Zenit Portfolio Operations Update

Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company with gold project interests in Africa and Europe, is pleased to provide an update on the Zenit Operations in Türkiye, comprising the Kiziltepe, Tavsan and Salinbas projects. The projects are operated by Zenit Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Zenit") which is 23.5% owned by Ariana, and is a partnership with Proccea Construction Co. and Ozaltin Holding A.S.

Highlights:

• Production of gold and silver continuing at the Kiziltepe Mine, with 2Mt ore mined since the commencement of operations to the end of Q3 2024, with an average grade of 2.8g/t Au across the Kiziltepe Sector.
• Mining continuing at the Tavsan Mine, 0.5Mt ore mined to the end of Q3 2024 with an average grade of 2.2 g/t Au.
• A total of 60,000t of ore (three months production) was stockpiled and ready for processing by the end of Q3 2024.
• Construction of the Tavsan heap-leach and processing plant is proceeding smoothly and remains on track for completion of major works in 2024.
• Drilling is continuing at the Salinbas Gold Project with over 1,290m completed since September 2024 and additional drilling of c.8000m has been planned at Tavsan.
• The Zenit operational team have commenced a project assessment study, following their recent visit to Zimbabwe and the Dokwe Project site.
• Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"We continue to be very pleased with the progress being made by our Zenit operational partnership in Türkiye, which is going from strength to strength. With two operating mines in the portfolio and several positive developments in our longer-term pipeline, we are currently positioning ourselves to expand our partnership into new jurisdictions, in line with our long-term strategic plans.

"We have recently hit another major milestone at the Kiziltepe operation - 2Mt of ore mined - almost double our expectations since mining commenced in early 2017. With the gold price having climbed from US$1,200 per ounce in 2017 to well over double that today, Kiziltepe remains a highly profitable mine and the partners intend to maximise the returns from this operation over the next few years. With a current cash cost averaging US$1,450 per ounce, partly reflective of the additional costs of Tavsan, Zenit's finances remain robust.

"As Kiziltepe nears the end of its life, and with a view to the long-term sustainability of the business, we have continued developing our project pipeline and our second operation with Zenit in particular. Construction at Tavsan commenced at scale in July 2023 and has been largely funded via Zenit through its internal funds. More recently, a US$20 million debt facility was committed to the project to accelerate construction for delivery of the new processing plant by the end of 2024. As a result, we are now on track for gold production through the Tavsan heap-leach in early 2025.

"With the positive developments being made across the portfolio in Türkiye, we were delighted to host representatives from the Zenit mining, exploration and construction teams on site at the Dokwe Project in Zimbabwe last month. Over recent weeks, we have shared our project data with Zenit as we explore opportunities to leverage their technical strengths with a view to involving them in support of the Dokwe Feasibility Study."

Summary

Since the most recent resource update for the Zenit Mining Operations in March 2024 (AIM: 26 March 2024), mining has continued at Kiziltepe and Tavsan, with ore processing continuing at Kiziltepe and construction continuing at Tavsan. Meanwhile, a drilling programme continues at Salinbas.

Kiziltepe Sector

The Kiziltepe Sector is located in western Türkiye and includes Kiziltepe, Kepez, Karakavak, Kizilcukur and Ivrindi (Figure 1). The ore from all the satellite locations is planned to be processed at the Kiziltepe Processing Plant.

Mining this year has been focused on the Banu vein of the Kiziltepe Project (Figure 2). Mining has also continued slower than the other Kiziltepe pits, including Arzu South, Arzu North and Derya pits. Up to 30 September 2024, 2 million tonnes at 2.83g/t Au of ore has been mined from the Kiziltepe Sector, including Kepez North, with the trucking distances shown in Figure 2.

Following the successful application of detectORETM on drill core samples on Ariana's Dokwe Project in Zimbabwe, Ariana has trialled the detectORETM process on both soil and stream sediment samples across areas of known mineralisation across the Kiziltepe Sector. DetectORETM results correlated strongly with laboratory results in the historical data. This trial was followed up by a small soil sampling programme of 370 samples across the Kepez area, with gold values detected by the detectORETM process correlating closely with the areas indicated by the pathfinder elements (arsenic, bismuth, antimony) in the pXRF survey completed over the area in 2013. The detectORETM process will now be more widely applied in all of our exploration.

Figure 1: Kiziltepe Sector summary map, showing the location of the main Kiziltepe area and the satellite projects of Ivrindi and Kizilcukur.

Figure 2: Kiziltepe, Kepez and Karakavak area map showing primary access routes and locations of significant mineralisation and exploration opportunities.

Tavsan Sector

The Tavsan Project is located in western Türkiye, 130 kilometres by road from Kiziltepe Gold Mine. Tavsan is being developed as Zenit's second gold mining operation in Türkiye and is currently in construction, with mining underway since the end of 2023. Zenit continues to finance the Tavsan mine construction through a combination of internal funds and a US$20 million loan facility with Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Ziraat Bankasi A.S. Construction is on schedule for completion of major works by year-end 2024. Low-grade ore is being stockpiled on site whilst higher-grade ore is prioritised for processing. To date, 485,000 tonnes of ore have been mined, with 200,000 tonnes at an average of 2.19g/t Au having been processed. Meanwhile, a new drilling programme of c.8000m is being planned at Tavsan.

Figure 3: View of the crushers and screens buildings nearing completion at Tavsan, with all internal components installed. Photograph taken in early October 2024.

Figure 4: View of the Adsorption-Desorption-Recovery ("ADR") plant nearing completion at Tavsan, with major component installation underway before finalisation of the housing structures. Photograph taken in early October 2024.

Salinbas - Ardala

Drilling is ongoing at Salinbas - Ardala with six holes completed to date for over 1,290 metres, with 2,800 metres (18 drillholes) planned for the first phase of the drilling programme at Salinbas - Ardala. A further 1,000 metres of drilling is planned for the second phase of the programme. Drilling at Salinbas is now on hold over the winter months, but is continuing at Ardala.

Restructuring of Holding in Zenit

During 2024, Zenit acquired 100% of the shares of Pontid Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. ("Pontid") through an all-share merger (Pontid owned the Salinbas Project) as announced in the Interim Results RNS (AIM: 30 September 2024). This rationalisation has ensured all of Zenit's advanced mines and projects in Türkiye, specifically Kiziltepe, Tavsan and Salinbas are now held directly through Zenit, with Ariana continuing to hold a 23.5% interest in the projects of the enlarged Zenit portfolio.

Editors' Note:

"k" thousand

"km" Kilometres;

"m" Metres;

"MRE" Mineral Resource Estimate;

"M" million

"oz" Troy ounces;

"t" tonnes;

Ends.