Acquisition of Surface Rights

18 Jul 2007 07:01

Ariana Resources PLC18 July 2007 18 July 2007AIM: AAU ACQUISITION OF SURFACE-RIGHTS: KIZILTEPE PROSPECT Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration companyfocused on Turkey, is pleased to announce the acquisition of surface-rights onpart of the Arzu South Vein at the Kiziltepe Prospect. Highlights • Three blocks of land purchased for a total of 28,775m2 • Surface-rights over half of the Arzu South Vein have been secured • Necessary operational and environmental permits are in place • Bulk-sampling of the Arzu Vein to be initiated by September 2007 The Company has completed the purchase of three registered blocks ofagricultural land which lie above the indicated resource at the Arzu South Vein.The land acquired totals 28,775m2 and covers half of the total exposed ArzuSouth vein system. A payment of 31,900 YTL (approx. £12,300) has been made tothe original land-owners, representing a cost of approximately 43 pence permetre squared. The deeds have been transferred to our operating subsidiary inTurkey (Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti.). The acquisition ofsurface-rights complement the mining, forestry and other permits the Company hasalready secured for part of the Kiziltepe prospect. The purchased land provides the Company with secure surface-rights over animportant part of the Arzu vein system. This is significant as approximately 100tonnes of material is scheduled to be extracted from the vein by bulk-samplingin September 2007, which will involve modification of the ground surface. Thistrial-mining will help to derive important operational data for a scoping studyand provide adequate material for second-stage metallurgical test-work. Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: "The acquisition of the surface-rights represents an important step for theCompany towards achieving its objective of establishing an operation atKiziltepe. Towards the end of the year we will initiate bulk-sampling from anarea of the Arzu vein system as part of our planned scoping study. The purchaseof overlying agricultural land and our existing forestry permits provide us withthe ability to undertake this trial mining." "We would also like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to thepeople of Sindirgi, who encourage our activities at Kiziltepe. The purchase ofthe land took only ten days to conclude, a feat made possible by this invaluablesupport. The acquisition demonstrates that Ariana has both the capability andthe necessary community backing to achieve its longer term aims at Kiziltepe." 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