Ariana looks at dual listing after all-share merger with Rockover Holdings

Ariana Resources today has agreed an all-share £19.4million merger with a little-known Zimbabwe gold miner Rockover Holdings.

Ariana currently owns 2.1% of Rockover, via its subsidiary Asgard Metals, but following the merger,  Ariana shareholders will own 62.5% of the newly-formed company with Rockover shareholders owning the rest.

687,817,998 Merger Shares  are expected to be issued, which at Ariana's closing price of 2.825p on 24 April 2024 would value the transaction at £19,430,858. This makes up roughly two thirds of the current market cap of Ariana Resources.

Ariana said that it intends to seek a dual-listing on the ASX to promote the opportunity to a broader range of potential investors.

"We are thrilled to announce a significant milestone in Ariana's history through securing this opportunity to acquire a major new gold development project and embarking on a new chapter by expanding beyond our well-established Turkish operations," managing director Kerim Sener, said.

"Over the past two decades, our team has demonstrated a substantial track record of success in the exploration and development of gold mining operations and is highly encouraged by the significant value-accretive opportunity presented to the Company by the Dokwe project," he added

Dokwe highlights

The jewel in Rockover's crown is the Dokwe gold project.

Dokwe North contains 1.21Moz in JORC 2012 (AIM compliant reporting standard) Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources, including 0.8Moz in Proven and Probable Reserves.

Dokwe Central contains 80,000oz in JORC 2004 Indicated and Inferred Resources (non-compliant with AIM reporting standards).

Furthermore, a due-diligence diamond drilling programme has provided several significant initial intercepts, including higher grade intercepts of 45m @ 2.75 g/t Au, containing higher grade zones of 15m @ 4.53 g/t Au and 12.1m @ 4.15 g/t Au.

The Pre-Feasibility Study, which was undertaken in 2022, suggested that the economic results on the reserves provide for a mine life of 13 years at a post-tax NPV10 of US$72 million and an IRR of 25% at a gold price of US$1,650/oz.

This economic model is currently being revised and will be announced in due course, Ariana said.

"We anticipate advancing the Dokwe project towards production within the next three years, at a proposed annual production rate of 60,000oz increasing to potentially 100,000oz of gold over approximately ten years based on current Resources and Reserves," Sener said.

"We already see opportunities to considerably grow the resource base at Dokwe at the defined deposit and more regionally across the Mining Claims," he added.

Ariana shares were trading at 2.80p/share in morning trade, down 1%. It has a market cap of £32.2million.