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14 Jan 2019 07:00
14 January 2019
AIM: AAU
Q4 & FULL YEAR 2018 PRELIMINARY PRODUCTION RESULTS
Gold Production Exceeds 2018 Guidance by 36%
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the exploration and development company with gold mining operations in Turkey, is pleased to announce its preliminary production results for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 for 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").
Fourth Quarter Preliminary Production Results*:
· The Company produced a total of 27,110 ounces of gold during the year, exceeding its initial full year production guidance of 20,000 ounces of gold by 7,110 ounces; representing an increase of c. 36%.
· Gold production for the quarter was 7,517 ounces (Q3: 7,556 ounces#).
· Total ore processed for the quarter was 49,717 tonnes (Q3: 49,272 tonnes) at an average head grade to the plant of 5.23 g/t gold.
· Quarterly open pit ore mined was c. 63,760 tonnes, at an average mined grade of 4.53 g/t gold, and total material movement for the quarter was 719,370 tonnes.
· Average metallurgical plant recovery of gold for the quarter remains high at 91.6%.
* All figures are given gross with respect to the JV.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"The last quarter of 2018 marks an important milestone for the Company, having exceeded our forecast production for the year by a very substantial margin. It also coincides with the repayment of half of our development capital loan of US$33 million, with the balance to be repaid largely during 2019. The past year has seen the Joint Venture achieve several successes, quarter on quarter, including an annualised increase in mill throughput to 200,000 tonnes per annum. We look forward to the continuation of these very positive developments. We take this opportunity to thank both our dedicated JV team and our partners, Proccea Construction Co., for their diligence and focus during the year.
"We begin 2019 on firm-footing and we are very excited about the year ahead. We are expecting to publish 2019 production guidance in due course."
The Company has published on its website a short video concerning operations at Kiziltepe and this may be accessed via the following link: https://arianaresources.com/ariana-corporate-video
Q4 2018 Preliminary Production Results
| Unit | Q4 2018 | Q3 2018# | Q4 2017# |
Open Pit - material moved (wet) | Tonnes | 719,369 | 876,945 | 1,284,795 |
Open Pit - ore mined (wet) | Tonnes | 63,759 | 83,228 | 49,886 |
Open Pit - mined grade | g/t Au | 4.54 | 5.04 | 3.41 |
Process plant throughput | Tonnes | 49,717 | 49,272 | 45,381 |
Plant feed grade | g/t Au | 5.23 | 4.91 | 3.90 |
Metallurgical recovery rate | % | 91.6 | 93.3 | 86.0 |
Gold produced | Troy Ounces | 7,517 | 7,556 | 4,473 |
Silver produced | Troy Ounces | 90,881 | 70,363 | 35,095 |
#Restated following year-end mine and mill reconciliation. The Company will publish full results for the quarter ending 31 December 2018 by early February 2019.
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 |
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Kerim Sener, Managing Director |
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Beaumont Cornish Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt |
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Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500 |
James Stearns / Atholl Tweedie |
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Yellow Jersey PR Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 7544 275 882 |
Tim Thompson / Felicity Winkles / Harriet Jackson / Henry Wilkinson | arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com |
Editors' Note:
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.
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