 
Arzu Far South target area is also shown, which will be drill-tested for 
the first time as part of the Phase Two programme. 
 
   Sampling and Assaying Procedures 
 
   178 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: [phone] 
Michael de Villiers, Chairman 
Kerim Sener, Managing Director 
 
Beaumont Cornish Limited         Tel: [phone] 
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt 
 
Beaufort Securities Limited      Tel: [phone] 
Jon Belliss 
 
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited      Tel: [phone] 
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 selected on the basis of 
its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, on its own in 
western Turkey and in Joint Venture with Eldorado Gold Corporation in 
north-eastern Turkey.  Eldorado owns 51% of this joint venture and are 
fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties, while Ariana 
owns 49%.  The total resource inventory within this JV is 1.09 million 
ounces of gold. 
 

   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, 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 at the Red Rabbit Project stands at c. 525,000 ounces of gold 
equivalent. 
 
   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: http://hugin.info/138153/R/2049771/766588.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 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2016 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)

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