Exploration Database Agr...

13 March 2013
AIM: AAU

EXPLORATION DATABASE AGREEMENT

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce a license agreement ("the Agreement") reached with Newmont Ventures Limited ("Newmont") granting the Company access to a Turkish exploration database built by Newmont over a period of 20 years ("the Database").

Highlights:

• Granted a 10-year non-exclusive licence on Newmont's Turkish exploration database providing Ariana with a key strategic exploration advantage in Turkey. 

• Agreement comes at an important time in the development of the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project - production is on target for 2014 following the recent commencement of the formal mine permitting process. 

• Information within the Database will be prioritised and analysed in line with the Company's strategy to identify potential additional resources in the vicinity of the planned Kiziltepe operation. 

• Access to the Database is in consideration for a 1% Net Smelter Return royalty and a Right of First Refusal on any discovery made by Ariana within 5km from any point data derived from the Database, excluding areas covered by existing Ariana tenements. 

• Information included in the Database comprises stream-sediment, rock-chip and soil geochemistry, drilling results, geo-imagery, aeromagnetic and gravity datasets, digital geology and structure, mineral occurrences, reports of previous prospects and projects. 

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"This highly strategic database, which is valued at approximately US$20 million, will be an important tool in the expansion our exploration activities within prospective and underexplored regions of Turkey.  Our exploration programmes, which are central to the Ariana strategy, will create the basis for new discoveries, further diversify our portfolio and generate potential long-term value as we move toward production at the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project.  Our primary focus will be on the exploration for additional gold deposits in the region of the Red Rabbit project that potentially lie within trucking distance of the planned Kiziltepe plant.

"These databases were compiled by Newmont over the course of two decades and contain approximately 18,000 Bulk Leach Extractable Gold ("BLEG") analyses, 24,000 stream-sediment analyses 25,000 rock-chip analyses, and 18,000 soil analyses, in addition to a variety of other data including drilling results from across Turkey.  Further to our primary focus on the Red Rabbit Gold Project area, access to this strategically important database will enable the Company to evaluate gold targets across this underexplored country as we seek to identify new multi-million ounce deposits.  The agreement underpins our long-term commitment to exploration in Turkey and the Newmont data complements our existing databases perfectly."  

Contacts:

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 Master's 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 Eastern Europe, 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, on its own in western Turkey and in Joint Venture with Eldorado Gold Corporation in north-eastern Turkey.  Eldorado owns 51% of this joint venture and is fully funding all exploration work on the JV properties, while Ariana owns 49% and is the operator.

The Company's 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 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 south-eastern Turkey.  Ariana retains 11.5% of Tigris Resources Limited.  

Beaufort International Associates Limited is broker to the Company and Beaumont Cornish Limited is the Company's Nominated Adviser.

For further information on Ariana you are invited to visit the Company's website at www.arianaresources.com.

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