🕐22.03.12 - 11:54 Uhr
FAIRFAX BUY NOTE FOR ARIANA RESOURCES FOLLOWING HIGHLY POSITIVE DRILLING RESULTS
AT ELDORADO JV SALINBAS PROSPECT, TURKEY
Good morning,
Please see below a BUY note from Fairfax for Ariana Resources plc (AIM:AAU) following the Companys announcement this morning detailing positive drilling results from its Salinbas joint venture with Eldorado Gold, the new home of European Goldfields, in the Artvin region of north eastern Turkey.
The results underpin the managements confidence in the exploration potential of the project.
The fact that the Salinbas system is still open to the south and east is an excellent indication that there is considerable scope to define a "substantial gold system" which, judging by the orientation of the mineralisation and the continuity of high grades, could be mined by open-pit methods.
A further drill programme is scheduled for May 2012.
The full release and the Fairfax note are pasted below.
Best regards,
Lottie
FAIRFAX MORNING VIEW
Ariana Resources* (AAU LN) 4 pence, Mkt Cap 10m - Salinbas drilling shows results over good intersections
Buy - Target Price 10 pence
See note published 30 September 2011
http://www.arianaresources.com/
* Ariana have released results for drilling work done at the Salinbas joint venture in the north of Turkey.
Best intercepts related to the follow-up drilling:
9.5m @ 6.48 g/t Au + 39.4 g/t Ag;
11.3m @ 4.98 g/t Au + 42.8 g/t Ag and
25m @ 3.34 g/t Au + 7.9 g/t Ag..
* The results speak for themselves and are a very positive indication for the prospect.
* Trench results are also good showing a series of 5-10g/t intersections from samples, again over good sections.
* 31 out of 45 holes showed significant intersections of gold and silver
* A fuller description is available on the company website with containing trench and drill results received to date and a map of the prospect.
Conclusion: The discovery is seen as a new and exciting discovery.
The mineralised system is open to the south offering potential for greater scale.
The prospect gives potential for added value beyond that seen at the Red Rabbit mine project.
* Fairfax analysts recently visited the Ariana trial mine and other licenses
* Fairfax acts as broker to Ariana Resources
[cid:image002.jpg@01CD0818.C12E0B70]
[cid:image001.gif@01CD0818.7BB1A750][cid:image006.jpg@01CD0818.7BB1A750]
22 March 2012
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU
POSITIVE DRILLING RESULTS FROM SALINBAS
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, announces further drilling results from the 2011 exploration programme undertaken at Salinbas within our Joint Venture project area in the Artvin region of north eastern Turkey.
Highlights:
New drilling has defined a gently dipping mineralised body emplaced along a thrust zone to the east of a series of breccia pipes
Best intercepts related to the follow-up drilling include:
o 9.5m @ 6.48 g/t Au + 39.4 g/t Ag;
o 11.3m @ 4.98 g/t Au + 42.8 g/t Ag and,
o 25m @ 3.34 g/t Au + 7.9 g/t Ag.
The drilling to date at Salinbas has outlined a mineralised body of areal extent 300m x 500m, but the mineralisation remains open in several directions
Resource estimation is in progress and drilling will continue in 2012
Dr.
Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"These results underpin our confidence in the exploration potential of our projects in the Artvin region of north eastern Turkey.
The virgin discovery of Salinbas by our JV team was a true exploration success and the prospect continues to yield highly encouraging drilling results.
The fact that the Salinbas system is still open to the south and to the east indicates that there is considerable scope to define a substantial gold system.
The orientation of the mineralisation and the continuity of high grades suggest that the mineralised body will provide for a resource, which could be mined by open-pit methods.
"The JV team is currently planning for a further drilling programme scheduled to commence in May 2012.
We have in place an efficient, dedicated team, committed to bringing this programme to a successful conclusion."
Exploration Programme
Drilling to date has focused on two main areas: the Salinbas gold prospect and the Ardala copper-gold porphyry.
A total of 8,913m of diamond drilling has been completed over these properties.
In addition, regional sampling aimed at selecting other targets for licence applications has also continued across the Pontides region.
Salinbas Exploration Results
During late 2010, Ariana announced the first drilling results from the then newly discovered Salinbas high-grade epithermal gold prospect.
Mineralisation is associated with a series of breccias pipes along a structural corridor and the system is interpreted to relate to the Ardala porphyry some 2 kilometres away.
The discovery was revealed in a series of trenches, and a programme extending existing trenches and excavating new ones was carried out in 2010.
The trenches define mineralisation over a total strike length of some 300 metres.
All significant trench results in bedrock to date are summarised in Table 1.
Table 1: Trench results for the Salinbas prospect.
Results reported for intercepts >1g/t Au using a 0.5 g/t Au lower cut, no upper cut and up to 10 metres of waste material allowed.
Trench ID
Meters
Grade Au (g/t)
Grade Ag (g/t)
ST1
32
5.4
7.8
ST2
20
1.2
3.7
ST3
46
8.3
39.0
ST9
4
1.5
1.5
ST10
16
1.3
5.3
ST10
1
1.9
4.3
ST11
5
2.5
18.3
ST11
55
7.8
9.2
ST12
28
1.8
4.0
ST12
8
8.4
13.8
ST13
38
3.7
12.1
ST14
31
1.6
9.4
ST15
27
2.0
10.6
ST20
13.3
1.2
1.3
A follow-up drilling programme commenced on the Salinbas prospect in 2010 and continued during 2011 (Figure 1).
A total of 6,951m has been drilled for a total of 60 drill holes at Salinbas to date.
The results of the 2011 drilling programme are provided in Table 2.
[cid:image007.jpg@01CD0818.7BB1A750]
Figure 1: Map showing drilling at the Salinbas prospect in 2010 and 2011.
Drill holes shown in blue were drilled in 2010 and identified mineralised breccia pipes.
Drill holes shown in red were drilled in 2011 and have defined a moderately southward dipping gold zone along the plane of a thrust fault separating hanging wall volcanic rocks from footwall limestones.
Table 2: New drilling results for the Salinbas prospect.
Results reported for intercepts >1g/t Au using a 0.5 g/t Au lower cut, no upper cut, a 2m minimum composite width and up to 10 metres of waste material allowed.
Drillhole ID
>From (m)
To (m)
Length (m)
Grade Au (g/t)
Grade Ag (g/t)
SALH015
No significant intercept
SALH016
0
2
2
0.88
2.90
6
15.8
9.8
1.53
3.62
80.5
83
2.5
0.99
3.69
91
95
4
1.22
10.10
SALH017
5.8
20.5
14.7
1.79
35.61
SALH018
27.2
30
2.8
2.97
36.85
SALH019
7
11
4
1.61
2.23
31
33
2
0.65
2.58
35
37
2
0.59
1.49
SALH020
47.9
50.4
2.5
4.10
3.67
SALH021
33
61
28
0.78
3.61
SALH022
0
25
25
3.34
7.85
SALH023
0
11.3
11.3
4.98
42.82
SALH024
0
10.9
10.9
3.80
16.66
SALH025
No significant intercept
SALH026
0
4
4
0.87
1.63
13
39
26
1.09
2.63
49.4
58.3
8.9
1.28
1.92
SALH027
No significant intercept
SALH028
No significant intercept
SALH029
0
4.6
4.6
2.24
20.05
SALH030
27.9
30.8
2.9
1.41
4.27
43
45
2
0.51
2.21
59.6
66
6.4
2.63
7.96
SALH031
0
5.8
5.8
1.02
3.85
SALH032
No significant intercept
SALH033
30.8
38.4
7.6
3.45
72.40
SALH034
34.5
42.6
8.1
3.24
45.25
SALH035
52.1
56.9
4.8
4.80
15.67
SALH036
183.7
190
6.3
0.95
10.50
SALH037
No significant intercept
SALH038
No significant intercept
SALH039
63.5
65.7
2.2
2.37
150.57
SALH040
48
52.1
4.1
1.18
45.91
SALH041
0
2
2
1.15
3.83
24.3
27.2
2.9
1.00
9.57
SALH042
16.9
32.5
15.6
1.47
2.64
SALH043
22.4
26.6
4.2
0.93
2.59
33.8
37.8
4
0.77
3.79
SALH044
No significant intercept
SALH045
No significant intercept
SALH046
79.5
89
9.5
6.48
39.43
SALH047
No significant intercept
SALH048
No significant intercept
SALH049
64.7
2.07
20.09
78
80
2
0.59
4.92
SALH050
No significant intercept
SALH051
83.5
87.5
4
0.71
10.83
SALH052
101.9
106.3
4.4
1.95
5.47
110
112
2
0.84
2.41
SALH053
50.4
52.8
2.4
2.02
5.21
79
81
2
0.74
1.33
SALH054
70
72.3
2.3
1.17
10.25
SALH055
No significant intercept
SALH056
98.2
108.9
10.7
0.86
3.35
SALH057
No significant intercept
SALH058
50
68.1
18.1
1.25
13.79
SALH059
2.4
6.5
4.1
1.23
1.69
10.7
21
10.3
0.61
1.45
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616
Michael Spriggs, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
Fairfax I.S.
PLC
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7598 5368
Ewan Leggat / Laura Littley
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Susie Geliher / Hugo de Salis
Editors note:
Dr Kerim Sener, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, is the Managing Director of Ariana Resources plc.
A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology, he also holds a Masters degree from the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College, London) in Mineral Exploration and a doctorate from the University of Western Australia.
He is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London and has worked in geological research and mineral consultancy in Southern Africa and Australia.
He has read and approved the technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement.
About Ariana Resources:
Ariana is an exploration and development company focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry copper-gold deposits in Turkey.
The Company is developing a portfolio of prospective licences selected on the basis of its in-house geological and remote-sensing database.
The Companys flagship assets are its Sindirgi 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, are presently being assessed as to their economic merits and now form part of a Joint Venture with Proccea Construction Co.
The total resource inventory of the Company stands at 448,000 ounces of gold equivalent.
Ariana maintains a Joint Venture in northeastern Turkey and also has a strategic investment in Tigris Resources Limited (www.tigrisresources.com), a private Jersey-based exploration company, which is focused on the exploration of copper and gold deposits in southeastern Turkey.
Ariana retains approximately 13% of Tigris Resources Limited.
Fairfax I.S.
PLC are brokers to the Company and Beaumont Cornish Limited is the Companys Nominated Adviser.
For further information on Ariana you are invited to visit the Companys website at www.arianaresources.com.
[cid:image008.gif@01CD0818.7BB1A750][cid:image009.gif@01CD0818.7BB1A750]