Ariana Regulatory News (AAU)

10 Jan 2006 07:30

Ariana Resources PLC10 January 2006 10 January 2006AIM: AAU WIDE GOLD ZONE DEFINED AT ARZU NORTH, KIZILTEPE PROSPECT SECOND ADJACENT ANOMALY Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration companyfocused exclusively on Turkey, announces further positive results from itsKiziltepe gold prospect in Balikesir province, western Turkey. A wide zone ofgold mineralisation has been defined along at least 240m of strike length fromchannel sampling undertaken on the Arzu North vein. * 50m wide gold mineralized envelope defined along at least 240m of strike length * Intersection of 1.25g/t Au over 17.5m: parallel vein returned peak value of 14.2 g/t * Adjacent 900m by 300m gold in soil anomaly to be tested Arzu North VeinSince November, a field team from the Company's Turkish operating subsidiary,Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. ("Galata"), has completed a series ofseven trenches across the Arzu North vein which have been channel sampled atregular 1m intervals, cut using a diamond saw. The channels (up to 55m inlength) were spaced at approximately 40m intervals along a strike length of240m. All seven channels intersected gold mineralisation within a series ofparallel quartz veins, stockwork material and andesite host rock. Higher grade gold intercepts include 1.25 g/t over 17.5m, 1.54 g/t over16.5m,1.44 g/t over 15.6m, 1.23 g/t over 14.6m, and 2.12 g/t over 12.0m (truethicknesses). The system is open in all directions, with several trenchesterminating in mineralisation. Vein textures and trace element data areindicative of the upper part of an epithermal system and, supported by historicdrill data, gold grades are expected to increase with depth. Selectedintersections from the Arzu North vein are presented in Table 1 below. Soil Anomaly & Ceylan VeinThe Arzu North vein occurs immediately to the east of a large gold in soilanomaly up to 900m long and typically up to 300m wide, as defined by a >100 ppbgold contour of historical data that was acquired with the Kiziltepe prospect.Mapping of the area has identified at least one parallel quartz vein (Ceylanvein). Systematic composite rock-chip sampling across the Ceylan vein andstockwork, which averages between 1m and 2m in outcrop, has identifiedconsistent gold mineralisation along 300m of strike length, including a highergold grade section averaging 12.6 g/t over 32m of strike length, with a peakgrade 14.2 g/t. Steven Poulton, Chief Executive, commented:"The discovery of such a consistent area of gold mineralisation, open in alldirections, in and around the Arzu North vein is very encouraging. Furthermore,the adjacent large gold in soil anomaly and parallel higher gold grade (up to14.2 g/t) Ceylan vein provides further evidence of the presence of a significantgold system at the Kiziltepe prospect. This find is a further powerful demonstration of the effectiveness of ourexploration approach. Given that we hold 56 licences in Turkey, with explorationaggressively underway, we are confident that our technology driven methodologywill lead to further discoveries." Table 1: Selected channel Intersections from the Arzu North Vein. Line Number Intersection Width (m) Intersection Grade (g/t Au)AN1 5.00 1.21AN4 10.00 0.78& AN4 14.60 1.23AN7 8.00 1.06& AN7 17.50 1.25AN10 15.60 1.44AN13 12.00 2.12AN18 5.00 1.03& AN18 8.50 1.26AN19b 16.50 1.54 Notes:No top cut has been applied to assay results.Intersection based on a 0.5 g/t cut off grade. Ahead of commencing the channel sampling programme, Galata obtained allnecessary environmental and forestry approvals from the provincial government inBalikesir. A map detailing the results described in this release is available at theCompany's website: www.arianaresources.com. Contacts:Ariana Resources plcSteven Poulton, Chief Executive Tel: 01235 511 767s.j.poulton@arianaresources.com Mobile: 0797 408 6712 Bankside ConsultantsMichael Padley / Susan Scott Tel: 020 7367 8888 Editors' note: About KiziltepeThe Kiziltepe prospect is located within a ten-year renewable operating licencethat forms part of the Company's 100% owned 235km2 Sindirgi gold project inBalikesir Province, western Turkey. Kiziltepe lies approximately 100km east ofthe one million ounce vein-hosted Ovacik gold mine and 115km northwest of thefive million ounce Kisladag gold deposit. The prospect hosts over 19km in strike length of gold-silver bearinglow-sulphidation epithermal quartz veins across an area of at least 3km by 1km.Individual veins are exposed for up to 700m and widths vary between 1m and 14m. The main veins trend NW, dip to the northeastand are hosted within Miocene age andesitic volcanic rocks. The majority of exploration work to date has focused on the Arzu vein, whereresults from drilling by previous owners include intersections of 7.23 g/t over10m and 10.55 g/t over 7.5m. Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE & ASX: NEM; TSX:NMC) retains the right to a royalty of up to 2.5% on future gold production fromKiziltepe. Sampling and Assaying Procedures The Arzu North vein programme consisted of the collection of 350 samples of 1min length. Of these, 239 samples returned grades of less than 0.5 g/t Au (69% ofthe total), 51 samples between 0.5-1 g/t Au (14.5% of total), 55 between 1-5 g/tAu (15.5% of total) and 4 samples assayed above 5 g/t Au (1% of total), with apeak grade of 5.86g/t. The Ceylan vein programme consisted of the collection of 42 composite rock chipsamples. Of these, 12 samples returned grades of less than 0.5 g/t Au (29.5% ofthe total), 8 samples between 0.5-1 g/t Au (19% of total), 15 between 1-5 g/t Au(36% of total) and 7 samples above 5 g/t Au (16.5% of total), with a peak gradeof 14.2 g/t Au. All samples have been prepared by the ALS Chemex preparation facility in Izmirand assayed by fire assay at the ALS Chemex laboratory in Vancouver. Re-assayingof all samples assaying greater than 10 g/t gold has also been completed by ALSChemex. Regular standard, blank and duplicate samples are being used in thesample sequence in line with the Company's quality control procedures. Dr Kerim Sener, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, is Ariana's Exploration Director. Agraduate of the University of Southampton in Geology, he also holds a Master'sdegree from the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College, London) in MineralExploration and a doctorate from the University of Western Australia. He is aFellow of The Geological Society of London and has worked in geological researchand mineral consultancy in Southern Africa and the Northern Territory ofAustralia. He has read and approved the technical disclosure in this regulatoryannouncement. About Ariana ResourcesAriana is a technology-driven exploration company focused on the discovery ofmulti-million ounce potential epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-golddeposits within the Tethyan metallogenic belt of Turkey. The Company has aportfolio of prospective licences covering approximately 1,000km2, selected onthe basis of its advanced in-house remote sensing database. Ariana's broker isAmbrian Partners Limited and Beaumont Cornish Limited is the Company's nominatedadviser. For further information on Ariana you are invited to visit the Company's websiteat www.arianaresources.com. Ends This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange