Ariana is an AIM-listed and PLUS-traded gold exploration and development company which aims to develop new gold mines in Turkey. Ariana is lead by an experienced board and is spearheaded by a focused Turkish management team. Current resources stand at approximately 400,000 ounces of gold in western Turkey, with two key projects under development: the high-grade Kiziltepe prospect and the heap-leachable Tavsan prospect. An exploration joint venture with European Goldfields (20% shareholders in Ariana) in northeastern Turkey is focused on the Ardala copper-gold porphyry and surrounding areas. Ariana holds a large and prospective licence portfolio from which a pipeline of new exploration targets is being generated for drill-testing utilizing an ‘in-house’ drilling team. Exploration and development success is being delivered via a strategy which integrates geoscientific knowledge and new technologies to identify and advance prospects for drill-testing. Ariana aims to develop a portfolio of licences in western Turkey which contain an aggregate of one million ounces of gold; a target which it is already on the way to achieving.
Ariana Resources: Kiziltepe feasibility study nearly complete; announces US$2 mln loan facility
Ariana Resources (LON:AAU) said the feasibility study for the Kiziltepe part of its flagship Red Rabbit project in Turkey is now nearly complete as it updated investors on progress.
The wide ranging statement also revealed the firm had agreed a US$2 million loan with Yorkville Advisors for current funding requirements for the project.
And it added that the company had begun acquiring land near the Arzu South pit - one of the last hurdles for the permitting of the project.
The remaining work for the feasibility study is currently focused on the design of the open pits to minimise the strip ratio and the review of engineering designs.
Work has now begun on the designs for the tailings storage facility and the final plans are expected before permits for construction are received - anticipated in the second half of 2012, said the company.
Ariana's managing director Kerim Sener said key operational and corporate milestones continued to be reached at Red Rabbit, adding that the current focus was on publishing the feasibility study.
However, he said that because of some delays relating to new environmental regulations, first production from the project was now projected in 2013.
"We will keep investors abreast of developments in this regard over the course of 2012," he added.
Sener added that the Turkish government remained highly supportive of the development of the project and Ariana planned to finalise all the study work in order to expedite Red Rabbit into production.
Ariana said the US$2 million loan will be made available in two tranches, with the first for US$750,000 to be repaid in ten instalments and the final instalment due in January next year. The second tranche will be made available following repayment of the first tranche.
Interest at a rate of 10 per cent per annum on the outstanding loan amount, together with an implementation fee of 10 per cent on each advance, is payable with each instalment.
The firm also said today that it had agreed to make available a short-term loan of US$600,000 to be shared on a 50:50 basis with joint venture partner Proccea Construction to cover any shortfall in the development budget for phase one of the project.
