Joint Venture to Develop Sindirgi and Tavsan

27th October 2009
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU
 
            JOINT VENTURE TO DEVELOP SINDIRGI AND TAVSAN
 
Ariana  Resources  plc   ("Ariana"  or  "the   Company"),  the   gold
exploration and development company focused  on Turkey is pleased  to
announce a Memorandum  of Understanding  ("MoU") on  a joint  venture
("JV")  agreement  designed  to  advance  the  Company  significantly
towards its goal of becoming a long term gold producer.
 
Highlights
 
* Good-will payment of US$0.5 million on signature of MoU
 
* 50-50 JV to develop the Sindirgi and Tavsan projects
 
* US$8 million funding to be committed to feasibility and plant
    construction
 
Details of MoU
 
Shareholders will  recall that  in the  Company's half-yearly  report
released on 29  September 2009,  Dr Kerim  Sener, Managing  Director,
explained that the Company was examining the feasibility of combining
its two  principal  projects,  Sindirgi and  Tavsan,  into  a  single
conceptual entity  -  the  Red  Rabbit Project  -  and  that  it  was
considering the development of this project as a joint venture with a
Turkish engineering firm.
 
The Company  now announces  that,  through its  operating  subsidiary
Galata Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd.,  it has entered into a MoU  with
Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea"), an integrated Turkish  turn-key
construction firm involved in a  range of business sectors from  gold
processing  plants  to  major  hotels.  The  MoU  provides  for   the
negotiation of formal joint  venture documentation which is  expected
to lead to the establishment of a long term gold mining operation  in
Turkey.
 
The JV  agreement envisaged  in  the MoU  is  a 50-50  joint  venture
between Ariana and Proccea to be formalised by the establishment of a
Turkish joint stock company which will hold and develop the  assets.
Proccea will then be committed to fully-fund an Environmental  Impact
Assessment and  Feasibility  Study  on Red  Rabbit  and  to  commence
construction of the gold processing plant.  By funding US$8  million,
Proccea will earn-in to its 50% share in the joint stock company.  It
is intended  that  the  additional  capital  requirements  for  plant
start-up may  be met  by a  credit  facility to  be arranged  by  the
joint-stock company.  On the  successful commissioning of the  plant,
profit share within the  joint stock company will  be 51% Ariana  and
49% Proccea.
 
Under the terms of the MoU, Ariana will be paid within seven  working
days US$0.5  million in  cash which  will be  used at  the  Company's
discretion in exchange of a letter  of guarantee valid for a term  of
one year.   However, should  the parties  to the  MoU fail  to  reach
agreement on the signing of  the formal joint venture  documentation,
the Company will be obliged to return this cash sum in full with  the
return of the letter of guarantee.
 
The implementation of the joint venture agreement is contingent  upon
the outcome of approximately 90 days' due diligence, with a long stop
date for completion of the formal joint venture documentation of  180
days.
 
Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:
 
"The completion of this MoU with  Proccea marks a major step  forward
for Ariana.  Our earlier trial  mining at Kiziltepe demonstrated  our
ability to  produce  gold  in Turkey,  providing  the  technical  and
economic reassurance  necessary to  develop the  Sindirgi and  Tavsan
projects as a successful integrated entity - the Red Rabbit project.
We have  identified  a strong  JV  partner for  funding  the  project
through the feasibility and construction stages, with a track  record
of successful gold project  development in Turkey.  Their  experience
in establishing many successful gold plants worldwide reflects  their
high level engineering and operating skills and we are proud to enter
this partnership with them."
 
Mr. Deniz Aybars, Managing Director, Proccea, commented:
 
"We are very pleased to enter this partnership with Galata Madencilik
(the subsidiary of Ariana Resources plc in Turkey) and excited  about
developing  a  Turkish  gold  mining  venture.  We  look  forward  to
completing the JV  agreement in the  coming months and  the start  of
fruitful long term relations."
 
About Proccea
 
Proccea  Construction   Co.   (www.proccea.com)  is   an   integrated
construction firm specialising in turn-key solutions for a variety of
business sectors  ranging from  the  development of  gold  processing
plants to designing and building major hotels. The mining service  is
provided by a  business division  of Proccea named  CH Engineering  &
Consultancy ("CH").  CH provides  a range of  services to the  mining
industry, including  the design  of mining  equipment and  processing
plants, manufacturing installation, commissioning, start-up and staff
training for  gold  and  silver extraction  in  the  mining  industry
(www.chconsultants.com).
 
CH provides the  installation and  technical services  for such  gold
mining processes as heap leach,  CIL and CIP design and  operations.
CH has wide experience of designing and commissioning gold and silver
processing plants. In Turkey this has included the Kisladag gold mine
(Eldorado Gold), Copler  gold mine (Anatolia  Minerals), Mastra  gold
mine  (Koza  Gold)  and  the  Gümüsköy  silver  mine  (Eti   Gümüs).
Internationally, CH processing  plant commissions  have included  the
Zarcan gold mine in  Iran, the Knelson gold  mine in Kazakhstan,  the
Amesmessa gold mine in Algeria, the Kitila gold mine in Finland,  the
Minera Triton gold  mine in  Argentina and  the Maaden  gold mine  in
Saudi Arabia.  CH  has the technical  support of the  internationally
renowned Summit Valley Equipment and Engineering firm based in  Utah,
U.S.A.
 
Contacts:
 
Ariana Resources plc
Michael Spriggs, Chairman          Tel: 020 7407 3616
Kerim Sener, Managing Director
 
Beaumont Cornish Limited           Tel: 020 7628 3396
Roland Cornish
 
Alexander David Securities Limited Tel: 020 7448 9820
Nick Bealer / David Scott
 
Loeb Aron & Company Ltd            Tel: 020 7628 1128
Peter Freeman / Frank Lucas
 
Editors' note:
 
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 exploring 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  European
Goldfields Limited in north-eastern Turkey.
 
The Company's  flagship  assets  are its  Sindirgi  and  Tavsan  gold
projects.  Both projects  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.  The  total  resource
inventory  of  the   Company  stands  at   401,000  ounces  of   gold
equivalent.
 
Loeb Aron & Company Ltd.  and Alexander David Securities Limited  are
joint brokers  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.
 
Ends
 
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