Ariana Regulatory News (AAU)

21 Aug 2007 07:00

Ariana Resources PLC21 August 2007 21 August 2007AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU METALLURGICAL RESULTS: KIZILTEPE Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration companyfocused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the results of the first metallurgicaltestwork conducted on material from the Kiziltepe Prospect. The results of thesetests keep open the full range of options for the processing of material fromKiziltepe. A scoping study on potential mining and treatment options will beaddressed following an upcoming RC drilling program which aims to extend andupgrade the existing resource. Highlights •Mineralisation is amenable to both carbon-in-leach and heap-leach processing options •Carbon-in-leach simulation tests yielded gold and silver recoveries of 92-98% and 87-92% respectively •Heap-leach simulation tests yielded gold and silver extraction levels of up to 81-90% and 65-77% respectively •Ball mill grindability determined a bond work index of 14.2-15.8 kWh/ tonne Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: "These metallurgical results are extremely encouraging and compare veryfavourably with those obtained from similar deposits in Turkey which are alreadyin production. The results indicate that all of our options for processing ofmaterial from Kiziltepe remain open. We are evaluating strategies for thefurther development of the deposit, with on site processing via heap-leach ortoll-treatment at an existing carbon-in-leach processing facility underinvestigation." "We are now undertaking the groundwork required for our scoping study and makingpreparations for trial mining of the Arzu vein at Kiziltepe. The scoping studywill utilise various data, including these metallurgical test results, todetermine the optimal route for the economic development of the Kiziltepeprospect. Preparations are also underway for further resource definitiondrilling at several veins on the prospect, with the aim of increasing andrefining our existing resource." Testwork Summary Metallurgical testwork was undertaken on four composite samples of mineralisedmaterial sent to the SGS Lakefield laboratory in Canada. The samples selectedfor testwork were collected from surface and drill-core from the Arzu South Veinand represent a range of mineralisation types with varying levels of oxidation,total sulphide content and gold/silver ratio (Table 1). The gold grade of thesamples is within the range of grades determined by the recently announced JORCresource estimate for Kiziltepe. The purpose of the metallurgical testwork wasto determine, via several simulation tests, the amenability of the Kiziltepe'ore' to carbon-in-leach and heap-leach processing. Carbon-in-leach simulation tests were conducted to determine the recovery ofgold and silver from the samples and give the maximum extractability at aspecified grind size (approximately 53 microns). These tests yielded goldrecoveries ranging from 92% to 98% and silver recoveries ranging from 87% to 92%(Table 1). The consumption of reagents in solution was moderate. These resultsprove that the mineralisation is amenable to a conventional carbon-in-leachprocessing flowsheet. Coarse bottle-roll tests at minus 1/4 inch and minus 10 mesh particle size wereperformed to determine the amenability of the samples to heap-leaching (Table1). The simulation tests at minus 10 mesh resulted in gold recoveries of 81% to90% and silver recoveries of up to 65% to 77%. The gold content of the residuesfrom tests conducted on the minus 10 mesh material ranged from 0.6 g/t Au to1.05 g/t Au. The results are likely to be acceptable for a heap-leach operation. Ball mill grindability tests were performed at a grind of 150 mesh on the fourcomposite samples (Table 1) to determine the energy requirements for grindingKiziltepe 'ore'. Results for the four samples fall into the intermediate rangeof hardness and compare favourably with that at similar deposits. Table 1: Summary of results of the metallurgical testwork on Kiziltepemineralisation. 1) Carbon-in-leach simulation tests were undertaken over 48hours. 2) Heap-leach simulation results shown here are those for minus 10 meshover 14 days. Heap-leach simulation results for 1/4 inch mesh were 61-78% forgold and 41-50% for silver. +--------------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+| |Carbon-in-leach |Heap-leach || |Simulation1 |Simulation2 |+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+|Sample|Gold |Silver|Ag: |Bond |Au |Ag |Au |Ag || |(g/t) |(g/t) |Au |Work |Recovery|Recovery|Recovery|Recovery|| | | | |Index |(%) |(%) |(%) |(%) || | | | |kWh/t | | | | |+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+| 1 |7.53 |52.5 | 7 |15.8 | 97.2 | 87.8 | 88.1 | 66.2 |+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+| 2 |5.84 |44.1 | 8 |15.3 | 98.2 | 87.2 | 89.5 | 66.3 |+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+| 3 |4.76 |94.1 |20 |15.1 | 95.6 | 86.9 | 80.7 | 65.4 |+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+| 4 |5.34 |25.1 | 5 |14.2 | 91.9 | 91.6 | 84.3 | 76.8 |+------+------+------+----+------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ SGS Lakefield concludes: "The Kiziltepe project ore samples responded well to conventionalcarbon-in-leach processing... The heap-leach simulation tests...resulted inextractions that will likely be acceptable for a heap-leach operation." Contacts: Ariana Resources plcMichael Spriggs, ChairmanKerim Sener, Managing Director Tel: 0207 407 3616info@arianaresources.comBeaumont Cornish Limited Tel: 0207 628 3396 Roland CornishBankside ConsultantsMichael Padley / Louise Davis Tel: 0207 367 8888 Editors' note: About Ariana Resources Ariana is a dynamic exploration company focused on the discovery and developmentof epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits with multi-millionounce potential within the Tethyan metallogenic belt of Turkey. The Company hasa portfolio of prospective licences covering 1,820km2, selected on the basis ofits advanced in-house remote sensing database. The Company's flagship asset is the 235km2 Sindirgi Gold Project, which targetsa series of prospects, within a prolific mineralised district in western Turkey.The project hosts over 45km of gold-silver bearing epithermal quartz veins. Ambrian Partners Limited and King & Shaxson Capital Limited are joint brokers tothe Company and Beaumont Cornish Limited is the Company's nominated adviser. 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