Ariana targets growth at Dokwe Gold Project ahead of feasibility milestone

• 26-hole, 4,000m RC program to test four priority targets for resource growth across Dokwe North and Central
• Shear-hosted mineralisation spans 12km of strike, with 90% of the highly prospective strike length still untested
• Results due by the end of this year will inform resource update and definitive feasibility study targeted for completion in late 2026

Special report: Ariana Resources has kicked off the next phase of exploration at its flagship Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe to test four high-priority targets and identify potential areas for future resource expansion.

Dokwe hosts 1.1Moz at 1.52g/t gold with a 0.6g/t cut-off across Dokwe North and Central, and exploration drilling by Ariana Resources (ASX:AA2) will test near-mine extensions and multiple regional prospects.

An initial 26-hole, 4,000m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program is underway and will feed into defining future work activities for a definitive feasibility study (DFS) targeted for 2026.

Shear potential

Ariana says mineralisation at Dokwe is hosted within major shear zones that collectively extend for around 12km.

Highlighting Dokwe’s significant upside and discovery potential, only about 10% of this strike length has been drill-tested to date, at what is already Zimbabwe’s largest undeveloped gold project.

Drilling will initially focus on the Dokwe North Extension, a target defined through recent regional exploration that involved the collection of 10,086 soil samples for multi-element and detectORE™ gold analysis across a 44km2 grid.

Follow-up drilling is also planned to revisit historical high-grade intercepts, including 7.3m at 6.63g/t Au from only 32.2m at the Sinkwe prospect, and the 0.5m at 81.09g/t Au from 243m at Siduli Pan.

Mineralisation across Dokwe North, Central and Siduli Pan is hosted by shear zones separating volcanic and sedimentary units. These structures are believed to be the main conduits for gold-bearing fluids but remain largely untested along strike or at depth.

Assay results from the new campaign are expected before the end of the year.

Depending on early results, Ariana says it may expand the scope of the RC program to include metallurgical drilling at Dokwe Central, where bulk sampling will support the next phase of project development.

MD Dr Kerim Sener said: “We are now well underway with our drilling programme at Dokwe, which has the objective of testing a number of targets identified in recent exploration work.

“Several areas of potential have been highlighted from the results of the soil geochemistry programme completed over the past few months.

“We look forward to seeing the first results of this programme prior to the end of this year and have contingency to allow for an expanded RC campaign, as required.

“We are also planning for the initial metallurgical work at Dokwe Central to be completed using RC drilling chips.

“Some diamond drilling will also be required on this area in the future, including for geotechnical purposes, but the results of this initial programme of RC drilling will go substantially towards defining the most appropriate and cost-effective future work activities for the Feasibility Study.”

Turkish production

As the rigs spin in Zimbabwe, ore loading is underway at the Tavşan Mine’s heap leach project in Türkiye, with first gold production expected this quarter.

Tavşan hosts a JORC 2012 resource of 311,000oz gold and 1.1Moz silver, supporting an initial eight-year mine life.

It was developed by Zenit Mining Operations, in which Ariana holds a 23.5% interest. Zenit already delivers strong returns from the Kiziltepe mine.

This article was developed in collaboration with Ariana Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.