Ariana Resources boosts Dokwe ambitions as Zenit sale strengthens funding

Ariana Resources PLC has used its latest quarterly report to underline a significant shift in strategy. Dokwe in Zimbabwe is becoming the clear centre of attention, while the partial sale of the Zenit mining interest in Türkiye has brought in substantial non-dilutionary funding.

The headline attraction is the revised pre-feasibility study, or PFS, for the 100%-owned Dokwe Gold Project. It outlines a larger operation, a 20-year overall project life and total production of 1.06 million ounces of gold.

Just as importantly, Ariana ended June with £17.26 million in cash and cash equivalents after selling 13.6% of Zenit for US$19.5 million gross, or approximately US$17.2 million after local taxes.

The original company announcement also contains encouraging exploration results, although the eye-catching project valuation remains highly dependent on gold-price and technical assumptions.

The key figures

Measure	Reported figure
Dokwe Mineral Resource	1.60 million ounces of gold
Dokwe North Ore Reserve	1.14 million ounces of gold
Planned initial mine life	12 years
Subsequent stockpile processing	8 years
Total planned production	1.06 million ounces
Initial annual production	Approximately 80,000 ounces
Peak annual production	100,000 ounces
Pre-production capital expenditure	US$164 million
Post-tax NPV10	US$740 million
PFS gold-price assumption	US$4,250 per ounce
Quarter-end cash	£17.26 million

Dokwe has become a materially larger proposition

The revised PFS envisages a maximum processing rate of 2.5 million tonnes per annum, up from 1.5 million tonnes in the original study.

Under the plan, Ariana would initially operate an open-pit mine for 12 years, producing approximately 80,000 ounces annually. This would be followed by eight years of processing previously mined stockpiles at around 20,000 ounces per year. Peak output is estimated at 100,000 ounces annually.

The Dokwe North Ore Reserve increased by 42% to 1.13 million ounces. An Ore Reserve is the economically mineable part of a mineral deposit, based on the technical and financial assumptions available at the time.

The wider Mineral Resource, which includes material with varying levels of geological confidence and is inclusive of reserves, increased by 13% to 1.60 million ounces across Dokwe North and Dokwe Central.

That expansion matters because it supports a longer production profile and spreads the proposed infrastructure over more gold. Ariana is also pursuing a high-grading strategy, meaning higher-grade material would be processed earlier to improve initial cash generation and shorten the estimated payback period.

Strong economics, but investors must examine the assumptions

The PFS gives Dokwe a pre-tax net present value at a 10% discount rate, known as NPV10, of US$1.06 billion. The post-tax figure is US$740 million.

NPV estimates the present value of a project's future cash flows after accounting for the time value of money. Ariana also reported a 92% internal rate of return, or IRR, and an approximate one-year payback period from commissioning.

Those are powerful figures on paper. However, they are based on a gold price of US$4,250 per ounce. Meanwhile, the Mineral Resource was reported within a pit shell optimised at US$5,000 per ounce.

These assumptions do not invalidate the study, but they make commodity-price sensitivity particularly important. Gold prices, operating costs, exchange rates and recoveries could all cause the eventual outcome to differ from the PFS.

The estimated US$164 million pre-production capital requirement also remains significant. Ariana's strengthened cash position should help it advance Dokwe without immediately returning to shareholders for funding, but the quarter-end cash balance does not fund the proposed mine build on its own.

A future construction decision is therefore likely to require an additional funding structure. Its composition and terms were not disclosed in this announcement.

Drilling points towards further resource potential

Ariana completed 5,659 metres of reverse circulation drilling across 31 holes, exceeding the original programme of 4,000 metres across 26 holes.

At Dokwe North, drilling extended mineralisation along the main shear zone by at least 150 metres. Results included:

• 22 metres at 1.49 grams of gold per tonne from 111 metres
• 8 metres at 1.20 grams per tonne from 65 metres
• 1 metre at 3.77 grams per tonne from 101 metres

The mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth, meaning its full extent has not yet been defined.

Dokwe Central also returned extensions to gold mineralisation, including 2 metres at 4.67 grams per tonne from 174 metres. Ariana believes narrow zones may become more substantial along strike or at depth, although more drilling is needed before that possibility can be established.

At the less-developed Sinkwe prospect, the best result was 1 metre at 1.36 grams per tonne from 50 metres. That confirms shallow gold mineralisation, but Sinkwe remains sparsely explored and poorly understood.

These results are encouraging rather than conclusive. They support further drilling and may eventually contribute to resource growth, but they are not yet part of a revised resource estimate.

The Zenit sale changes Ariana's financial position

During the quarter, Ariana agreed to sell 13.6% of Zenit to existing shareholder Özaltın for US$19.5 million in gross cash proceeds. Estimated proceeds after local taxes were approximately US$17.2 million.

That funding did not require Ariana to issue new shares, avoiding dilution for existing shareholders. It also simplifies the group and allows management to concentrate more heavily on Dokwe.

Ariana subsequently sold its 9.9% interest in the Kiziltepe sector for a further US$3.7 million after the reporting period. It retains a 9.9% interest in the Tavşan Mine and Salinbaş Project.

The transaction follows the company's earlier A$8 million strategic investment from Xinhai for Dokwe.

Quarter-end cash and cash equivalents stood at £17.26 million, compared with £3.98 million at the beginning of the quarter. Ariana calculated that it had funding for an estimated 13.39 quarters based on the quarter's relevant operating and exploration outgoings.

Turkish production provides useful operational progress

Zenit's combined Tavşan and Kiziltepe operations produced and sold 5,305 ounces of gold and 17,889 ounces of silver during the quarter, generating US$23.0 million in revenue.

For the first six months of 2026, production reached 9,838 ounces of gold and 28,194 ounces of silver. Tavşan's heap-leach operation reached full operational production capacity towards the end of June.

A heap leach extracts gold by passing a solution through crushed or stacked ore. The Tavşan pad contained approximately 350,000 tonnes of ore, with a further 750,000 tonnes stockpiled for planned loading over the following year.

Ariana now owns a smaller share of this production, so investors should not treat Zenit's full revenue or output as directly attributable to the company.

What matters next for Ariana shareholders

The quarter leaves Ariana with a clearer investment case: a 100%-owned flagship gold development project, a much stronger cash position and retained exposure to Turkish assets.

The main items to watch are the Dokwe definitive feasibility study, metallurgical testwork, resource conversion and the eventual funding plan. A definitive feasibility study should provide a more detailed assessment of engineering, costs and project economics than the current PFS.

The positive case rests on Dokwe's scale, higher reserve, exploration upside and Ariana's improved ability to fund near-term work without issuing shares. The counterweight is that Dokwe remains a development project rather than an operating mine, while its published valuation is sensitive to ambitious gold-price assumptions.

For now, Ariana has strengthened the foundations. The next challenge is proving that Dokwe's attractive study-level economics can survive more detailed technical work and be translated into a financeable mine.