Ariana Resources announces new high-grade veins

Highlights

• 1190 m in strike length of new gold-silver veins discovered within the limits of the current Arzu North and Derya opencast, which average over 1 g/t gold (Au).
• Typical true vein widths are 0.5 m to 4 m with some of the best grades including:
• 4 m at 6.58 g/t Au and 130 g/t silver (Ag).
• 1 m at 14.48 g/t Au and 260 g/t Ag.
• 4 m at 3.58 g/t Au and 26 g/t Ag.
• Active diamond drilling programme being adjusted to intercept new veins at depth and strike beyond the current pit designs.

Dr Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented: "Following the landmark news of the completion of the company's transformational joint venture with Özaltin and Proccea, as announced on 17 February 2021, we are pleased to announce the results of the latest geochemical sampling and geological interpretation of the Arzu North area at the JV's Kiziltepe Mine. The latest work in the Arzu North area proves our understanding that the majority of veins in this area were obscured at surface due to the upper ignimbrite cap rock. This prohibited the identification of mineralisation at surface and suggests that significant mineral potential remains to be tested throughout this area. In addition, from the perspective of the mining operation, the presence of these veins will only add to the gold and silver output of the Arzu North pit.

"To the northwest, beyond the limits of the current Arzu North pit, is an area 600 m x 200 m which largely obscured by the same cap rock. Evidence suggests that the vein system, though buried, remains well-developed in this area and requires drill testing. A similar situation also occurs on the eastern end of the Derya vein. The current two-rig diamond drilling programme is well underway and is now being refined to test additional areas along strike of the Arzu North vein system in particular and in the Arzu Central area near the Derya vein.

"We look forward to providing further project updates in due course and as results become available."

Technical update

During early 2021, a routine review of the Kiziltepe Mine grade-control database identified a further 23 new gold-silver mineralised veins within the ongoing excavations at the Arzu North area. Modelling of these additional veins has confirmed the presence of approximately 1190 m of new mineralised quartz veins, typically ranging from 0.5 m up to 4 m in width.

These veins are particularly important to the Kiziltepe operations, as most of the additional veins are located in the northern side of the Arzu North pit, which was originally modelled as containing a larger quantity of low-grade and waste material. The largest of the new uncovered veins is approximately 150 m long and 1 – 4 m wide. Results from the grade-control data have shown that the average grade of all the new veins exceeds 1 g/t Au, with some of the best grades including: 4 m at 6.58 g/t Au and 130 g/t Ag, 1 m at 14.48 g/t Au and 260 g/t Ag and 4 m at 3.58 g/t Au and 26 g/t Ag.

The exploration team regularly and routinely examine the large and growing archive of high-density grade-control sampling data to: 1) reconcile geological models and historic drilling, 2) plan future drill holes and 3) understand the general anatomy of the mineralisation system, and its extents, to guide future exploration.

The new data described here significantly increases confidence in the mineral potential of the Arzu North and Derya areas. It is clear that several well-mineralised structures are formed at a regular spacing and with a well-defined pattern of orientation and grade distribution throughout this area. The veins are particularly well-developed in the hanging wall of the Arzu North main vein, appearing as a series of splay veins off the main mineralising conduits, and occurring directly beneath the upper ignimbrite cap rock. These observations are increasingly significant as exploration continues in the Ceylan, Arzu Central and Arzu Far North target areas, which share very similar structural characteristics to Arzu North and Derya.

Since early January 2021, the exploration team have been working on a two-rig diamond drilling programme at Kiziltepe. The objective of the current programme is to: 1) complete resource in-fill drilling over all Kiziltepe areas scheduled to be mined within the next 2 years, and 2) continue exploration along strike extents of the known mineralisation to upgrade JORC inferred resources and the exploration target to higher levels of confidence.

Given the results of the latest grade-control data, it has become increasingly important to consider the potential of additional mineralisation in the periphery of known mineralisation, where ‘cap rocks’ obscure mineralised host rocks. The exploration team are reviewing the active drilling programme accordingly and are considering several additional holes to test specific areas along strike of Arzu North, beyond the limits of the current designed pit.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/18022021/ariana-resources-announces-new-high-grade-veins/