www.arianaresources.com
Ariana is an AIM-listed and PLUS-traded gold exploration and development company which aims to develop new gold mines in Turkey. Ariana is lead by an experienced board and is spearheaded by a focused Turkish management team. Current resources stand at approximately 400,000 ounces of gold in western Turkey, with two key projects under development: the high-grade Kiziltepe prospect and the heap-leachable Tavsan prospect. An exploration joint venture with European Goldfields (20% shareholders in Ariana) in northeastern Turkey is focused on the Ardala copper-gold porphyry and surrounding areas. Ariana holds a large and prospective licence portfolio from which a pipeline of new exploration targets is being generated for drill-testing utilizing an ‘in-house’ drilling team. Exploration and development success is being delivered via a strategy which integrates geoscientific knowledge and new technologies to identify and advance prospects for drill-testing. Ariana aims to develop a portfolio of licences in western Turkey which contain an aggregate of one million ounces of gold; a target which it is already on the way to achieving.
Ariana Resources advances Red Rabbit gold and silver project toward production
Ariana Resources (AIM: AAU) said that its proposed JV (joint venture) with Proccea Construction has made significant progress towards production at the Red Rabbit gold and silver project as a scoping study and an environmental scoping assessment have been completed along with preliminary designs of the processing plant.
The scoping study was based on an envisaged production of 150,000 tonnes of ore per annum over a mine life greater than five years. The study estimated a project cash cost of between US$350 and US$400 per ounce.
The companies are now preparing to commence a feasibility study and environmental assessment reverse circulation resource drilling programme on the Banu and Derya veins to enable the inclusion of current inferred resources into the indicated category.
A revised geological model for the mineralisation at Kiziltepe has been completed and will be used as part of a revised formal resource estimate following the completion of additional RC drilling at Banu and Derya veins.
The Company is targeting in its revised geological resource model a total resource of vein and halo mineralisation at a 1 g/t cut-off as being between 1.4 Mt (million tonnes) and 1.7 Mt at gold grades between 2.5 and 3.5 g/t (grammes per tonne) and silver grades between 50 and 70 g/t. The average in-pit resource grade is expected to be 3.5 to 4.5 g/t gold and 50 to 70 g/t silver.
Proccea has completed preliminary design drawings for the adsorption-desorption-recovery (ADR) facility for gold recovery. The current design is based on a 40,000 oz (ounces) per annum production rate and will be used for capital cost estimation purposes during the feasibility study.
The completion of the feasibility and environmental impact studies is expected in the final quarter of 2010, while mine and plant construction are set to kick off in Q1 2011.
Shares in Ariana rallied 12.5% on the news.
