Ariana Regulatory News (AAU)

8 Feb 2007 07:01

Ariana Resources PLC08 February 2007 8 February 2007AIM: AAU FIRST DRILLING RESULTS FROM VEIN 4, KIZILTEPE PROSPECT Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration companyfocused on Turkey, announces the results from the first three drill holescompleted on Vein 4, which is located 800m northwest from the Arzu South and900m north of the Banu veins at the Kiziltepe gold prospect. This represents thesixth successive set of positive results on different veins within the Kiziltepeproject, which is located within the Company's 100%-owned 235km2 Sindirgi goldproject in western Turkey. Ariana is continuing to develop a detailed andpositive framework for understanding and potentially developing this extensivemineralised system. •Previously untested vein providing intersections of 1.42 g/t Au over 6.0m, 1.26 g/t Au over 7.10m and 1.56 g/t Au over 5.0m •Silver grades in these intersections range from 19 to 49 g/t Ag •First three drill holes completed along 100m of vein strike length •The continuity of grade at surface and at depth indicate that further drilling on this vein is warranted A field team from the Company's Turkish operating subsidiary, Galata MadencilikSan. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti., supervised the completion of an initial three-hole HQsize (63.5 mm wide) diamond core drilling programme on Vein 4. The holes D18,D19 and D20 reported in this release totalled 232.80m. They were drilled todepths of between 65 and 93 metres and angled at 60 degrees along a 100m sectionof vein strike length. Collars were located at approximately 50 metre spacedcentres. Quartz veins, other mineralised structures and stock work were locatedin all three holes drilled in this exploratory programme. Selected intersectionsare given in Table 1 below. Kerim Sener, Exploration Director, commented: "The results of this drilling confirm the validity of our strategy to test allpreviously undrilled veins at the Kiziltepe prospect. While the grade ofmineralisation at Vein 4 is low, the vein widths are significant and there issufficient geological evidence to conclude that these initial intercepts arepositioned high in the epithermal system. We predict that this vein is one ofthe least eroded veins on the Kiziltepe prospect and that deeper drilling onthis vein will yield better grades. Further drilling at this location isscheduled for later this year." Table 1: Drill hole intersection data from the Vein 4 drilling programme: Hole From To (m) Recovery Apparent Gold (Au Silver Au + Ag (m) (%) Width (m) g/t) (Ag g/t) equiv. (g /t)KTP-D18-06 38.0 44.0 97 6.0 1.42 34.60 2.11KTP-D19-06 44.3 51.4 91 7.1 1.26 48.96 2.24KTP-D20-06 61.8 66.8 94 5.0 1.56 19.46 1.95Notes: No top cut has been applied to assay results Intersections based on a 0.5 g/t cut off grade Weighted averages have been calculated for core recovery and gold/silvergrades Au + Ag equiv. g/t is the sum of the gold grade and the gold equivalent gradeof silver based on a gold/silver price ratio of approximately 1:50 Vein 4 In 2006, Vein 4 (strike length 615m) was tested at surface by rock-saw channelsampling for 325m of strike. The average grade of gold from this sampling was0.73 g/t Au with a best grade of 8.56 g/t Au, proving that the mineralisationwithin the vein achieves significant concentrations in places. The vein islocated only 200m south of the Arzu North multiple-parallel vein system, whichhas shown potential at surface from rock-saw channel sampling conducted in 2006. Surface vein textures are characteristic of deposition at shallow crustallevels, showing development of massive chalcedonic to opaline quartz and rarelyshow textures indicative of boiling. This is unusual in comparison to otherveins at the Kiziltepe prospect, which are typically eroded to deeper levels toexpose the boiling level of the epithermal system (boiling is a critical factorin gold deposition). These data indicate collectively that Vein 4 is one of theleast eroded and therefore most well-preserved vein systems within the Kiziltepeprospect. The drilling programme was designed to test the down-dip potential of the veinsystem and to identify continuity of the grades encountered at surface. Theresults of the drilling programme demonstrate that the vein carries fairlyconsistent grades of about 1-2 g/t Au at shallow depths, mirroring the gradesdetermined by surface sampling. Follow-up drilling to locate the boiling levelwithin the system and to test the possibility of grade improvement at this levelis deemed essential. Contacts: Ariana Resources plcSteven Poulton, Chief Executive Tel: 01235 511 767s.j.poulton@arianaresources.cominfo@arianaresources.com Mobile: 0797 408 6712Bankside Consultants Michael Padley / Susan Scott Tel: 020 7367 8888Beaumont Cornish Limited Roland Cornish Tel: 020 7628 3396 Editors' note: About the Kiziltepe prospect The 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 of the one million ounce vein-hostedOvacik gold mine and 115km northwest of the five million ounce Kisladag goldmine. 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 northwest, dip to the northeast and are hosted withinMiocene age dacitic volcanic rocks. Ariana acquired the Sindirgi Gold Project from Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE& ASX: NEM; TSX: NMC) in March 2005. Newmont retains the right to a royalty ofup to 2.5% on future gold production from the Sindirgi gold project. Ahead of commencing the drilling programme, Galata obtained all necessaryenvironmental and forestry approvals from the provincial government in Balikesirand the State Government in Ankara. Sampling and Assaying Procedures To date 94 HQ size drill-core samples from the drilling programme on the Halevein, ranging from 0.18m to 1.17m in length have been cut in half by a diamondsaw and sent for assay. Of these, 64 samples have returned grades of less than0.5 g/t Au (68% of the total), 14 samples between 0.5-1 g/t Au (15% of total)and 16 between 1-5 g/t Au (17% of total), with a peak grade of 4.18g/t Au.Sample recovery has averaged 94% in the mineralised zones. All samples have been prepared by the ALS Chemex preparation facility in Izmirand assayed by 30g fire assay at the ALS Chemex laboratory in Romania. Routinere-assaying of all samples assaying greater than 10 g/t Au (no samples) and 100g/t Ag (1 sample) has also been completed by ALS Chemex. Standard, blank andduplicate samples are being used in the sample batches in line with theCompany's quality control procedures. Quality control checks have determinedthat all blanks and standards have passed and duplicate samples have shownexcellent correlations with 99.9% correlation for crushed duplicates and 99.8%correlation for pulp duplicates. Laboratory sample preparation, assayingprocedures and chain of custody are appropriately controlled. The Companymaintains an archive of half core samples and a photographic record of all coresfor future reference. 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 Resources Ariana is a dynamic exploration company focused on the discovery of epithermalgold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits with multi-million ounce potentialwithin the Tethyan metallogenic belt of Turkey. The Company has a portfolio ofprospective licences covering 1,755km2, selected on the basis of its advancedin-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. Atwo rig drilling programme is currently focussed on defining gold resources (incompliance with the JORC code) at the prospects of Kiziltepe and Kepez. 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