So I have a sizable position (less than 1%) of Ariana Resources. Listed on AIM. Operations in Turkey. Website: arianaresources.com

Some interviews here:

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/compan...urces-0122.html

They recently signed a MoU with an engineering company for a fast track, small 30kopa project which would be $300-400 cash costs per oz.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/compan...jects-9496.html

There is a good thread on the stock on ADVFN.

Basically market cap is £6.1m. They are going to have half of the 30koz pa mine.

The company also has a JV with European Goldfields for 10-20% at BFS of the Ardala Copper Gold Porphyry and the surrounding gold deposits. That looks to be a very interesting high grade, mid size porphyry.

The company has over £1m cash and is restarting its exploration program in the region of turkey surrounding its Tavsan and Sindirgi licences. The region is largely unexplored and the entire region is a volcanic belt with prolific gold potential.

Kerim the CEO is English/ Turkish and studied at Southampton and a gold explo PhD in Australia. He has always delivered his promises despite a very tough market environment.

The current resource is understated. He thinks the Tavsan resource is 500k-1moz. In Sindirgi the existing 180k oz resource is based on 1km of strike, however the total surface exposed veining is over 40km.

Welcome to GEI, interesting post.

thx

Hi denarii, was on my watchlist a long time because of the Tasvan project, had several conversations on that thread with Lucky, but I confess to missing the uplift when interested at 2p

Kerim did strike me as forthcoming and did answer requests, can't remeber what put me off at the time, but think it might have to do with getting into production or funds needed re the off-take agreement.

Might have another look.

well suffice to say i was v. disappointed that the JV announcement got buried in the market sell off last week. dont see any obvious reason for the MoU to not go through and be finalised in the next 90 days.

listening to Kerim talk about the surrounding region is very interesting. all current large gold/ silver deposits in turkey are near the coast and im not fully familiar with the details but exploration wasnt that attractive until the govt. changed the laws a few years ago. anyway the mountainous hinterland near tavsan is largely unexplored and perhaps he will hit upon the big find that the company was initially launched for. having said that sindirgi certainly looks like a 1moz+ possibility, however with suffieint existing resources for th JV there is not much incentive to drill out sindirgi fully until the plant if up and running and producing cash. at that point they can drill out tavsan and sindirgi more fully and i wouldnt be surprised if another larger plant was built at sindirgi then, which would boost the production profile of the company. Anecdotally if you are familiar with Stratex they had this laughable report from Richard Silitoe that suggested that their Inlice area was similar to a 40moz province in latin america (i.e. buy the Stratex IPO)... Well Stratex certainly havent found 40moz yet, but maybe Kerim can actually be the person to find something large, its really just a matter of competently doing the explo in a prolific area that hasnt really been explored by anyone in the past. Any new finds as far as I know would be outside the purvue of either the Tavsan/ Sindirgi JV or the EGU JV.

if EGU pull out of turkey then I believe the terms are that EGU's share of the JV reverts to Ariana at no cost, EGU has been doing a lot of drilling in Turkey in recent months. That could be a great asset for this tiny company. Apparently David Reading's Turkish foray pissed the Greek authorities off and hence his departure from EGU as part of the permitting deal there.

RNS out on the Ardala JV:

=======================================================================
Re: News Releases* - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
TRENCH RESULTS AT THE SALINBAS PROSPECT
=======================================================================

TRENCH RESULTS AT THE SALINBAS PROSPECT

Ariana Resources plc ("the Company"), the gold exploration and
development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to
announce the results of trenching undertaken on the Salinbas prospect
which is part of the Ardala mineralised system.

Highlights

. 33m at 9.6 g/t Au and 46m at 8.3 g/t Au

. Further potential along strike and at depth

. Drilling underway

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"The results of the initial trenches undertaken on the Salinbas
prospect highlight the potential of the broader Ardala mineral system
to yield multiple zones of high-grade mineralisation located along
discrete structural corridors which had been overlooked by previous
explorers. The Joint Venture team has been successful in identifying
these zones and in conducting a rapid and successful programme of
follow-up. We now look forward to the results of our drilling
programme."

Details of Programme

On the Ardala Project, mapping and sampling has confirmed that porphyry
mineralisation continues to the south of the previously recognised
outcrops, and this additional extension increases the size potential of
the Ardala porphyry system.

A high-grade gold zone has also been identified at Salinbas, located
some 3km to the southwest of the Ardala porphyry. Trenching at
Salinbas has returned the following bedrock intercepts over a 360m
strike length with mineralisation open to the south and at depth:

Trench Number Intercept (m) Grade (g/t Au)
1 26 5.4
2 6 2.8
3 46 8.3
4 6 2.8
5 14 7.3
And 33 9.6
6 9 4.3

Drilling of the trenched zone and at Ardala South is currently underway
and results of these programmes are pending. Further information is
provided in a parallel announcement by our Joint Venture partners,
European Goldfields Limited.

so in case there is any interest Kerim will be at the Mines and Money conference at the start of December as a presenting firm.

I personally see the stock 3 bagging if some interest comes into it short term if the MoU goes through or if the Ardala drill results catch people's attention.

my current valuation notes:

When gold was $900 and industry marginal mining cash costs $700 odd the 'fair value' of a production oz was $3k. Based on this Red Rabbit with 15koz attributable would be worth $45m for Ariana, potentially more given the exploration upside at both Tavsan and Sindirgi.

On an EV basis, Red Rabbit, lets say $400 cash costs:

30koz/t * $1100 = $33m - $400/oz = $18m gross profit, $9m for Ariana in operating cash flow. Not sure how much corp tax and D&A expenses but at say 5x EBITDA that is a market cap of $45m, or about £20m. At 7.5x EBITDA then its $67.5m. 7.5x is an operating income yield of 15%, which isn’t bad for a gold stock. At $1250/oz then its $12.75m in EBITDA and at $1500 then its $16.5m.

Then there is Ardala, assuming $2bn of metal value, Ariana has 20% valued at 5% pre feasibility study, then its $20m, or about £12.5m, $40m at 10% valuation. Then Arlington JV is 10% participation but no value given now. Embedded Ardala metal value maybe higher.

Then there is the £1m+ in cash, own drilling rig and explo potential in Sindirgi in particular and in the WAVE province as well and also at Ardala. I think an explo value of $10m is not unreasonable if Ardala is progressing and Red Rabbit is being built especially since Red Rabbit's production profile at Sindirgi could be significantly expanded later IMO.

So in the next 18 months it’s reasonable to target a valuation of a commissioned Red Rabbit and a progressing Ardala of £32.5m to £40m, add $10m in explo upside and its £38.75 to £46.25m. Current Market cap is around £6m in Nov 09.

So I caught up with Kerim at the Mines and Money conference. He seemed to be fairly busy with people coming by but I had time to get an update. He had one of the 1oz gold bars that they produced with him.

Red Rabbit
I asked about the progress. He said based on the current progress, when I asked him if it is a ‘done deal’, that he expects it to be unless something completely out of the blue arises. He said they had currently gotten as far as the management agreement which AFAIK must come logically after a lot of the bigger issues are agreed on. So I expect that to go through in Jan in all likelihood.

The deal will be for a 30koz plant, but probably located in Sindirgi. There will be a modular aspect so perhaps the mill and heap leach units, for instance, could be temporarily moved to Tavsan in order to maximise economic recovery, but its expected to basically be built in Sindirgi. He said the permitting there should not be an issue as the near by dam is not drinking water but used for flood over-flow control.
The cap ex would be around $13m so they will be looking for a $6m non-equity facility of some sort - I cant see that being an issue as the current resources suggest it will be quite low cash cost.

I didn’t press on reserve upgrades but there is some more drilling planned including Derya the covered area which would most probably be economic with the plant at Sindirgi. I asked about the prospectively in Sindirgi as the current resource is based on Arzu South which is only about 1km of veining, yet there is a total of about 42km of veining outcrops in the overall Sindirgi licence area. He said that they have done some sampling and see material resource upgrade potential but obviously there is the risk of some barren areas etc. My personal view is that Sindirgi should be a 1moz plus medium to high grade play, but it will take time to see anything like that, and maybe in the fullness of time it could be more than even that. The 200k oz resource at Tavsan is only based on around 20% of the known mineralisation. Additionally as Ariana explore around Sindirgi if they find a non-stand alone project, say 50k oz, they can sell it into the JV at 3x the exploration cost or if larger can opt to keep it separate from the JV.

So that’s where the Red Rabbit stands, its going to be more ‘Red’ (Kizil) than Rabbit (Tavsan). Overall I was quite positive on the prospects for this going ahead and reserve builds over the next year.

Share price
On the share price he was astounded that its sold off and thought that after the MoU news and Salinbas results it would be more like 6 or 7p, however the news came out at a time that gold stocks were going down in a general market correction. He said there were some private investors showing interest at the conference.

EGU/ Ardala – Kerim
So I was asking about this. He is very impressed with Salinbas. Basically the Ardala licence was JV-d to the Pontide JV for a 20% carry for Ariana to BFS. What happened after is a small area of adjacent licence to the south came available and that was picked up. Ariana has a 10% carry of this section of licence. The strong Salinbas trench results came from this second licence. They think its the feeder pipe for the porphyry and it feeds across from the current results (10% carry) and then up into the Ardala licence (20% carry) and into the Ardala porphyry. As such some of Salinbas will be 20% carry and some (most of the recent results) at 10%. The Aldridge Derinkoy licence is in a separate area and therefore not directly linked to Salinbas. I managed to get Kerim to suggest there could be 500k oz there, but its early days, so we will have to see what takes shape.

I asked him if EGU might take Ariana out or what their intentions are. He thought they were too preoccupied with a new management team and Greece at the moment, but he confirmed that they are very excited about Turkey and the JV and its all going well etc. Re David Reading he said Reading resigned from EGU during Kerim’s military service and a week later they got a resignation letter and that was that.

EGU – Turkey
I also talked to the lady on the EGU stand to find out about their intentions. She was a professional geologist by training and now works with Martyn Konig the EGU CEO who is a financier but with a gold mining focus and who is also on the board of New Gold listed in Toronto.

She only just started after the management change so she was not fully up to speed with everything in Turkey but we had a discussion. She said before the Salinbas results Turkey and the Ardala/ Pontides JV had been seen as a strategic first step into Turkey which is a very prospective area. Reading had seen Ardala as a decent enough first project in that sense and Turkey had been the third priority after Greece and Romania. However after Salinbas she said they are probably moving Turkey and the licence up to the main exploration priority. As such they seem committed to Turkey. I asked if they would potentially considered bidding for Ariana. Based on her reaction I didn’t get the impression it was something that has been actively considered. However I pointed out it would be cheaper than doing it later for instance at BFS stage, would give them full control over the Pontides project and gives them a team in Turkey, however I don’t know if Kerim would stick around after any take over and IMO he is Ariana’s main exploration asset and the best chance of finding something seriously big in the country.

Equally there are some drilling results due anytime from the Ardala porphyry’s south section based on two drilled holes and a third hole which is being drilled now and that should be positive and should help to define a quite decent grade mid-sized porphyry.

While I was waiting to talk to the EGU lady her friend was there and I got chatting to him, he is a coal geologist but invested in EGU personally. He suggested that a tie up with New Gold, which Martyn Konig is on the board of, and EGU would not surprise him.

Eitherway it seems that Turkey has caught EGU’s eye and they are committed to it as part of a growth pipeline. They also have a $10m exploration budget now and Turkey is a high priority, which is positive for the advancement of the Pontides assets.

All in I came away assured that the MoU should become a full agreement in the next month or two, barring anything unexpected, and which will hopefully catch the market’s eye. There is also a chance of something with EGU materialising but that would seem to be left field for the time being. The $500k Ariana is getting from the Red Rabbit deal should also pay for some more exploration in the region which is starting now and I think offers a good chance of some success.

update on JV progress yesterday. no interest in the stock though.

=======================================================================
Re: News Releases* - Thursday, December 17, 2009
RED RABBIT JV UPDATE
=======================================================================

17th December 2009
AIM / PLUS Markets: AAU

RED RABBIT JV UPDATE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration
and development company focused on Turkey is pleased to announce
further solid progress towards production on its proposed joint venture
("JV") with Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea") on the Red Rabbit
Project in western Turkey. Work is underway on a number of fronts in
preparation for the planned 2010 feasibility study.

Highlights

. Good-will payment of US$0.5 million received from Proccea

. Wardrop Engineering, a Tetra Tech Company ("Wardrop"), engaged to
undertake a NI43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate

. SGS Mineral Services engaged to undertake new metallurgical testwork

. SRK Consulting engaged to commence environmental scoping

. PriceWaterhouseCoopers engaged as financial consultant for the
transaction

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"The Company has taken several rapid steps forward for the development
of the Red Rabbit Project. The Company has chosen to make these
positive moves ahead of formal completion of our JV agreement in order
to make optimal use of time. Proccea is being highly supportive of
these work programmes and is reinforcing the efforts being made by our
team. Accordingly, we are confident that the JV agreement will be
concluded during the first quarter of next year."

Current Progress

Following the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") with
Proccea, the Company and its JV partner have initiated work on several
core aspects of project development. In the first phase of this work,
efforts are being directed toward the Kiziltepe sector of the Red
Rabbit Project.

Under the terms of the MoU, Ariana's operating subsidiary has received
US$0.5 million in cash from Proccea in exchange for a letter of
guarantee from Türkiye Iş Bankasi in Turkey. The Company intends
to hold this sum in a high interest bearing account until completion of
the JV agreement, following which the funds will be directed towards
new exploration in Turkey.

Wardrop has been commissioned to undertake a revised National
Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for the Kiziltepe
sector. In parallel with this work, SGS Mineral Services UK Ltd. will
be commencing further metallurgical testwork on mineralised material
from Kiziltepe to determine optimal grind, leach and tailing
characteristics. The revised resource and the new metallurgical
testwork will be used as part of project feasibility studies to be
undertaken in 2010. Relating to this, Proccea is intending to
establish its own laboratory on site to fast-track future metallurgical
testwork.

SRK Consulting in Turkey has been engaged to commence environmental
scoping in December 2009 prior to commencing a formal Environmental
Impact Assessment ("EIA") for the project in the New Year. At the
present time, the formal EIA is scheduled to be completed by September
2010. Funding of the EIA will be undertaken by Proccea as part of its
earn-in on the Red Rabbit Project.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Turkey has been engaged to provide financial
advice to the Company during the structuring of the formal JV agreement
and for the establishment of the JV Company. This measure has been
taken to ensure that the JV is structured financially in the most
appropriate manner ahead of JV completion. Proccea and Ariana are
currently working on the Shareholders' Agreement and are estimating
completion of the JV within the first quarter 2010.

Ariana up today but the MMs are not trading it and dont have stock. Should move it up to find buyers if people are looking to buy

Been watching this one for a good while and now joined you here denarii.

Bought a first lot just two days before the unexpected placing !! --- but got another lot at a good point this week.

Drilling at present to add to known resources and heading into production with the Red Rabbit JV next year, would expect decent move up over the next year once the effect of the 2p placing is history.

Current market cap of £5.5million - post placing - looks very appealing. May top up.

I originally bought some when Stephen Poulton was a director,
and later sold at a loss

I see that this one is back down again

AAU.L / Ariana Resources ... update


There was some rather heavy selling on the way dwon towards 2p

I was tempted in at 2.4p recently after watching this stock for a while.

if i wasnt fully loaded with this i wd top up. i have metally written off the 3p warrants now unless the stock gets a decent rerating before june.

moving up

looks ready to break out. de villiers putting his own money in is a good sign, i know him to be a hard nosed executive so it says a lot IMO.

Ariana completes JV agreement -- drill results due to upgrade resources within the JV.


12th July 2010
RED RABBIT JOINT VENTURE


Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration and development company focused on Turkey is pleased to announce the completion of its joint venture ("JV") agreement with Proccea Construction Co. ("Proccea") on its Red Rabbit Project in western Turkey.

Highlights

50-50 JV to develop the Red Rabbit Project

Approx. US$1.4 million to be committed to a Feasibility Study, EIA and additional permitting; consulting groups to be engaged

Approx. US$6.6 million funding to be committed towards plant construction

Drilling results from the recent resource drilling programme expected shortly
_______________________

Full Release:--
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchang...mentId=10567712



Now have the JV with European Goldfields ( EGU ) and this one with Proccea, plus their own gold projects .

Second half of this year should see strong progress and greater appreciation from a lowly market cap.

Will need to raise cash at some point but probably not for a while ( possibly year end when further drilling results on both JVs should have added value )