Ariana Resources, exploration and development company operating in Turkey, announced the completion of the repayment of the construction capital loan to Türkiye Finans Katılım Bankası. The company noted that the repayment of the $ 33 million loan which repayment began in December 2014, was completed as of April 2020.
Ariana Resources Managing Director Dr. Kerim Şener, commented about completed repayment: “This is a fantastic result for the Joint Venture and the Company. Repayments against the construction capital loan commenced in December 2014 and have been completed as planned, according to mandated repayment dates, up to the end of April 2020. This serves to demonstrate the strong operating credentials of the JV and the profitability of the Kiziltepe Mine. While the life of mine average revenue per gold ounce is US$1,478, we also expect that this buoyant price environment will likely remain under current macroeconomic circumstances.
Meanwhile our new exploration drilling programme which commenced late last week at Kiziltepe is proceeding as planned. This programme was designed to follow-up on the successful deep drilling which we completed at Arzu South last year. We are pleased to report that vein mineralisation has been encountered in the first of the new drill holes, which terminated at about 200m depth, demonstrating the vertical continuity of the vein system as predicted. This bodes well for the future development of the Kiziltepe Mine, as we consider its transition to underground operations in the future.”
Ariana Resources also shared an update about an extension to the project review period under the Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”).
According to the update, final diligence report is due to be submitted by the technical consultants to the Proposed Partner. Deadline for the Memorandum of understanding is extended to 30 June 2020. The company also noted that draft definitive legal agreements remain under review by the Parties.
Sener stated that: “Due to the limitations resulting from the impact of COVID-19, we have decided jointly to extend the project review period until the 30 June 2020. This will enable the Parties to evaluate the proposed new Joint Venture (“JV”) and the draft legal agreements detailing the specific terms of the JV. This provides additional time to enable an even more thorough review by the Parties and coincides with significant new project developments, including the revised Resource Estimate for Kiziltepe, announced last week, and revisions to our resource for Tavsan which remains work in progress. In addition, at Tavsan we are in the process of finalising the development schedule for what is expected to be our second mine in Turkey.”
