Ariana Resources PLC (AIM:AAU) said optimisation work on its newly acquired Dokwe project in Zimbabwe had increased resources in the two planned open pits (North and Central) by 16% or 176,000 ounces.
In-pit Measured and Indicated resources using the JORC 2012 standard are now 29.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.33g/t for 1.2 million ounces of gold with the overall deposit resource estimate unchanged.
Ariana said it is now working on a two-stage expanded mining scenario of 75,000 to 100,000 ounces production over 10 to 15 years compared to an initial plan of 60,000oz per annum production rate and a 12-year mine life.
A revised base case gold selling price of US$2,000 (2024) per ounce against US$1,650 (2022) was used for the optimisation.
Kerim Sener, Ariana’s managing director, commented: “Yet again we have demonstrated the considerable value presented by the Dokwe Project.
“The latest pit optimisations run at higher gold price scenarios underscore the opportunity for over 1Moz of gold to be mined from two open pits at North and Central.
“This provides an exceptional platform for the company as we proceed to take our 100%-owned Dokwe Project through to the feasibility stage.
"Strategically, we are considering the development of the Dokwe Project in two stages, with Dokwe Central potentially being mined during the early years of the operation and Dokwe North taking over in future years.
“With in-pit Resources now exceeding 1.2Moz of gold, we see a pathway to exploring the opportunity to take production to 75,000 to 100,000 ounces per annum over a 10 to 15-year mine life.
"Coupled with this, we see a significant amount of exploration upside across the project and in the region.
“We envisage the opportunity to increase Resources across the Dokwe Project and to define additional Reserves to potentially increase the mine life.
“We are currently working towards completing a further revision of the Dokwe PFS in the next few months, to enable the definition of our revised Reserves.
“This is being undertaken as an interim step ahead of commencing a Definitive Feasibility Study of the project."