29 June 2009
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU
KIZILTEPE: FIRST GOLD PRODUCTION
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold
exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to
announce its first gold production from the Sindirgi Gold Project.
This follows the conclusion of trial mining at the Arzu South vein at
the Kiziltepe deposit by Ariana's subsidiary, Galata Madencilik San.
ve Tic. Ltd. ("Galata") and the processing of its ore at the G�m�sk�y
plant by Eti G�m�s A.S. ("Eti").
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"Trial processing of ore from Kiziltepe has resulted in the
production of the first 387 oz of gold from the Kiziltepe deposit.
This is a solid result from the initial trial mine at Kiziltepe, and
discussions regarding an extension to this trial for the processing
of a further batch of ore are underway. It is currently the
intention of the companies to develop their partnership with the
intention of advancing both the Sindirgi and Tavsan projects.
"Ariana is currently considering the sale of investment ingots from
its first gold production from Kiziltepe, following further refining
and minting at the Istanbul Gold Refinery. Such ingots will be sold
at a modest premium to the gold price on a 'first-come-first-served'
basis. I have personally placed a provisional order for 1kg of this
first gold production, as I believe this represents such a
significant and memorable step forward for the Company."
Trial Processing
Trial processing of 5,177 tonnes of dry ore from the Kiziltepe
deposit was finalised during last week at the G�m�sk�y processing
plant owned by Eti in K�tahya Province, Western Turkey.
According to preliminary data provided by Eti, 253.16kg of dry anode
mud was recovered from the electrolytic processing circuit (Figure
1). The gold content of the mud was measured at 4.75%, giving a
total gold content of 12.025 kg (387 oz). Refining of the anode mud
for conversion to 99.9% pure gold is currently underway at the Eti
laboratory and division of the proceeds is expected to occur during a
meeting between Galata and Eti scheduled for the 10th July. Please
see the news release dated 5th March 2009 for details of the trial
processing arrangement with Eti.
While the recovered grade was lower than expected, Galata and Eti are
working jointly to determine the reasons for this result. Ariana
suspects that the surprising volume of sub-surface old workings,
containing low grade back-fill, encountered in otherwise higher-grade
areas contributed to the lower than expected grade of the ore trucked
to the plant. Also, the mined ore suffered certain unplanned
dilution resulting from the mining method and the inexperience of the
trial mine operators. These factors contributed to a trucked grade
of approximately 3.27 g/t Au, based on analyses undertaken at the Eti
laboratory. Process recoveries were also somewhat lower than
expected and calculations of staged process efficiency are still
underway. Ariana is also checking Eti laboratory data via new
analyses undertaken at ALS Chemex to determine if any analytical
errors have occurred.
Following the successful and economically satisfactory completion of
the initial trial, Galata and Eti have been discussing the
continuation of the trial to encompass a further batch of ore. This
extended trial will develop the cooperation between the two companies
and will be designed to improve on mining methods and process
recovery to ensure improved gold extraction. Beyond this, the
companies have expressed interest in a longer term partnership for
the joint development of the Sindirgi and Tavsan projects, and to
establish a new gold mining and processing venture in Turkey.
Please follow this link to Figure 1:
http://hugin.info/138153/R/1325474/311741.jpg
Figure 1: Anode mud recovered from the processing trial of Kiziltepe
ore at the G�m�sk�y plant, containing gold, silver, copper and other
metals.
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc Tel: 020 7407 3616
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: 020 7628 3396
Roland Cornish
Lothbury Financial Tel: 020 7011 9411
Michael Padley / Libby Moss
Alexander David Securities Limited Tel: 020 7448 9820
Nick Bealer / David Scott
Loeb Aron & Company Ltd Tel: 020 7628 1128
Peter Freeman / Frank Lucas
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 the Kiziltepe Deposit
The Kiziltepe deposit is located within a ten-year renewable
operating licence that forms part of the Company's 100% owned
Sindirgi Gold Project in Balikesir Province, western Turkey. The
current JORC resource of 186,000 ounces gold equivalent is contained
within the Arzu South, Arzu North, Banu and Derya veins.
Kiziltepe lies approximately 130km west of the G�m�sk�y silver mine,
100km east of the one million ounce vein-hosted Ovacik gold mine and
115km northwest of the five million ounce Kisladag gold mine. The
deposit hosts over 20km in strike length of gold-silver bearing
low-sulphidation epithermal quartz veins across an area of at least
3km by 1km. Individual veins are exposed for up to 750m and widths
vary between 1m and 14m. The main veins trend northwest, dip to the
northeast and are hosted within Miocene age dacitic volcanic rocks.
Ariana acquired the Sindirgi Gold Project from Newmont Mining
Corporation (NYSE & ASX: NEM; TSX: NMC) in March 2005. Franco-Nevada
Corporation retains the right to a royalty of up to 2.5% on future
gold production from the Sindirgi Gold Project.
About Eti G�m�s A.S.
Eti G�m�s A.S. owns and operates the G�m�sk�y silver mine in K�tahya
Province, western Turkey. It is currently the largest silver mine in
Europe and has been operational since 1987. Before privatisation,
the process plant had a designed annual throughput rate of 1,000,000
tonnes and produces a maximum of 122 tonnes of silver per annum using
the Merrill-Crowe system; a process for separating silver and gold
where high Ag:Au ratios prevent the use of carbon as an effective
recovery technique. Current production is well in excess of the
original capacity, following improvements to the plant made since
privatisation. The company's production meets 45% of annual Turkish
silver demand.
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 exploring 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.
The Company's flagship assets are its Sindirgi and Tavsan gold
projects. Both projects 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. The total resource
inventory of the Company stands at 401,000 ounces of gold
equivalent.
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.
Ends
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