Having entered commercial production of gold and silver at the Kiziltepe mine, Aim-listed Ariana Resources is now looking towards the next phase of its business strategy, chairperson Michael de Villiers said on Friday.
Kiziltepe is owned by the Red Rabbit joint venture (JV), in which Ariana and Turkish company Proccea Construction hold equal stakes.
In a copy of a speech delivered at Ariana’s annual general meeting, De Villiers said that the next phase would focus on three areas: Bringing on stream additional resources identified at the Kiziltepe sector, planning and permitting of the Tavşan sector of the Red Rabbit project, and continuing the exploration and development of its wholly-owned Salinbaş project.
"It has been our long-held view that Salinbaş, located within the 'Hot Gold Corridor', contains resources well in excess of the one-million ounces we have already identified. The potential of Salinbaş has not gone unnoticed and, given the potential significance of this resource, we believe it is important that we better define the resource potential and be discerning in terms of any future partnerships or agreements we might conclude,” he said.
De Villiers further reported that Ariana’s performance so far this year had been encouraging, noting that it expected to achieve its gold production forecast for the year.
The JV has a full-year production guidance of 20 000 oz of gold.