Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) has announced the start of exploration activities in Eastern Europe through its interest in Western Tethyan Resources (WTR).
The AIM-listed exploration and development company will hold a 75% interest in WTR, following the commitment of at least €100,000 of exploration funding during the remainder of 2021.
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The local management team will hold the remaining 25%.
Several exploration licence applications have been submitted in Kosovo and an extensive review of Eastern European project opportunities has commenced, Ariana said.
Assessments of other projects throughout Eastern Europe are underway, with a focus on the discovery of major copper-gold systems.
Regional focus for WTR includes project generation across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Via regional partnerships, Ariana has a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ reach over 2,500 kilometres of what it said are some of the most prospective territory for gold, silver and copper deposits in the world.
“We know the team at Western Tethyan very well, having worked with them all previously in Turkey and other jurisdictions,” said Dr. Kerim Sener, managing director of Ariana.
"As part of the project generative work being undertaken by our in-house specialists, we have already commenced an extensive remote-sensing study utilising ASTER and Sentinel-2 multispectral satellite datasets initially across Kosovo and North Macedonia.
“This work utilises various image processing algorithms to target key alteration minerals associated with mineral deposits. In addition, geophysical datasets are being acquired and reprocessed, which, when coupled with the remote-sensing studies, will improve exploration targeting.”
Shares rose 1% to 5.17p on Tuesday morning.