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Asgard Portfolio Update

26th Feb 2025 07:00

RNS Number : 4162Y
Ariana Resources PLC
26 February 2025
 

 

26 February 2025

AIM: AAU

ASGARD PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Africa and Europe, is pleased to provide an update on the 100% owned Asgard Metals Fund ("Asgard"), highlighting some of its associated investments and developments in the fund. Please visit www.asgardmetals.com.au for more information.

Highlights:

· Pallas Resources recently completed a major Joint Venture Agreement with Ivanhoe Mines in Kazakhstan, which will solely fund US$18.7 million in an initial phase and up to US$115 million during a subsequent phase, including up to 217,000m of drilling.

· Increased investment in Panther Metals in Australia to circa 4.9%, amounting to A$125,000 in shares following an agreement to extend the Asgard consulting input for a further year to the end of 2025.

· Investment into Annamite Resources maintained at circa 5.9% following a review of new exploration results for the Sokdee Cu-Au-Mo project and the acquisition of the Vangma Cu-Mo-Zn-Au Project.

· Altai Resources completed a high-resolution magnetic survey at Kokpekty West, expanding the project by 50% and identifying several additional prospects for follow-up electromagnetic surveys.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We are very pleased to be able to report further significant developments within the Asgard portfolio since our last update in January 2024.

"Exemplifying the prescience of our Asgard strategy, we are excited to report that Pallas Resources recently entered a Joint Venture Agreement with Ivanhoe Mines, one of the world's largest copper producers. This option and Joint Venture Agreement will target major porphyry and sediment-hosted copper systems within predefined areas of interest in Kazakhstan's high-grade, world-class mineral belts. The agreement initially covers the newly acquired Aktogay West (377km2) Copper Project.

"In addition, we reached an agreement to extend our consulting arrangement with Panther Metals by a further year, which has resulted in the issue of circa 7.5 million additional shares in the company, increasing our holding to circa 4.9% from 2.0%. In 2024, Panther completed a Scoping Study on the Coglia Ni-Co Project using a revised Mineral Resource of 102.9 Mt @ 0.60% Ni + 370 ppm Co*. Panther also completed exploration drill testing of several priority gold anomalies in the surrounding project area near Laverton, Western Australia.

"Our other portfolio companies, such as Annamite Resources and Altai Resources continue to make good progress with their planned exploration programmes and have been successful in identifying targets for drill testing. We look forward to updating the market with any further investments and developments in Asgard and providing a portfolio summary in 2026."

* All Resource figures in this announcement are quoted gross with respect to the underlying investee company.

Pallas Resources (7% owned by Asgard):

· Pallas has formed a Strategic Alliance and Joint Venture Agreement with Ivanhoe Mines, a leading global copper explorer and producer.

· Pallas and Ivanhoe hold 80% and 20% respectively of the Joint Venture with Ivanhoe committing US$18.7 million in sole-funding an Initial Phase over two years.

· The partnership targets major copper systems in the Chu-Sarysu Basin, Central Kazakhstan, one of the world's largest and most well-endowed sediment-hosted copper basins.

· The Chu-Sarysu Basin is home to the giant Dzhezkazgan deposit (2.0Bt at 1.1%Cu for 22MtCu), part of a total 27Mt copper endowment, with the USGS estimating an additional 25Mt of undiscovered copper.

· Spanning circa 15,000km², which is larger than Northern Ireland, the Alliance targets the basin's most prospective tracts and represents one of the most significant land packages in Kazakhstan and the largest in the basin.

· The Alliance combines Pallas' unmatched exploration datasets and first-mover advantage in Kazakhstan with Ivanhoe's deep expertise in sediment-hosted copper systems, exemplified by their grassroots discovery of the now-producing Kamoa-Kakula Complex (third largest copper mine globally).

· On completion of the Initial Phase, Ivanhoe will spend up to US$115 million during the subsequent Phase 1, which includes up to 217,000m of drilling.

· Preparations are underway for the 2025 field season, anticipated to include large-scale geophysics, reconnaissance mapping and broad geochemical surveys.

· For each advancing project, Pallas is granted a net smelter return royalty and retains a fully funded equity position (at 20%), which is free carried through completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study (minimum 1Mt contained copper), permitting, and Ivanhoe committing US$70 million toward construction. Pallas holds the right to a loan from Ivanhoe to fund its equity share, with any subsequent free cash flow divided between shareholder distributions and loan repayments.

Source:

https://www.pallasresources.com/_files/ugd/92d970_8ef0e47ae817466f8a068638ff661e49.pdf

 

Panther Metals (4.9% owned by Asgard):

· Panther completed a Scoping Study on a revised Mineral Resource of 102.9 Mt @ 0.60% Ni + 370 ppm Co, containing 614,200 tonnes of nickel and 37,700 tonnes of cobalt at the Coglia Project near Laverton, Western Australia. This yielded an NPV8 of A$409M, IRR 31.8% and a 3.2-year payback from an A$776.6M ten-year mine life and low pre-production CAPEX of A$376.9M.

· A total of 4,443m of RC drilling was completed over several drill targets contained within the Laverton Gold Project area in 2024.

· Drilling was completed at Burtville East, returning several wide and high-grade gold intercepts.

· Significant gold anomalism and continuity was confirmed along the 6km long Comet Well target, with a few narrow and moderate-grade intercepts.

· A technical review of the existing nickel-cobalt resource at Coglia was completed to design a new drilling programme which would enable full conversion to JORC Compliant Indicated status, allowing the project to advance towards a pre-feasibility study.

Source:

https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02908270-6A1249429

 

Altai Resources (8.3% owned by Asgard):

· Altai Resources is dedicated to exploiting the untapped copper and nickel potential of Central Asia, specifically targeting supergiant copper-nickel sulphide systems.

· New geophysical programmes were completed on the Altai tenement package, including a high-resolution magnetic survey at Kokpekty West, expanding the project by 50% and identifying several additional prospects for follow-up electromagnetic surveys; a recent magnetic data inversion at Kokpekty has further refined high-priority targets.

· Altai has appointed Rob Stuart as a technical advisor. Rob brings 25+ years of experience in magmatic systems and geophysical exploration, including leadership roles at BHP Billiton and Desert Metals.

· Processing of first-pass electromagnetic data at Kokpekty revealed two large conductors with mid-range conductivity values, warranting further follow-up. Plans are in place to extend the geophysical surveys across 20+ intrusive targets in the portfolio.

· The team, led by Dr. Steve Beresford, conducted extensive regional reconnaissance, refining key geological insights and confirming new growth targets.

· Altai will continue its exploration strategy of combining high-resolution magnetic and electromagnetic surveys to develop a pipeline of drill-ready targets across its district-scale holdings.

· Altai has leveraged its first-mover status in this emerging copper-nickel belt, with two new licenses granted at Zaysan (81km2) and Kokpekty West (142km2).

· The company plans to replicate its successful exploration strategy (high-resolution magnetic and EM surveys) to quickly delineate new drill targets within a district-scale portfolio (>530km2).

Source:

https://www.altai-resources.com/_files/ugd/92d970_bc53526ea25e4289bba82a992e3f9900.pdf

 

Annamite Resources (5.9% owned by Asgard):

· Annamite is a junior exploration company incorporated in Singapore in 2019, with a focus on precious and base metals in Laos, SE Asia.

· Annamite holds two tenements, Sokdee and Vangma, totalling approximately 185km2. These contain a significant nine-kilometre-long porphyry trend comprising:

• Sokdee: three major Cu-Au-Mo anomalous zones (Mouk, Namthom and Boundary), with adjacent high-grade Au-Ag-base metal veins in Spine and Palm.

• Vangma: the newly discovered, 1.5km2 Flank Cu-Mo target, additional targets of indeterminate type located at Milky Way (Cu-Zn), Vangma West (Cu) and Star (Mo-Zn) and the Buffalo Creek gold zone.

· These tenements occupy an exploration gap along the Loei Belt, between known deposits and mines to the North in Laos and to the south in Thailand.

Source:

https://www.annamite-resources.com

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

Contacts:

 

Ariana Resources plc

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7407 3616

Michael de Villiers, Chairman

Kerim Sener, Managing Director

Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Roland Cornish / Felicity Geidt

Panmure Liberum (Joint Broker)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500

Atholl Tweedie / Rauf Munir

Zeus Capital Limited (Joint Broker)

Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell

Yellow Jersey PR Limited (Financial PR)

Tel: +44 (0) 203 829 5000

 

Tel: +44 (0) 7983 521 488

Dom Barretto / Shivantha Thambirajah /Bessie Elliot

[email protected]

 

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

 

Editors' Note:

 

About Ariana Resources:

Ariana is an AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with an exceptional track-record of creating value for its shareholders through its interests in active mining projects and investments in exploration companies. Its current interests include a major gold development project in Zimbabwe, gold production in Türkiye and copper-gold exploration and development projects in Cyprus and Kosovo.

 

Ariana owns 100% of the Dokwe Gold Project ("Dokwe") in Zimbabwe. Dokwe is made up of the Dokwe North and Dokwe Central gold deposits which are located in the Tsholotsho District near the city of Bulawayo. The deposits have a combined JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of over 1.83 million ounces of gold (as at June 2024) and the project represents the largest undeveloped gold project in Zimbabwe.

 

The Company holds 23.5% interest in Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. a joint venture with Ozaltin Holding A.S. and Proccea Construction Co. in Türkiye which contains a depleted total of c. 2.2 million ounces gold equivalent (as at March 2024, using a price ratio of 90 Ag to 1 Au). The joint venture comprises the Kiziltepe Mine and the Tavsan and Salinbas projects.

 

The Kiziltepe Gold-Silver Mine is located in western Türkiye and contains a depleted JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 171,700 ounces gold and 3.3 million ounces silver (as at March 2024). The mine has been in profitable production since 2017 and has been producing at an average rate of c.22,000 ounces of gold per annum. A Net Smelter Return ("NSR") royalty of 2.5% on production is being paid to Franco-Nevada Corporation.

 

The Tavsan Gold Mine is located in western Türkiye and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 311,000 ounces gold and 1.1 million ounces silver (as at March 2024). Following the approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment and associated permitting, Tavsan is being developed as the second gold mining operation in Türkiye and is currently in construction. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Sandstorm Gold.

 

The Salinbas Gold Project is located in north-eastern Türkiye and contains a JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 1.5 million ounces of gold (as at July 2020). It is located within the multi-million ounce Artvin Goldfield, which contains the "Hot Gold Corridor" comprising several significant gold- copper projects including the 4 million ounce Hot Maden project, which lies 16km to the south of Salinbas. A NSR royalty of up to 2% on future production is payable to Eldorado Gold Corporation.

 

Ariana owns 76% of UK-registered Western Tethyan Resources Ltd ("WTR"), which operates across south-eastern Europe and is based in Pristina, Republic of Kosovo. The company is targeting its exploration on major copper-gold deposits across the porphyry-epithermal transition. WTR is being funded through a five-year Alliance Agreement with Newmont Ventures Limited (www.newmont.com) and is separately earning-in to up to 85% of the Slivova Gold Project.

 

Ariana owns 61% of UK-registered Venus Minerals PLC ("Venus") which is focused on the exploration and development of copper-gold projects in Cyprus, some of which are in application, containing a combined JORC Indicated and Inferred Resource of 16.6Mt @ 0.45% to 0.80% copper (excluding additional gold, silver and zinc).

 

Ariana owns several investments in listed and private companies via its Australian subsidiary Asgard Metals Pty. Ltd. ("Asgard"), which also provides technical input into the various investee company exploration programmes. Investments have been made in high-value potential, discovery-stage mineral exploration companies located across the Eastern Hemisphere and within easy reach of Ariana's operational hubs in Australia, Türkiye, UK and Zimbabwe. Its most advanced interest is through a 2% holding of Panther Metals Limited (ASX: PNT).

 

Panmure Liberum Limited and Zeus Capital Limited are 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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