Excellent New Drilling Results at Dokwe

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 release new assay results from five geotechnical holes drilled for the purposes of the Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") at the Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe.

Highlights:

• DPD126 intercepted 2m @ 17.11g/t Au from 176m* in the Eastern Zone, bridging a gap between previous intercepts and providing a strike length of ~270m.
• DPD127 was drilled approximately down-dip within a dacitic unit, confirming the continuity of mineralisation, with intercepts including*:

o 8m @ 4.32g/t Au from 116m

o 5m @ 5.14g/t Au from 142m

o 10m @ 1.64g/t Au from 160m

o 10m @ 1.73g/t Au from 176m

o 5m @ 4.30g/t Au from 213m, and

o 36m @ 2.38g/t Au from 261m

• DPD128 confirms grade continuity on the northeastern limits of the mineralisation, which remains open at depth and northwards along strike.
• The new results are currently being incorporated into a revised Dokwe North Mineral Resource Estimate.
• Structural measurements and portable XRF analyses continue to be taken, which continues to improve the potential and geological understanding of the deposit.

* Note that all quoted widths are down-hole and not true widths.

To read a pdf version of the release, please click here: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5860V_1-2025-2-2.pdf

Kerim Sener, Managing Director, commented:

"The latest assay results from our flagship Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe further reinforce our understanding of the geology and resource potential of this high-value asset. Most importantly, one of the drill holes confirms the presence of significant gold mineralisation occurring within an area now referred to as the Eastern Zone, demonstrating considerable strike continuity of over 270m for this zone alone, in addition to pointing towards the further depth extent of the deposit.

"While our geological model has continued to evolve with the addition of new assay and other geological and geochemical data, our confidence in defining the structural controls on mineralisation has increased substantially. This will result in an even more robust resource model for our feasibility study programme. Furthermore, there is now substantial evidence that the high-grade zones within the deposit are shear-controlled and suggest the potential for depth continuity.

"In addition, we are continuing to evaluate the wider exploration opportunities across the Dokwe Project in late 2024. The field team recently collected 2,000 soil samples for pXRF analysis over the areas surrounding Dokwe North and Central; the results of this work will be released, when available, in the coming months."

Introduction

The Ariana exploration team recently reviewed five geotechnical holes drilled in 2021 as part of the 2022 Dokwe North PFS. These holes were sited to investigate the rock mechanical properties of the walls of the planned open pit. The five holes were designed to generate geotechnical information for the western, northern, and eastern pit wall limits from the PFS pit design (Figure 1). Each hole was angled down the proposed pit slopes to document various geotechnical attributes to support the necessary inputs for the 2022 PFS. Unlike most holes drilled to date, these were not orientated on the normal fence pattern and are particularly useful to confirm that the orebody modelling assumptions are not biased by the drilling pattern, and to provide additional data on parts of the resource model not previously assessed. These drill holes had not been assayed prior to this work.

During Ariana's due diligence review of the project from 2023 to 2024, it was noted that some of these geotechnical holes contained logged mineralisation which could potentially add confidence to Ariana's ongoing Mineral Resource Estimation work. In December 2024, the field team initiated the sampling of these holes in accordance with Ariana's normal sampling procedures.

Figure 1: Plan and oblique view of the Dokwe North deposit, showing the PFS pit design, and the location of the five geotechnical holes sampled by Ariana in late 2024. The red volume outlines defined mineralisation at a 0.5g/t Au model cut-off.

Significant results from this drilling (down hole lengths not true widths) include:

DPD127

• 8m @ 4.32g/t Au from 116m
• 5m @ 5.14g/t Au from 142m
• 10m @ 1.64g/t Au from 160m
• 10m @ 1.73g/t Au from 176m
• 5m @ 4.30g/t Au from 213m, and
• 36m @ 2.38g/t Au from 261m

o including 6m @ 6.85g/t Au from 261m

DPD126

• 2m @ 17.11g/t Au from 176m
• 51m @ 0.77g/t Au from 244 metres

o including 2m @ 3.88g/t Au from 273m

1m @ 33.84g/t Au from 354m

DPD128

58m @ 0.83g/t Au from 255m

o including 3.6m @ 1.93g/t Au from 257m and 1m @ 5.67g/t Au from 267m

A list of all results is presented in Table 1. DPD126 is of particular importance as it provides new data within an important gap in the current Resource model (Figure 2). The mineralisation defined in this hole has resulted in the definition of a significant mineralised zone on the eastern flank of the deposit, where two previously separated zones of mineralisation are now seen to be connected to form a c.270m continuous zone parallel to the main zone of mineralisation (the Eastern Zone). DPD126 has also expanded the depth extent of mineralisation within the main Dokwe zone beyond the extent of the 2022 PFS-designed pit, which adds the potential to increase the size of the designed open pit further to the east and at depth.

DPD127 drills down stratigraphy and also down the axis of the Dokwe North main shear zone, primarily testing the strongly mineralised amygdaloidal dacite horizon. This has provided invaluable geological data for understanding the geometry and importance of this specific unit (Figure 3), which appears to exert some control on the distribution of some mineralisation. DPD128 also provides excellent confirmation of grade continuity on the northeastern limits of the currently defined Dokwe North mineralisation, which remains open at depth and along strike to the northwest.

Figure 2: Cross-section of DPD126 showing the 2022 PFS designed pit, mineralisation, and the areas within the currently defined resources where expansion potential is high.

Figure 3: Cross-section of DPD127, showing the local geology and significance of mineralisation in the amygdaloidal dacite near the contact with the overlying felsic tuff.

In January 2025, the Ariana team initiated a third phase of pXRF analysis on the Dokwe diamond drill core, with plans to analyse a further 6,000 metres of drilling. This data is central to the revised geological model, as the element concentrations provide an objective way of distinguishing subtly different lithologies. The resulting interpretations, along with the latest assays and ongoing structural studies will be incorporated into the next iteration of the Dokwe Mineral Resource Estimate.

Table 1. Significant intercepts reporting at a 5-gram meter cut-off. Grades are reported to a 0.2g/t Au lower cut-off, with up to 2 metres of internal dilution. "Including" intercepts are reported at a 1g/t Au lower cut-off, with up to 1 metre of internal dilution. Note intercepts are down hole and not true width.

Sampling and Assaying Procedures

All diamond drill core is currently being processed at the ISO-accredited Antech Laboratory in Zimbabwe. Samples were sent for analysis in batches in line with the Company's quality control procedures. In most cases, three-quarters of core, all of which is HQ and PQ in size, remain archived in the core trays.

For all the new drill holes, a total of 1,459 samples (including 172 QA/QC samples) were submitted to the Antech Laboratories. Core recovery for the drilling conducted during the geotech programme exceeds an average recovery of 90%. Mineralised zones were inspected and verified to confirm high recoveries. A total of 543 new structural measurements were taken.

All samples were assayed for gold using a 50g fire assay. Reviews of the assay results have

determined that all Quality Control and Quality Assurance samples (blanks, standards and duplicates) passed the quality control checks established by the company, with duplicate samples showing excellent correlation. Laboratory sample preparation, assaying procedures and chain of custody are appropriately controlled. The Company maintains an archive of core samples and a photographic record of all cores for future reference.

Editors' Note:

"k" thousand

"km" Kilometres;

"m" Metres;

"MRE" Mineral Resource Estimate;

"M" million

"t" tonnes;

Ends.