TIDMAAU
RNS Number : 1799U
Ariana Resources PLC
22 November 2023
22 November 2023
AIM: AAU
DUE DILIGENCE DRILLING COMMENCES IN 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 Dokwe
Gold Project of Rockover Holdings Limited ("Rockover"), in which
Ariana has acquired a 1.3% interest and project exclusivity through
the Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard"). The Company has commenced a due
diligence drilling programme on the asset, while the Company
considers further involvement in the project. Please see
www.asgardmetals.com.au for more information.
Highlights:
-- Up to 1,500m of diamond drilling planned to test two
significant resources at Dokwe North and Dokwe Central.
-- Dokwe Gold Project contains c.1.3Moz gross in JORC Measured,
Indicated and Inferred Resources*.
-- Significant historic intercepts for Dokwe North include:
o 8m @ 197.22g/t Au (inclusive of a 1m intercept of 1,568
g/t)
o 14m @ 54.75g/t Au
o 85m @ 5.23g/t Au, i ncluding 15m @ 13.64g/t Au
-- Significant historic intercepts for Dokwe Central include:
o 49m @ 4.42g/t Au
o 27m @ 6.53g/t Au
o 57m @ 2.72g/t Au, including 17m @ 5.91g/t Au
-- An extensive historical data review is underway by the Ariana
team, utilising the Company's exploration technology and specialist
teams.
* Stated gross with respect to Rockover Holdings Limited of
which Ariana holds 1.3%. The resources quoted includes Dokwe North
and Dokwe Central.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are excited to report the commencement of our highly
anticipated due diligence drilling programme on the Dokwe Gold
Project in Zimbabwe, as previously announced to the AIM market on
13 November . This represents a compelling and unique opportunity
for the Company as we advance on our strategy to become a
multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction gold and copper-focused mid-tier
mining enterprise.
"Building on the operational base we have established in Turkiye
with strong and experienced local partners, we are making strides
to expand our portfolio with the potential addition of the Dokwe
Gold Project. This project represents a potential bulk-tonnage
mining opportunity upon which a positive pre-feasibility study has
been delivered and which could be advanced to feasibility in the
near term.
"At this stage, we see potential at Dokwe to identify further
resources in the vicinity and to develop a multi-decade mining
opportunity in Zimbabwe. This due diligence drilling represents an
essential first step to verify the historical exploration data and
to add to our understanding of the opportunity before we advance
discussions with Rockover with respect to the asset."
Drilling Programme
Ariana Resources has initiated a drilling programme at the Dokwe
North and Dokwe Central areas ("Dokwe" or "Dokwe Project") located
in the Tsholotsho Communal Land 110km WNW of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
(Figure 1 & 3). The Dokwe Project was discovered by Rockover in
2002, utilising innovative soil geochemical exploration methods
capable of detecting mineralisation beneath cover, subsequently
drill-tested for the first time in 2004.
Dokwe is located in a previously undefined Archaean Greenstone
Belt, extending from the border with Botswana and linking up with
the Bulawayo-Bubi Greenstone Belt to the west. The Archaean
greenstone units are overlain by Karoo and Kalahari sedimentary
units of up to 25-40m in thickness. The east-northeast striking
greenstone belt is accompanied by complex folding and thrust
imbrication and is dissected by a series of major sub-parallel
sinistral shear zones.
At the Dokwe Gold Project area, the barren sedimentary cover is
dominated by calcrete, with a few metres of sand at the surface,
and mudstone and sandstone located towards the base. The basement
Archaean volcanic sequence comprises a series of quartz-rich
volcaniclastic units, tuffs, and agglomerates, that grade into
felsic irregular rhyolitic flows; intermediate vesicular dacite;
agglomerates and andesites. The sequence appears intruded by near
syn-depositional quartz porphyries and later by dolerite. Brittle
deformation, characterised by fracturing, is common in felsic tuff
whilst more ductile deformation characterises the dacitic and
andesitic units.
Dokwe North is characterised as a large low-grade deposit
containing relatively few quartz veins, containing several very
high-grade zones including visible gold. Dokwe Central is a smaller
higher-grade pipe-like deposit containing abundant quartz veins and
defined by several long high-grade zones. The two deposits are
located a few kilometres apart and appear to be strongly
structurally controlled, occupying two distinct structural domains
within a broad ENE trending shear zone. Gold mineralisation at
Dokwe North is associated with silicified zones containing thin
quartz-carbonate pyrite veins in addition to strongly disseminated
and fine-grained pyrite in the host rocks. Much of the economic
gold mineralisation occurs in the dacitic unit and in the overlying
felsic tuff, with lesser mineralisation in the quartz porphyries
and andesite.
Up to five diamond drill holes (for 1,500m) have been planned to
support Ariana's due diligence review of the Dokwe Project (Figure
1). This review is designed to test historical data and to provide
additional information to characterise the structural geological
controls on gold mineralisation. Up to three holes will be focused
on testing Dokwe North, which represents the largest resource
defined to date. Dokwe North has a JORC (2012) Measured, Indicated
and Inferred Resource of 35.7Mt @ 1.05g/t Au for 1,210,000 oz gold
(Figure 1 & 2). Up to the two remaining holes will be completed
at the less drilled Dokwe Central project area, which is located
approximately 2km to the SSE of Dokwe North. Dokwe Central has a
JORC (2004) Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 1.14Mt @
2.17g/t Au for 80,000 oz gold (Figure 1 & 2). The Dokwe Central
resource is treated here as a historical estimate as it is not in
accordance with an AIM reporting standard and should be treated
with caution. From the initial reviews, both project areas show
significant scope for further exploration upside.
Figure 1: Summary map of Dokwe North and Central showing the
outline of the designed pre-feasibility pit for Dokwe North and the
optimised pit (not included in the pre-feasibility) for Dokwe
Central. Certain previous drill intercepts are also identified,
with details provided in the inset table. The 2023 planned drill
collars are also shown in light blue.
Figure 2: Summary cross sections through Dokwe North and Dokwe
Central showing grade block models (based on prior drilling) and
the positions of certain planned due diligence drill holes (in
blue). Swath width at Dokwe North is significantly wider than at
Dokwe Central, causing more overlap of colours within a
semi-transparent block model.
Figure 3: Drill rig positioned and being prepared for the
commencement of the first due diligence drill hole at Dokwe.
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616
Michael de Villiers, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Adviser)
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
Broker)
John Prior / Hugh Rich / Atholl
Tweedie
WHIreland Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 207 2201666
Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell / George
Krokos Tel: +44 (0) 7983 521 488
Yellow Jersey PR Limited (Financial
PR)
Dom Barretto / Shivantha Thambirajah arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com
/
Bessie Elliot
Editors' Note:
The information in this announcement that relates to exploration
results is based on information compiled by Dr. Kerim Sener BSc
(Hons), MSc, PhD, Managing Director of Ariana Resources plc. Dr.
Sener is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London and a Member
of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has
sufficient experience relevant to the styles of mineralisation and
type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that has
been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the
2012 edition of the Australasian Code for the Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code)
and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas
Companies. Dr. Sener consents to the inclusion in the report of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which
it appears.
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 pro table 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 Gold eld, which contains the "Hot Gold
Corridor" comprising several signi cant 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
ve-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 Ltd ("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 17Mt @ 0.45% to 1.10% 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 .
Glossary of Technical Terms:
"Au" chemical symbol for gold;
"g/t" grams per tonne;
"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;
"m" Metres;
"oz" Troy ounces;
Ends.
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