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SPECIAL FOCUS GLOBAL GOLD EXPLORATION
APRIL 4—17, 2022 / THE NORTHERN MINER
Ariana Resources rises on Newmont exploration alliance EXPLORATION
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| Southeastern Europe to be focus of future work
BY HENRY LAZENBY
he London-quoted equity of Ariana Resources (AIM: AAU) gained more than 10% on trading Mar. 24 after it announced an exploration alliance with the world’s biggest gold producer, Newmont Corp (TSX NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT). The alliance will focus on copper and gold exploration in southeastern Europe via Ariana’s 75%-owned Western Tethyan Resources (WTR) subsidiary, focusing on prospective regions within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia. The Tethyan Metallogenic Belt is one of the world’s foremost metalproducing regions. It is also one of the longest and most extensive, going through 33 countries, with six significant sub-regions differentiated along the belt. The western side of the belt is the richest and is known for two main periods of gold and copper-rich magmatism, which occurred during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic eras. The Cretaceous-aged deposits are dominantly copper-gold porphyry, high-sulphidation epithermal and volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, whereas, in the Cenozoic magmatic belt, copper is significant in porphyry systems only. Under the exploration alliance agreement, Newmont will invest US$2.5 million in Ariana, based on the 10% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price to fund the alliance’s activities. Newmont will also open its regional database to Ariana. The alliance will use the teams established by WTR and Ariana. The alliance is set to run for an initial five-year period, with Newmont retaining an option to continue its investment in Ariana. Should the alliance succeed in identifying a project of merit, it will initially be held 100% within WTR, and Newmont will have the option of investing a further US$1 million in the project over a subsequent twoyear period to earn up to 60% interest. Further expenditures of US$15 million on a pre-feasibility study establishing a Joint Ore Reserves
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Freeman Gold reports bonanza grades from Lemhi project | Drill results are the first high-grade hits encountered outside the main deposit
IDAHO
The Tethyan Metallogenic Belt is one of the world’s foremost metal-producing regions. WESTERN TETHYAN RESOURCES
“WE ARE EXCEPTIONALLY PLEASED TO PARTNER WITH NEWMONT ON THE EXPLORATION FOR LARGE-SCALE COPPER-GOLD DEPOSITS ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE.” KERIM SENER MANAGING DIRECTOR, ARIANA RESOURCES
Committee or National Instrument 43-101 resource of over 2 million oz. of gold, will enable Newmont to earn-in to 75%. Should Newmont decide to develop a mining project, funding will be on a pro-rata basis unless WTR chooses not to contribute, in which case Newmont will earn a maximum of 85%. If either party withdraws from a given project or dilutes below 10%, the party will relinquish its interest in return for a 2% net smelter return royalty. Ariana has also renewed through to 2031 an existing data licence
agreement with Newmont for prospects in Turkey. Ariana’s managing director, Kerim Sener, believes the partnership will benefit from Newmont’s deep understanding of the region. “We are exceptionally pleased to partner with Newmont on the exploration for large-scale copper-gold deposits across south-eastern Europe, via Western Tethyan Resources. This area was previously explored primarily in the 1980s and 1990s by entities since absorbed into the Newmont group, such as Normandy Mining. Newmont is also providing significant exploration expertise, including the potential deployment of several proprietary exploration technologies,” said Sener in a media release. WTR managing director Mentor Demi described the region as one of the world’s last underexplored and prospective area plays. “With our extensive expertise in the region and Newmont’s significant capabilities, database and exploration technologies, we are confident that we will make several new copper-gold discoveries and consequently extend our cooperation beyond the initial five-year period,” said Demi. Ariana shares closed 7.03% higher at 3.96 pence apiece in London on Mar. 24, easing the 12-month loss to just more than 16%. TNM
Drill crew at Freeman Gold’s Beauty zone, part of the company’s Lemhi gold project in Idaho. FREEMAN GOLD
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BY DANIEL SEKULICH
oronto-based Freeman Gold (TSXV: FMAN; USOTC: FMANF) has reported near-surface, bonanza grade results from a recent drilling program at the company’s Beauty zone, part of its 100%-owned Lemhi gold project in eastern Idaho. The company began an exploration program at the 30-sq.-km Lemhi project in 2020, with the majority of its drilling having been conducted in the central part of the site. However, in late 2021, Freeman shifted some of its exploration work 600 metres west of the main deposit, towards the Beauty zone, as it focused on testing the continuity of veins already mapped on the surface. Three holes were drilled at the Beauty zone from one setup totalling 328 metres, with hole FG21-
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003C returning the highest-grade mineralization ever drilled by the company. The hole intercepted 6 metres grading 68.23 grams gold per tonne and 40.18 grams silver per tonne from 57 metres downhole within the hanging wall side of a major fault. This included 3.2 metres grading 128.92 grams gold and 75.59 grams silver from 57.8 metres; and 2.1 metres of 11.91 grams gold and 16.21 grams silver from 68 metres downhole. Hole FG21-001C returned 1 metre grading 1.41 grams gold per tonne and 18.1 grams silver from 100 metres, while the last hole, FG21-002C, returned 1 metre of 0.24 gram gold from 63 metres. Speaking to The Northern Miner, Freeman’s executive chairman, Paul Matysek, said these results represent a milestone for the company, as they are the first grades to come from outside the primary deposit at the project. “Discovering a shallow, multiounce zone in such close proximity is very significant as it can quickly add valuable ounces to an integrated project sharing common operations and infrastructure,” said Matysek. The Lemhi project is located in north-central Idaho, about 40 km north of the town of Salmon, near the state border with Montana. It has been explored by various companies since the mid-1980s, but had not seen any significant exploration since 2012, until Freeman began its 2020 drill program. The company believes the Beauty zone is open both to the north and northwest of the drill locations. Last July the company released a resource estimate for Lemhi that defined a near-surface oxide gold deposit of 22.9 million indicated tonnes grading 1.02 grams gold per tonne for 749,800 oz. gold, with an additional 7.8 million inferred tonnes grading 1.01 grams gold for 250,300 oz. gold. Matysek said that once freezing conditions at the site have passed, the company plans to commence a follow-up drill program to test the strike extension of the mineralized zone. The objective is adding See FREEMAN GOLD / 15