Ariana Resources plc (LON:AAU) has been quick to remind investors that it owns a huge chunk of land in Turkey close to the Hot Maden project being developed by Mariana Resources (LON:MARL) and Lidya.
A scoping study for Hot Maden released yesterday suggested a net present value of around US$1.4bn for the project.
Ariana’s acreage at Hizarliyayla is 8km from Hot Maden.
Kerim Sener, Ariana’s managing director, said it is planning an exploration drive to test whether gold mineralisation runs from Hizarliyayla to the other parts of its Salinbas licence.
“We are looking forward to continuing the exploration within an area that, along with Hot Maden, is proving to be an exceptionally prospective goldfield with multi-million ounce potential."
The Salinbas prospect already contains a JORC resource of 1Mln oz gold equivalent, but remains only partially explored said Sener especially along the ‘Hot Gold’ corridor.
Some 37 target areas have been identified within the project area, mostly around the Salinbas gold/silver deposit, Ardala gold and copper porphyry and Hizarliyayla.
“There are several drilling results, rock-chip, soil and geophysical and geological targets that have not yet been tested to any significant degree,” he said.
“These targets are mainly defined within and around the Salinbas and Ardala resource areas but several additional targets lie elsewhere within the 16km long Hot Gold Corridor.
“Beyond the main Salinbas deposit, several well defined target areas at Ardala South East and South West, Hizarliyayla and Incesu South, among others, will become the focus of generative soil and rock-chip sampling work during 2017. “