3 September 2009
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU
KEPEZ METALLURGICAL AND BULK-SAMPLE RESULTS
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold
exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to
announce the results of bulk-sampling and laboratory-scale
metallurgical testwork conducted on material from the Kepez Gold
Prospect in Balikesir Province, western Turkey.
Highlights:
* Recoveries of up to 89% and 95% on high and average grade
material
* High grade bulk-sample yields 16.95 g/t gold and 117 g/t silver
* Average grade bulk-sample yields 6.83 g/t gold and 72 g/t silver
* Thickness of mineralised broken rock estimated to be 2-3m
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"These metallurgical results confirm our expectations that the Kepez
mineralisation is metallurgically akin to the material already
test-mined at Kiziltepe. The bulk-samples collected from the Kepez
prospect have confirmed the potential for a high average grade within
the mineralised zone. Drilling of the area provided an estimate of
the thickness of the scree covering the vein of about 3m, which
confirms earlier expectations and demonstrates the potential for
around 25,000 tonnes of broken mineralised rock.
"These results demonstrate that the Kepez prospect is likely to yield
a resource of high grade material amenable to simple mining and
processing at an established facility. The resource potential of the
Kepez prospect will now be evaluated in future programmes and
integrated within the development work being undertaken at the
Kiziltepe deposit."
Details of Programme
Two bulk-samples totalling approximately 100 kg were collected from
the Kepez prospect, which is located 6.5km ENE of the Kiziltepe
deposit. One sample contained material known to represent the
average grade of mineralisation at the prospect (7.14g/t Au) and the
second sample contained material representative of the highest grade
portions of the prospect (17.21g/t Au). This sampling followed the
earlier grid sampling undertaken on the prospect and detailed in the
announcement of 13th May 2009.
These samples were processed at the Eti G�m�s A.S. ("Eti") laboratory
under similar conditions to the testwork undertaken on material from
Kiziltepe. The Kepez material was crushed and milled to 80% passing
at 20 micron (the standard size fraction used at the Eti processing
plant). The material was leached over a period of 32 hours and
reagent consumption was moderate in both cases (e.g. between 0.17 and
0.51 kg/t NaCN).
The high grade sample provided a head grade of 16.95 g/t gold and 117
g/t silver and the average grade sample provided 6.83 g/t gold and 72
g/t silver. Over the 32 hour leach period, the measured recovery of
gold and silver from the high grade sample was 89.0% and 51.3%
respectively. The recovery of gold and silver from the average grade
sample was 95.2% and 80.6% respectively. These recoveries are in
line with the recovery of gold and silver reported from
laboratory-scale testwork on material from the Kiziltepe deposit.
Due to the nature of the scree covering parts of the vein at Kepez, a
drilling programme was designed to provide clarity on the potential
thickness of the broken rock. Based on the performance of the
drilling rig, this blanket of broken rock and heavily fractured
ground is estimated to be 2-3 m in the areas drilled. This matches
the figure provided by visual estimation of the outcrop area. The
broken ground, containing an average surface grade of 7.14 g/t Au, is
estimated to cover an area of 3200m2, which suggests potential for
about 25,000 tonnes of material amenable to simple mechanical
mining. The Company is presently considering how best to calculate a
JORC compliant mineral resource for this area.
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc Tel: 020 7407 3616
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: 020 7628 3396
Roland Cornish
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 Kepez Prospect
The Kepez prospect is located within the same 36km� ten-year
renewable operating licence that hosts the Company's Kiziltepe
prospect, which forms part of the Company's 100% owned Sindirgi gold
project in Balikesir Province, western Turkey. Kepez lies 6.5km away
from the current trial production area in the Kiziltepe Prospect.
Ariana is currently assessing the potential of Kepez to yield a
small high-grade resource amenable to open-pit mining.
The prospect contains 3km of gold-silver bearing low-sulphidation
epithermal quartz veins across an area of at least 2km by 0.5km.
Individual veins are exposed for up to 600m and widths vary between
2m and 25m. The main veins trend N and NE, and are hosted either
within Lower Miocene dacitic volcanic rocks or on the boundary
between these rocks and underlying Upper Cretaceous ophiolitic
sedimentary rocks. Three main vein systems have been defined by
geological mapping, rock-saw channel and rock-chip sampling, the most
important of which is the Karakaya Vein.
Existing drilling on the Karakaya Vein shows that it dips between
40 and 50 degrees to the west and is developed along the contact
between underlying ophiolitic rocks and overlying dacitic volcanic
rocks. The Karakaya Vein was sampled during a rock-saw channel
sampling programme conducted along the vein outcrop in 2006. Surface
results on the Karakaya vein have been encouraging over 100m of
strike, from which high grades have been encountered, although
previous follow-up drilling of the down-dip extensions have tended to
encounter lower grades.
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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