Ariana Regulatory News (AAU)

7 May 2019

AIM: AAU

ARZU NORTH DRILLING RESULTS

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the exploration and development company with gold mining operations in Turkey, is pleased to announce in-fill resource drilling results obtained recently from the Kiziltepe Mine ("Kiziltepe" or "the Project"). Kiziltepe is part of the Red Rabbit Joint Venture ("JV") with Proccea Construction Co. and is 50% owned by Ariana through its shareholding in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Zenit").

Highlights*:

· In-fill resource drilling results from Arzu North include 44.0m @ 1.50 g/t Au + 17.5 g/t Ag and 27.7m @ 1.37 g/t Au + 13.1 g/t Ag.

· Arzu North area demonstrates potential for a large-tonnage, lower-grade system.

· New geological modelling and pit optimisation studies underway in order to revise the resources for the Arzu North and Derya areas.

· Mining at Arzu North and Derya is scheduled to commence in Q4 2019; necessary forestry permissions having now been received.

* All figures are given gross with respect to the JV.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"These encouraging results suggest that there is potential in the Arzu North area to identify a large-tonnage and lower-grade resource, which could extended the life of mine at Kiziltepe. We are investigating opportunities with our JV team to assess this potential further through future drilling programmes and look forward to commencing mining in these fully permitted areas later this year.

"From the results of this work, we can conclude that the Arzu North vein system broadens out into a series of sub-parallel mineralised structures hosted within a halo of mineralised and altered volcanic rocks. This is apparent from the wide zones (>20m) gold and silver mineralisation encountered particularly towards the NW end of Arzu North."

Drilling Programme

In December 2018, the Ariana exploration team completed diamond drilling at Arzu North with the purpose of providing the joint venture with additional in-fill resource data, before scheduled mining commences towards the end of 2019. A total of 257.3m of diamond drilling was completed for four holes at Arzu North.

The drilling was designed to provide additional data along the northwestern end of the planned Arzu North optimised pit, where the vein system was not fully tested by historic drilling. The drilling was also planned to test the theory that the Arzu North vein system broadens out in to a more extensive array of vein mineralisation occurring along a series of sub-parallel structures.

The results confirm the presence of at least three broad mineralised structures located within the Arzu North pit, each with a 3-22m true thickness and contained within an envelope of mineralised stockwork and alteration. True thicknesses of veins within these structures range from 1 to 8.3m. Significant intercepts from the drilling programme include 44m @ 1.50 g/t Au + 17.5g/t Ag, 27.7m @ 1.37g/t Au + 13.1g/t Ag and 10.7m @ 1.34 g/t Au + 61 g/t Ag.

For more information on the drilling programme at Arzu North, please visit the Arzu North video made available here: https://arianaresources.com/media-menu/corporate-videos

Table 1: Significant intercepts calculated for the Arzu North drilling programme, using a 0.1 g/t Au minimum cut-off and allowing for 2m internal dilution. A lower than typical cut-off and greater dilution was used in order to assess the limits of the mineralised zones in this assessment.  * Hole abandoned and re-drilled as KTP-D15A-18.

Next Phase of Work

The next phase of work in the Arzu North area is underway with the generation of a new geological model encompassing the Arzu North, Derya, Ceylan, Aybor and Arzu Far North vein systems. Significant potential exist for the planned pits at Arzu North and Derya to merge into a single pit, following re-interpretation of the Aybor vein, which is located within a 30m wide zone between the Arzu North and Derya pits.

The current geological model will be updated, with the inclusion of the new Arzu North drill holes. Grade-control data from the Arzu South pit will also be reviewed in detail to provide additional understanding of how gold and silver mineralisation is distributed with in clay zones, sulphide zones and within stockwork halos associated with the Kiziltepe vein system. This will all be utilised for the purposes of new geological interpretation to help improve confidence in current resources.

Once the geological modelling has been completed, new pit optimisation work will commence to identify potential for merging the Arzu North and Derya pits and in defining further economic mineralisation along the Ceylan and Arzu Far North extensions. Mining at Arzu North and Derya is scheduled to start simultaneously during Q4 of 2019 following the receipt of forestry permits for these areas.

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

NQ size drill-core samples from the drilling programme at the Kiziltepe deposit were cut in half by a diamond saw and sent for analysis in batches in line with the Company's quality control procedures. A total of 164 samples were submitted to ALS Global in Izmir for multi-element and gold-silver analysis. During January through to March 2019, Ariana postponed these analyses, while the Company reviewed its QA/QC procedures to accommodate internal procedural changes made by the ALS laboratory. During March 2019, the Arzu North samples were submitted for analysis.

Drill core recoveries for near surface intercepts (upper 30m) ranged between 51% and 82%, with an overall average for mineralised intercepts and host rocks of 67%. Lower than expected recoveries were the result of intense weathering within the top 30m of the deposit, combined with the use of single barrel NQ drilling methods. Drill hole KTP-D15-18 intercepted mineralisation from surface but was stopped at 20.7m and re-drilled as KTP-D15A-18 in an attempt to improve recoveries within the first 20m. Core loss of up to 1m occurred in both the KTP-15-18 and KTP-15A-18 holes. Overall sample recovery averaged 72.3% in the mineralised zones.

All samples were assayed for gold using a 30g fire assay. Standard, blank and duplicate samples are were inserted in to the sample batches. Quality control checks have determined that most blanks and all standards passed and duplicate samples showed excellent correlations. Laboratory sample preparation, assaying procedures and chain of custody are appropriately controlled. The Company maintains an archive of half core samples and a photographic record of all cores for future reference.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

Contacts:

Editors' Note:

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Dr. Kerim Sener BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, Managing Director of Ariana Resources plc. Dr. Sener is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London and a Member of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has sufficient experience relevant to the styles of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that has been undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) and under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Dr. Sener consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

About Ariana Resources:

Ariana is an exploration and development company with mining operations focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey, the largest gold producing country in Europe. The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective licences originally selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database, which now contain a total of 1.6 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at end-2017). Ariana's objective is to cost-effectively add value to its projects through focused exploration and to develop its operations, primarily through well-financed joint ventures.

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 (as at end-2017). At Kiziltepe a Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of up to 2.5% on 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.

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited are broker 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:

"Ag" chemical symbol for silver;

"Au" chemical symbol for gold;

"g/t" grams per tonne;

"JORC" the Joint Ore Reserves Committee;

"m" Metres;

Ends.