Turkey-focused gold miner Ariana Resources (LON:AAU) is worth at least 50% more than its current market value, according to analyst Kieron Hodgson at Panmure Gordon.
Ariana is set to complete the final stage of what has been a long hard journey from an exploration company to production, he says.
First gold pour is expected before the end of the year, placing it alongside other small, low-cost and profitable gold producers.
Moreover, located within the Western Anatolian Volcanic and Extensional (WAVE) Province in western Turkey, Ariana is situated in the same province as some of the largest operating gold mines in Turkey in a region renowned for porphyry and epithermal deposits.
An original target to produce 20,000 oz of gold and 100,000 oz of silver from the Kiziltepe mine over eight years now looks conservative, with 22,000 oz of gold and 150,000 oz for at least ten years likely.
The company has an ambition to boost production to 50,000oz but Hodgson said he was being conservative in his 2.71p per share valuation with no grade increment and little for the potentially highly prospective Salinbas project.
Even on that basis the target price is 2.71p or 53% higher than the current market price of 1.77p and 'buy' is his view.