Ariana upbeat on latest drilling at Kepez North

Europe-focussed mineral exploration and development company Ariana Resources announced a drilling and resource update for the Kepez North area of the Kiziltepe Sector on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said Kepez North is part of the Zenit joint venture with Proccea Construction and Ozaltin Holding, being 23.5% owned by Ariana.

It said the resource contained around 36,400 ounces of gold and 329,400 ounces of silver, making for a 97% increase in contained gold ounces over the previous resource estimate in 2020, and a 310% increase over the feasibility study resource in 2013.

The company reported a “significant” positive increase in the average grade, to 7.14 grams of gold and 64.65 grams of silver per tonne.

It also said the resource’s classification was “substantially improved”, to about 86% measured and 14% indicated.

A new pit optimisation study was now complete, and the area was being advanced through further permitting.

“This is a great outcome from the recent drilling undertaken in the Kepez area,” said managing director Dr Kerim Sener.

“We remain highly encouraged by this area as a potential source of very high-grade mineralisation, which can complement the mill-feed of the Kiziltepe processing plant, which is located only 14 kilometres away by road.”

Dr Sener said that, based on the significant increase in the resource at Kepez and the potential for identifying further extensions of the high-grade mineralisation down plunge, the joint venture had taken the decision to bring the drill rig back to the area to complete further drilling.

“This work, in addition to further mining studies and associated permitting, is being expedited in order to bring this area forward in the mining schedule.

“Importantly, the geometry of the mineralisation lends itself well to near complete resource extraction.”

At 1423 BST, shares in Ariana Resources were down 0.52% at 4.83p.