TIDMAAU
RNS Number : 7149J
Ariana Resources PLC
30 June 2017
30 June 2017
AIM: AAU
KIZILTEPE OPERATIONAL UPDATE
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the
exploration and development company operating in Turkey, is pleased
to provide the following operational update from the Kiziltepe Mine
("Kiziltepe" or "the Project"). Kiziltepe is part of the Red Rabbit
Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co. and is 50% owned by
Ariana.
Highlights:
-- Processing plant operating to design specifications, with
mill availability having increased to over 97% during June
2017.
-- Process recoveries of gold and silver are continuing to trend
considerably higher than feasibility-study expectations and leach
times remain faster than predicted.
-- Grade of ore produced from the open-pit is continuing to
increase with target grades of >3 g/t gold and >40 g/t silver
expected to be met from July 2017 onwards.
-- Approximately 1,930 oz gold and 14,520 oz silver has been
sold by the refinery to date; gold and silver sales during the
period to end June 2017 realised at prices ranging from
US$1,295-1,225/oz and US$18.2-16.2/oz respectively.
-- Further doré pour of up to 354 oz gold and 3,215 oz silver
expected today, completing production during June 2017; gold and
silver in circuit after this pour will be 621 oz and 9,064 oz
respectively.
-- Waste movement from the open-pit is occurring at the expected
rate to support the construction of the second stage of the
tailings dam; further interim capacity of the tailings dam will be
ready for use by mid-July.
-- Operation in process of transitioning to commercial
production, with formal quarterly operational reporting expected
accordingly.
-- Loan repayments to Turkiye Katilim Finans Bankasi A.S. have
been made on their scheduled basis and have amounted to over US$4
million as at the end of June 2017.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are very pleased to provide this further interim report on
the operational ramp-up of the Kiziltepe Mine. The operation
continues to deliver at or beyond our expectations and we are
encouraged by the continuation of several positive factors which
remain substantially above feasibility design parameters. In
particular, the higher than expected recoveries and lower leach
times, will contribute towards enhanced operational efficiencies.
In time, this may enable other aspects of the operation, such as
mill throughput, to be further improved.
We are expecting to make the transition in to commercial
production shortly, particularly once we have achieved consistent
high-rate mill throughput and our monthly gold and silver output
achieves its target. The ramp-up period has proceeded smoothly and
to a significant degree has met our internal production estimates.
We have encountered some issues with the clay content of the ore at
times, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall, as such
material has a tendency of decreasing the feed rate to the mill.
However, we are investigating ways to mitigate this and in any case
we are not expecting this to remain a concern over the very dry
summer months ahead of us."
Summary of Project
The Kiziltepe operation is currently expected to deliver
approximately 20,000 oz gold equivalent per annum over eight years
of initial mine life, for a total of up to 160,000 oz gold
equivalent based on current resources. The operating company, Zenit
Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. (50:50 JV between Ariana and Proccea)
will be making repayments against its loan from Turkiye Finans
Katilim Bankasi A.S. based on a pre-determined schedule. Major loan
repayments will have been completed by April 2020 and, during this
time, excess cash-flow from the operation will be used to make
repayments of loans provided by Ariana and Proccea jointly to the
JV for exploration and development respectively. After the
repayment of all loans, profits from the operation will be shared
on a 51:49 basis between Ariana and Proccea respectively.
Ramp-up to full production capacity at Kiziltepe will be
concluded imminently, following which quarterly production
reporting will commence. The Company has also completed a new
resource estimate for the project based on recent drilling and
geological interpretation. Detailed technical and economic
assessments will be completed on several satellite vein systems
which are not currently in the mining plan, in anticipation of
these being developed in future years. The Company is currently
targeting a minimum ten-year mine life, which will require the
addition of a further 40,000 oz gold equivalent in reserves outside
of the four main veins (Arzu South, Arzu North, Banu and Derya)
that are currently scheduled to be mined.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 20
7407 3616
Michael de Villiers, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20
7628 3396
Roland Cornish / Felicity
Geidt
Beaufort Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20
7382 8300
Jon Belliss
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20
7886 2500
Adam James / Tom Salvesen
Editors' Note
About Ariana Resources:
Ariana is an exploration and development company focused on
epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey.
The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective licences
originally selected on the basis of its in-house geological and
remote-sensing database.
The Company's flagship assets are its Kiziltepe and Tavsan gold
projects which form the Red Rabbit Gold Project. Both contain a
series of prospects, within two prolific mineralised districts in
the Western Anatolian Volcanic and Extensional (WAVE) Province in
western Turkey. This Province hosts the largest operating gold
mines in Turkey and remains highly prospective for new porphyry and
epithermal deposits. These core projects, which are separated by a
distance of 75km, form part of a 50:50 Joint Venture with Proccea
Construction Co. The Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Project is
fully-permitted and is currently in production. The total resource
inventory at the Red Rabbit Project and wider project area stands
at c. 605,000 ounces of gold equivalent. At Kiziltepe a Net Smelter
Return ("NSR") royalty of up to 2.5% on future production is
payable to Franco-Nevada Corporation. At Tavsan an NSR royalty of
up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.
In north-eastern Turkey, Ariana owns 100% of the Salinbas Gold
Project, comprising the Salinbas gold-silver deposit and the Ardala
copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry among other prospects. The total
resource inventory of the Salinbas project area is c. 1 million
ounces of gold equivalent. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future
production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.
Beaufort Securities Limited and Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited are
joint brokers to the Company and Beaumont Cornish Limited is the
Company's Nominated Adviser.
For further information on Ariana you are invited to visit the
Company's website at www.arianaresources.com.
Glossary of Technical Terms:
"doré" semi-pure alloy of gold and silver;
"g/t" grams per tonne;
"kg" Kilograms;
"oz" Ounces;
"tpa" tonnes per annum.
Ends
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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