11th May 2015 12:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mariana Resources is "living up to its name with the hottest drill results of 2015" and is set to benefit from the high grade nature of the Hot Maden project even if only a small deposit is found, says Ryan Long, an analyst at Northland Capital Partners.
"We have just returned from a site visit at Mariana Resources Hot Maden project, located in eastern Turkey. While we were on site the drill rig was turning, testing the northern extension of the high grade copper-gold and zinc-silver mineralisation that was defined during the phase one drill programme," says Long.
In February, Mariana said it had received positive results from the initial drilling programme and had completed the first two holes of the second phase by May 7, again receiving further positive preliminary metallurgical test results from the site. The new results are expected to be reported to the market soon.
The phase one drilling programme delivered results including 103 metres at 9.0 grammes of gold per tonne and 2.2% copper and 82 metres at 20.4 grammes of gold per tonne and 1.9% copper.
"The high grade nature of the poly-metallic mineralisation defined to date means that even a relatively small deposit could generate significant value," says Long.
Long highlights that Mariana has no near-term financial commitment at the project and is also getting paid by its joint venture partner, Lidya Madencilik, as the project advances. Lidya has to spend an additional USD1.8 million on exploration and make payments of USD350,000 to Mariana to earn a 70% interest in the project.
"Despite the large amount of excitement surrounding the Hot Maden project, Mariana should not be viewed as a "one trick pony" and its portfolio approach to exploration means it has several other projects that hold much promise for further upside," says Long.
"Following the completion of phase II at Hot Maden, Mariana?s focus will shift to South America with drilling expected to commence at Soledad and Rurimarac to test for porphyry copper and epithermal gold-silver mineralisation," adds Long.
Long says if Mariana can make a porphyry discovery that it would be "another game changer," adding that junior miners have seen their market valuation rise between GBP30 to GBP70 million within three months of discovering a porphyry since 2010.
Northland initiates coverage of Mariana with a Speculative Buy rating and a price target of 2.5 pence.
Mariana shares were trading down 1.8% to 2.48 pence per share on Monday afternoon.
Northland Capital Partners acts as Mariana's nominated advisor and broker.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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