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Ariana Resources

Ariana Resources is an AIM-listed gold exploration and development company focused on precious and technology metals. Ariana aims to advance mineral resource opportunities both within its primary area of operations in Turkey and across the wider European and Eastern Mediterranean regions, within which the Ariana has specific expertise.

The demand for mineral resources is ever increasing and as such Ariana aims to contribute via its projects towards technological development, energy efficiency and the global decarbonisation agenda.

  • Cash-generative, dividend paying, exploration and development company.  Profitable operations producing gold and silver with a low-cost base.
  • Track-record of exploration success with very low cost of discovery per gold ounce.  Operations driven on the basis of an innate and fundamental understanding of ESG.
  • Innovative approach to the identification of new exploration project opportunities on a global scale.

News

  • FURTHER POSITIVE DRILLING RESULTS AT HIZARLIYAYLA (6 Dec 23)

    Ariana Resources plc, the AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, is pleased to announce a further set of results from the Hizarliyayla area of the Salinbas Project and outline the progress of the geophysical survey over the area. MORE

  • KIZILCUKUR DRILLING AND NEW GEOPHYSICAL TARGETS (24 Jul 23)

    Ariana Resources plc announces positive results from an airborne magnetic survey and the commencement of drilling at the Kizilcukur Project of the Kiziltepe Sector. Kizilcukur is part of Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S., in partnership with Proccea Construction Co. and Ozaltin Holding A.S. and is 23.5% owned by Ariana. MORE

  • VENUS MINERALS IPO PROCEEDING (20 Jul 23)

    Ariana Resources plc provides the following update on Venus Minerals Limited (“Venus”). Venus, in which Ariana currently has a 58% shareholding, has re-engaged with its advisers and is now actively proceeding with its intention to seek admission to AIM. MORE

  • WESTERN TETHYAN - SLIVOVA RESOURCE UPDATE (17 Jul 23)

    Ariana Resources plc is pleased to announce that Western Tethyan Resources Ltd, of which 75% is held by Ariana, has completed an updated Mineral Resource Estimate on the Slivova Gold Project in Kosovo, prepared under CIM Definition Standards guidelines and reported in accordance with Canadian NI43-101 resource estimate reporting regulations. MORE

  • HIZARLIYAYLA DISCOVERY DRILLING (21 Jun 23)

    Ariana Resources plc is pleased to announce the initial drilling results from the Hizarliyayla area of the Salinbas Project. Initial exploration drilling results have returned anomalous gold, silver and zinc. Grade of precious metals broadly increases with the depth of penetration into the system, suggesting the potential for Hot Maden-type mineralisation at depths below 600m from surface. 2,548m of drilling completed to date with another c.3,000m of drilling planned. MORE

     

  • Significant Drilling Results at Salinbas and Ardala (19 June 23)

    Ariana Resources plc is pleased to announce a further set of results from the ongoing drilling programme at Salinbas and to provide a general update on other exploration across the wider project area. MORE

  • Western Tethyan Completes Slivova Gold Project Agreement (10 May 23)

    Ariana Resources plc is pleased to announce that its 75% owned subsidiary Western Tethyan Resources Ltd has executed an earn-in agreement for the Slivova Gold Project in Kosovo, which is owned by TSX-V listed Avrupa Minerals Ltd. MORE

  • Initial drill results from drilling at Salinbas Project (25 Jan 23)

    Ariana has completed 8,000m worth of diamond drilling at the Salinbas Project over the course of the 2021/2022 campaign. The Salinbas Gold Project is situated in NE Turkey, containing 1.5moz gold via a JORC MII Resource. MORE

  • 2022 Production Results and General Update (23 Jan 23)

    Ariana Resources plc, the AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, is pleased to announce the full-year production results for the year ended 31 December 2022 for the Kiziltepe Mine in Turkey. FULL UPDATE

Projects

  • Target Deposit Types

    • Strategy developed on the basis of a probabilistic approach to maximise the odds of exploration success.
    • Targeting based on the Mineral Systems Model, specifically in the context of volcanic arcs.
    • Focused primarily on exploring for major precious metal deposits, particularly those that have potential scalability.
    • Secondary focus on technology metals, specifically copper, which contribute to the development of a greener economy.
    • Exploration focused on areas with high preservation potential, with a particular emphasis on discovering covered deposits.

  • Kiziltepe gold-silver mine (Turkey)

    • Average of 21,000 ounces gold per annum, production  commenced in 2017.
    • US$490 per ounce average cost of production (lower quartile).
    • Enhanced throughput from 2021 due to capacity increase up  to 400,000 tpa. steady-state.
    • Further four year mine life expected at enhanced processing  rate, with additional upside for further discovery.

  • Tavsan gold-silver project (Turkey)

    • 30,000 ounces gold per annum, expected from feasibility  study.
    • Production expected to commence in early 2023, following  EIA related permitting and land acquisition.
    • US$630 per ounce cost of production.
    • Eight year mine life expected through further extension.

  • Salinbas gold-silver project (Turkey)

    • US$8 million already committed in cash to the  project by Ozaltin Holding.
    • 50,000 ounces gold per annum, over a 10 year  mine life projected in scoping study.
    • 1.5 million ounce gold JORC Measured, Indicated  and Inferred Resource with scope for further  growth.
    • Au-Ag mineralisation at Salinbas lies immediately  adjacent to the Ardala polyphase Au-Cu-Mo  porphyry.
    • Highly prospective region within the multi-million  ounce Artvin Goldfield, which contains 4Moz Hot Maden project 16km to the south.
    • Further drilling underway leading to further  resource definition.

  • Venus Minerals Limited (Cyprus; IPO planned)

    • 50%: partnership with Semarang Enterprises Ltd.
    • Developing advanced projects & near-term production.
    • 11Mt @ 0.34% copper at the Apliki Mine development  project (50:50 partnership with HCM).
    • 16.6Mt @ 0.45-1.10% copper at the Magellan Project.
    • Significant gold recently identified in drilling at the  Magellan Project e.g. 129m @ 0.5% Cu + 0.55g/t Au.

  • Western Tethyan Resources Ltd (Kosovo)

    • 75%: partnership with specialist board having regional  expertise and a track-record of success.
    • Eastern European exploration portfolio targeting the  discovery of major copper-gold mineral systems.
    • 300km2 of initial licence areas applied for in Kosovo.
    • Project assessments underway elsewhere across  Eastern Europe.

  • Asgard Metals Fund (International)

    • Taking positions in predominantly listed exploration  companies.
    • Investing in potentially high-value discovery-stage  opportunities, showing early development potential.
    • Projects selected on the basis of a proprietary Project Catalytic Strategy.
    • Selected projects receiving ≤ A$500,000 in capital and  time, including expert assistance from the Ariana team.
    • Investments timed optimally for maximum value  accretion over near-term horizons.
    • Track-record of success with 100-fold increase of value in investments to date.
    • Current investments: Panther Metals Ltd, Pallas Resources

  • Development Partners

    Özaltın Holding A.Ş. – A private conglomerate active in Turkey and several other  countries, in the construction, transportation, energy, tourism and  agriculture sectors. Recent large-scale construction projects  include hydroelectric dams, with installed annual power  production capacity of 5.5 billion KWh and the Istanbul-İzmir Motorway Project of which it is a 22-year consortium partner.

    Proccea Construction Co. – A private engineering, procurement, construction and  management company providing construction, infrastructure and  industrial services to public and private clients. The company  specialises in the design, installation and operation of heap leach,  carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) and carbon-in-pulp (“CIP”) processing  plants globally.

What Makes Us Different?

Operations

  • Expansion of operations in Turkey to develop  multi-million ounce gold projects.
  • Strong production growth targets.
  • Proprietary “Project Catalyst Strategy” in place.

Financials

  • Profitable, organically self-funding exploration &  development.
  • Strong cash position (US$23M), minimal investee  debt.
  • Developing a strategy for long-term dividend stream.

Risk

  • Down-side risk backstopped by current mining  operational cash-flow.
  • Exposure to exploration up-side at limited risk to  shareholders.
  • Exploration & development focused on stable  jurisdictions.

Environmental & Social

  • Sustainable & profitable mineral exploration strategy.
  • Measuring success on real environmental metrics.
  • Committed to improving the communities within  which we operate.
Active Commitment to ESG
  • Production focus on countries  utilising green-energy – Including countries committed to  developing a renewables augmented grid.
  • Industry leading CO2 per  ounce – 0.32 tonnes of CO2 per ounce of  gold vs global average of 0.80 t/oz Au.
  • Carbon Reduction – Economy only air-travel is kept to a  minimum. Ongoing commitment to  carbon reduction programmes.
  • Renewables – Solar energy / geothermal heating systems  used across offices. Vehicle fleet to be  converted to hybrid-EVs in the next 5 years.
  • Reforestation programmes – Commitment in all areas of operation,  including the voluntary planting of new  trees and rewilding programmes through  charitable organisations.
  • Social & Community – Active community engagement and  support programmes, in addition to  supporting charitable local education  enterprises.
Market Performance

Ariana consistently beat market performance of gold and gold focused  ETF’s such as VanEck and Sprott Gold over the past few years.

  • Ariana’s share price  performance has  materially outpaced its  peers over several years.
  • Prudent capital  management and minimal  dilution, enabled market  funding to cover 15 years  of operational and  exploration needs.
  • Increase in share price  since commencing  commercial production in  July 2017 (at H2 ‘21).
  • Increase in market  capitalisation since IPO,  demonstrating the growth  and maturity of projects with  time (at H2 ‘21).
Technological Advantage
  • Early-adopter of cutting-edge technologies.  Driven by in-house specialists in the geosciences.
  • Taking advantage of advances in remote-sensing and  geophysics.
  • Team qualified in UAV operations and aerial surveying.
  • Extensive expertise in portable XRF geochemical data  collection and analysis.
  • Geotek BoxScan platform implemented for drill  sample and exploration sample analysis.
  • Digital data logging directly in to cloud-based systems.

Management Team

  • Michael de Villiers B. C. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANT (SA) MIOD

    CHAIRMAN – Corporate Financier – 30 years experience as financial manager at mining and chemicals operations in Africa, Eastern Europe  and the United Kingdom; previously CFO of Eurasia Mining plc, Finance Director of Mercator Gold (now  ECR Minerals plc), Oxus Gold plc and Navan Mining plc.

  • Kerim Sener BSc (Hons) MSc DIC FGS PhD

    MANAGING DIRECTOR – Exploration Geologist – 22 years experience in Africa, Australia and Europe; responsible for directing the discovery of over  4.3Moz of gold in Eastern Europe since 2007, with Ariana Resources and Genesis Resources (ASX). Non-  exec Chairman of Panther Metals plc (LSE).

  • Chris Sangster BSC (HONS) ARSM GDE FIMMM

    NON-EXECUTIVE – Mining Engineer – 35 years experience in Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom. Previously General Manager of Caledonia  Mining Corporation, Vice President Mining Services of KCM plc in Zambia. Co-founded Scotgold  Resources (AIM/ASX).

  • William Payne BA (HONS) ACA

    NON-EXECUTIVE – Chartered Accountant – 30 years experience initially with KPMG in London, later becoming a partner in top 20 accountancy  practice Wilkins Kennedy LLP, prior to their absorption in to Azets, in which he remains as regional CEO.