Turkey-focused exploration and development company Ariana Resources has been granted a second operational licence in the Salibas project area, adding further confidence to its ground-holding in the prospective region.
The company has been granted an operational licence for the Hizarliyayla deposit, which lies 8 km to the north of the 4.3-million-ounce Hot Gold deposit.
The Ardala operational licence has received Ministerial approval for its renewal and a formal grant of the extension is awaited.
“With two ten-year operational licences now granted and a third operational licence awaiting its extension, the project is reaching a decision point concerning a major new work programme involving further drilling and technical studies, including the preparation of a full statutory environmental impact assessment. These studies will be undertaken in parallel with the commencement of a prefeasibility study in due course,” said MD Kerim Sener.
An earlier scoping study indicated the possibility of developing a new gold mine producing at a rate of 50 000 oz/y over a mine life of about ten years. The base case for this project demonstrated a net present value of $108-million with an internal rate of return of 28%.
Sener said that Ariana had engaged with a number of companies to potentially partner with to develop the Salinbas project.
The project comprises the Salinbas gold/silver deposit and the Ardala copper/gold/molybdenum porphyry, among other prospects. The total resource inventory of the Salinbas project area is about one-million ounces of gold equivalent.