AAU Ariana Resources Plc

 
TIDMAAU 
 
   18 February 2015 
 
   AIM: AAU 
 
   MINING LAW MODIFICATIONS APPROVED 
 
   Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the Anglo-Turkish gold 
exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to 
announce that several modifications to the Mining Law were recently 
approved by the Turkish Parliament and have now been brought in to 
effect by the President.  The Company believes this will hasten the 
mining permitting process in the country. 
 
   Highlights: 
 
   --           Ground turn-over will be further encouraged and will reduce 
the number of areas currently sterilised to exploration due to 
under-utilisation. 
 
   --           Licences areas will be auctioned and an effort made to 
define licence areas according to geological continuity of mineralised 
features; larger licences may become available in time. 
 
   --           New royalty framework introduced, which scales according to 
commodity price. 
 
   Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: 
 
   "These and other modifications to the Mining Law have occurred following 
extensive industry consultation.  The urgency with which these and 
related issues were debated, demonstrates how seriously the Turkish 
Government views the mining sector.  As we watched the open vote unfold 
in Parliament, it was reassuring to note that the law was passed almost 
unanimously, indicating wide cross-party support. 
 
   "The changes to the law are viewed by many as representing the further 
evolution of the Turkish mining sector and will encourage further 
professional development of the industry.  Increased ground turn-over 
will be an outcome of the new law, as only currently producing or 
relatively near term development projects will be retained due to 
enhanced costs associated with their maintenance.  Increased 
requirements associated with holding exploration licences and their 
expenditure commitments will also ensure better and more serious 
exploration in the long run.  In the past, large areas of the country 
were effectively sterilised to exploration because licences owners could 
hold ground at minimal cost and by undertaking limited work.  The new 
law will fundamentally change for the better the way in which both 
exploration and mining is undertaken in the country in the medium to 
long term. 
 
   "We are now confident that these changes will also catalyse the 
permitting process for the mining sector in general.  Our application to 
the Department of Forestry for access to the areas designated for 
construction at our Red Rabbit Project, remains in process at the Prime 
Ministry.  This is in accordance with a Prime Ministerial Decree, which 
altered the way in which permits are granted over State land, 
irrespective of industry sector.  We look forward to hearing positive 
news on our application in due course." 
 
   Mining Law 
 
   Law number 6592 was passed by the Turkish Parliament on 4 February 2015. 
This law primarily involved several modifications to articles within Law 
Number 3213, which is the Mining Law as passed in 1985.  These 
modifications were approved by the President on 17 February 2015 and 
brought in to effect.  Principle changes to the law that will have an 
impact on the business of the Company include: 
 
   1. Licence Fees: An area and exploration-stage dependent annual fee of 
between 1,000 and 5,000 TL for exploration licences and an area 
dependent fee of between 20,000 and 70,000 TL for operating licences 
will be due for payment at the end of January each year. 
 
   2. State Right: the royalty paid to the Government on gold will range 
from 2 to 16% of the Pit Head Sale Price, in parallel with a commodity 
price range from < US$800/oz to > US$2,225/oz.  At current gold price 
the royalty paid would be 4%.  This royalty rate is reduced by 50% if 
production is occurring within an owner-operated process plant.  In the 
event no production occurs with an operating licence within any one year, 
a State Right charge of 10,000 TL will be made automatically. 
 
   3. Licence Auctions: Relinquished or abandoned licences will be 
auctioned, and it will no longer be possible to make direct applications 
in areas of free ground.  The minimum auction bid price will be equal to 
the operating licence annual fee.  Certain licences will be amalgamated 
prior to auction based on parameters such as geological setting and 
continuity of mineralised features.  In these cases the existing area 
limitation of 2,000 Ha for a Group 4 licence (e.g. gold/silver) will not 
apply. 
 
   The Company views the above modifications as being generally positive 
for the industry, although noting that the cost structure associated 
with maintaining licences in good standing will increase.  The Company 
considers this cost increase to be reasonable and manageable, based on 
current exchange rates.  However, the cost of acquiring new licences in 
Turkey will be significantly higher than in the past, as licence 
acquisitions will be via competitive auction or licence transfer only. 
This is one aspect of the new law that could have a limiting effect on 
any greenfields-type exploration activity. 
 
   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 
Saif Janjua 
 
Loeb Aron & Company Ltd.                 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 1128 
John Beresford-Peirse / Dr. Frank Lucas 
 
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 
Susie Geliher / Lottie Brocklehurst 
 
 
 
   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 selected on the basis of 
its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, on its own in 
western Turkey and in Joint Venture with Eldorado Gold Corporation in 
north-eastern Turkey.  Eldorado owns 51% of this joint venture and are 
fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties, while Ariana 
owns 49%.  The total resource inventory within this JV is 1.09 million 
ounces of gold. 
 
   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, are 
presently being assessed as to their economic merits and now form part 
of a Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co.  The total resource 
inventory at the Red Rabbit Project stands at 475,000 ounces of gold 
equivalent. 
 
   Beaufort Securities Limited and Loeb Aron & Company Ltd. 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. 
 
   Ends 
 
   This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on 
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients. 
 
   The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely 
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information 
contained therein. 
 
   Source: Ariana Resources plc via Globenewswire 
 
   HUG#1895355 
 
 
  http://www.arianaresources.com/s/Home.asp 
 

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