TIDMAAU
RNS Number : 9857E
Ariana Resources PLC
13 July 2021
13 July 2021
AIM: AAU
DISCOVERY FUND LAUNCHED
Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed
exploration and development company operating in Europe, is pleased
to announce the launch of its wholly-owned Asgard Metals Fund ("the
Fund"), which is being developed as part of Ariana's proprietary
Project Catalyst Strategy. The Fund will be focused on investments
in discovery-stage mineral exploration companies following defined
exploration and development work programmes on specific
projects.
Highlights:
-- Asgard Metals Pty. Ltd., the wholly-owned Australian
subsidiary of Ariana, intends to invest an initial A$2 million,
primarily into listed exploration companies with projects that meet
its rigorous selection criteria.
-- Investments will be focused on potentially high-value
discovery-stage opportunities, which show early development
potential.
-- Projects may be located anywhere across the Eastern
Hemisphere and within easy reach of Ariana's operational hubs in
Australia, Turkey and the UK.
-- Exploration projects will be selected on the basis of merit,
taking into account geological prospectivity, exploration upside,
jurisdiction and delivery capability of the project owner.
-- Selected projects will receive an initial investment of up to
c. A$500,000 in capital and will receive expert assistance from the
Ariana team.
-- Participating companies will have the opportunity of working
with Ariana's first-class exploration team, which has demonstrated
its success across multiple jurisdictions.
-- Investments are designed to be timed optimally for maximum
value accretion over a near-term investment horizon.
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
"We are launching the Discovery Fund in order to support the
early-stage exploration of high-quality exploration opportunities,
which show the potential for value creation over the near-term.
This launch is in line with our long-term ambition to represent the
cutting-edge of the mineral exploration and development sector
internationally. It builds on our earlier and highly successful
strategy of making early-stage exploration investments in gold and
lithium assets across several non-European jurisdictions, which now
provides the financial basis of the Fund. The strategy is also
fundamentally rooted in our lengthy and successful experience
operating within Turkey; recognising the value in collaborative
local partnerships and not being averse to holding minority
interests in good projects, led by great teams.
"We bring access to a highly capable and fully self-sufficient
exploration team, able to deploy rapidly a full spectrum of
geoscientific capabilities to unlock nascent value. The cash
generative capacity of our joint venture operations gives us the
means to take enhanced positions in worthwhile project
opportunities, as we are doing separately in Cyprus and Kosovo.
Following several years of significant under-investment across the
junior exploration sector, we are taking a major-company approach
to the funding and development of exploration projects to the
benefit of our project partners, and ultimately, our
shareholders."
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 ("UK MAR").
Contacts:
Ariana Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616
Michael de Villiers, Chairman
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
Beaumont Cornish Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
John Prior / Hugh Rich / Atholl
Tweedie
Yellow Jersey PR Limited Tel: +44 (0) 7951 402 336
Dom Barretto / Joe Burgess / Henry arianaresources@yellowjerseypr.com
Wilkinson
Editors' Note:
About Ariana Resources:
Ariana is an AIM-listed mineral exploration and development
company with an exceptional track-record of creating value for its
shareholders through its interests in active mining projects and
investments in exploration companies. Its current interests include
gold production in Turkey and copper-gold exploration and
development projects in Cyprus and Kosovo.
The Company holds 23.5% interest in Zenit Madencilik San. ve
Tic. A.S. a joint venture with Ozaltin Holding A.S. and Proccea
Construction Co. in Turkey which contains a depleted total of c.
2.1 million ounces of gold and other metals (as at July 2020). The
joint venture comprises the Kiziltepe Mine and the Tavsan and
Salinbas projects.
The Kiziltepe Gold-Silver Mine is located in western Turkey and
contains a depleted JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource
of 227,000 ounces gold and 0.7 million ounces silver (as at April
2020). The mine has been in profitable production since 2017 and is
expected to produce at a rate of c.20,000 ounces of gold per annum
to at least the mid-2020s. A Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of
2.5% on production is being paid to Franco-Nevada Corporation.
The Tavsan Gold Project is located in western Turkey and
contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of
253,000 ounces gold and 3.7 million ounces silver (as at June
2020). The project is being progressed through permitting and an
Environmental Impact Assessment, with the intention of developing
the site to become the second joint venture gold mining operation.
A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to
Sandstorm Gold.
The Salinbas Gold Project is located in north-eastern Turkey and
contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 1.5
million ounces of gold (as at July 2020). It is located within the
multi-million ounce Artvin Goldfield, which contains the "Hot Gold
Corridor" comprising several significant gold-copper projects
including the 4 million ounce Hot Maden project, which lies 16km to
the south of Salinbas. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future
production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.
Ariana is currently earning-in to 75% of Western Tethyan
Resources Ltd ("WTR"), which operates across Eastern Europe and is
based in Pristina, Republic of Kosovo. The company is targeting its
exploration on major copper-gold deposits across the
porphyry-epithermal transition.
Ariana is also earning-in to 50% of UK-registered Venus Minerals
Ltd ("Venus") and has to date earned into an entitlement to 26%.
Venus is focused on the exploration and development of copper-gold
assets in Cyprus which contain a combined JORC Inferred Resource of
9.5Mt @ 0.65% copper (excluding additional gold, silver and
zinc).
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited is broker to the Company and
Beaumont Cornish Limited is the Company's Nominated Adviser and
Broker.
For further information on Ariana you are invited to visit the
Company's website at www.arianaresources.com .
Ends.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
MSCSFIFMEEFSEEW
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 13, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Ariana Resources (LSE:AAU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Ariana Resources (LSE:AAU)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024
