AAU Ariana Resources Plc

15 February 2024

AIM: AAU

DOKWE DUE-DILIGENCE UPDATE, ZIMBABWE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, is pleased to provide an update on the due-diligence programme being completed on the 1.3Moz Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe ("Dokwe") owned by Rockover Holdings Limited ("Rockover").

Highlights:

·    1,222m of diamond drilling completed for due-diligence purposes, with two holes drilled at Dokwe North and two holes drilled at Dokwe Central.

·    Following a recent site visit, a metallurgical consultant commenced the due-diligence assessment of the Dokwe project metallurgy and potential process routes, as defined in a 2022 Pre-Feasibility Study.

·    A structural geological consultant is improving our understanding of the controls on gold mineralisation; detailed structural logging of the new core is underway to complement this work.

·    The geochemical characteristics of the mineralisation are being defined through an extensive pXRF programme on old and new drill cores, with over 15,000m of core analysed to date.

·    Ariana currently holds circa 2.1% of Rockover, and exclusive discussions are ongoing for further collaboration between the companies.

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Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are very pleased to report that our due-diligence drilling programme has now been completed on the feasibility-stage Dokwe Gold Project. The programme was professionally conducted by the Rockover team, who worked collaboratively with our site team in Zimbabwe. Preparation and analysis of the drill core will commence soon, following which these results will be compared to historical project data to confirm our understanding of the grade distribution and controls on gold mineralisation. 

"Based on our assessment of the project to date, including recent geological observations from drilling, we are pleased to report that our confidence in the opportunity has only grown. There are very few >1Moz gold projects globally with straightforward metallurgy, which are at a feasibility stage of development and have more than 95% of their JORC Mineral Resources in the Measured and Indicated categories. It has also been pleasing to note that Zimbabwe is attracting increasing exploration and mining interest. In particular, several foreign-owned AIM/LSE and ASX-listed companies have recently entered the country during the past year alone on a variety of projects, including those focused on gold, nickel and lithium. Our initial market soundings in the UK and Australia relating to our potential interest in the feasibility-stage development of Dokwe have also been positive.

"Meanwhile, the Rockover and Ariana boards were represented at Indaba 2024 in Cape Town, which coincided with a site visit to Dokwe. During this visit, we discussed our potential future collaboration on the project. We recently introduced Rockover to our operations team and project partners in Türkiye, with a longer-term view that there may be opportunities to collaborate with them specifically on the feasibility-stage development of Dokwe.

"We expect to announce our potential future involvement in Dokwe around the end of Q1 2024."

Contacts:

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

Editors' Note:

About Ariana Resources:

Ariana is an AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with an exceptional track-record of creating value for its shareholders through its interests in active mining projects and investments in exploration companies. Its current interests include gold production in Turkey and copper-gold exploration and development projects in Cyprus and Kosovo.

The Company holds 23.5% interest in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. a joint venture with Ozaltin Holding A.S. and Proccea Construction Co. in Turkey which contains a depleted total of c. 2.1 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at February 2022). The joint venture comprises the Kiziltepe Mine and the Tavsan and Salinbas projects.

The Kiziltepe Gold-Silver Mine is located in western Turkey and contains a depleted JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 222,000 ounces gold and 3.8 million ounces silver (as at February 2022). The mine has been in profitable production since 2017 and is expected to produce at a rate of c.20,000 ounces of gold per annum to at least the mid-2020s. A Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of 2.5% on production is being paid to Franco-Nevada Corporation.

The Tavsan Gold Mine is located in western Turkey and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 307,000 ounces gold and 1.1 million ounces silver (as at November 2022). Following the approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment and associated permitting, Tavsan is being developed as the second gold mining operation in Turkey and is currently in construction.  A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.

The Salinbas Gold Project is located in north-eastern Turkey and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 1.5 million ounces of gold (as at July 2020). It is located within the multi-million ounce Artvin Goldfield, which contains the "Hot Gold Corridor" comprising several significant gold- copper projects including the 4 million ounce Hot Maden project, which lies 16km to the south of Salinbas. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.

Ariana owns 100% of Australia-registered Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard"), as part of the Company's proprietary Project Catalyst Strategy. The Fund is focused on investments in high-value potential, discovery-stage mineral exploration companies located across the Eastern Hemisphere and within easy reach of Ariana's operational hubs in Australia, Turkey, UK and Zimbabwe.

Ariana owns 75% of UK-registered Western Tethyan Resources Ltd ("WTR"), which operates across south-eastern Europe and is based in Pristina, Republic of Kosovo. The company is targeting its exploration on major copper-gold deposits across the porphyry-epithermal transition.  WTR is being funded through a five-year Alliance Agreement with Newmont Mining Corporation (www.newmont.com) and is separately earning-in to up to 85% of the Slivova Gold Project.

Ariana owns 58% of UK-registered Venus Minerals PLC ("Venus") which is focused on the exploration and development of copper-gold assets in Cyprus which contain a combined JORC Indicated and Inferred Resource of 16.6Mt @ 0.45% to 0.80% copper (excluding additional gold, silver and zinc).

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited and WH Ireland Limited 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.

Ends.