Ariana Resources PLC on Tuesday said it has received positive results from drilling at its 24%-owned Kizilcukur project in Turkey.

The mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Turkey, Cyprus and Kosovo said initial drilling results from the project included 6.0 metres at 4.75 grammes of gold per tonne and 135.2 grammes of silver per tonne.

The company said the drilling programme tested all three main mineralisation zones at the asset, and identified possible extension zones.

The firm said metallurgical test work at the site indicated an average gold recovery of 97%, while rock chip sampling to test the extensions at the site returned grades of up to 15.6 grammes of gold per tonne.

Kizilcukur is north of the Kiziltepe gold-silver mine, which alongside the Tavsan gold mine and Salinbas project, is owned by Zenit Madencilik San ve Tic AS, which is a joint venture alongside Ozaltin Holding AS and Proccea Construction Co.

Managing Director Kerim Sener said: ‘This is a great set of results from the Kizilcukur drilling programme. The vein system has now been sufficiently well tested for the Zenit mining team and the incoming data is continuing to demonstrate the continuity of gold and silver mineralisation in many of the areas tested. The Zenit team have commenced the detailed work to bring Kizilcukur into the Kiziltepe Sector mining plan.

‘We expect Kizilcukur will be operated as a satellite mine to Kiziltepe within the next eighteen months.’

Ariana Resources shares rose 6.5% to 2.24 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

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