Ariana Resources (LSE:AAU) — Final Results

0:01 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ARIANA RESOURCES PLC investor presentation, and apologies for the slight delay in starting today's meeting. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged. They can be submitted at any time via the q and a tab that's just situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Please just simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company will review all questions submitted today and publish responses where it's

0:32 appropriate to do so. I would now like to hand you over to chairman Michael De Villiers. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, and thank you for the introduction. This is a welcome to everyone, and apologies for the delay in what was just a slight technical issue, which in this modern day, we still seem to have. Thank you for attending on such a glorious summer's day. I do hope that we are able to answer all your questions as best we can, and Kerim is on the line from Perth. And we were gonna start with an overview and introduction of of of what the updates are, and then we'll go into the q and a, which we've received in advance and some of which we expect to receive now. Over to you, Karim. Thank you very much, Michael, and thank you for everyone attending today.

1:18 It's a pleasure to present the company once more to our shareholders and other interested investors. As Michael has indicated, I plan to give a general update and overview of the business, where we're at. And as we go through into the Q and A itself,

1:37 we can address particular questions that shareholders and investors may have about the business. And I'll come back to the presentation and really use the presentation to support the discussion. So on this particular occasion, we'll be using the presentation more as a discussion piece rather than systematically going through the presentation as we perhaps done in prior formats. And the idea of this is really to give more time for interested parties to ask us the questions that they want to put to us, so we can have a more interactive dialogue over a longer period of time. So we hope that this particular format will work well. And if it does, we will repeat the same in future IMC events.

2:28 I should just point out that right at the beginning, we have endeavored to answer every single question that is pre submitted to the IMC platform as we've done on prior occasions. And we've always answered these questions ahead of the IMC event. Yet the IMC platform doesn't allow the answers to those written questions to be published ahead of the event. So what we've chosen to do this time is to make the answers available from the get go. And if you go to this particular location on our website, which is actually a hidden location, so you can't navigate to it, you have to use particular link.

3:19 That link is used and in fact I'll copy that link now into the Q and A, I should be able to do that. And then once that's done, you can perhaps just click into that particular location, and review, the answers to the questions. Now the idea of this really is to ensure that we don't get repetition, because we have, as I said, endeavored to answer every single question that was submitted. So I hope that people can see that location. You should be able to just copy and paste that into your browser, and it will take you straight to, the PDF document that contains those answers.

4:12 And so, as I'm going through the initial introduction to the business, perhaps people can just review the answers to those questions, get a sense of the questions that we've already answered so that as we go through the Q and A live Q and A session, we don't have to cover the same ground. So moving on, to where we find ourselves. And obviously, this is a repeat of prior presentations, but I think it's a useful slide in that it focuses the mind on, where we're at in terms of the assets. We have three advanced assets in Turkey that are held 23.5% through a partnership in Turkey and an associated profit sharing agreement that comes through the JV documentation itself.

5:15 We have Kuzupepe, the operating mine and then Tarshan currently in construction yet paused, and I'll come on to discuss the situation with Tarshan at this during the course of the presentation. The Salembas project in Northeastern Turkey, where we're continuing to drill. And then over in Kosovo, through Western Tethyan Resources, we're now earning into 85% ultimately of the Slovova project, another gold and silver deposit. And in addition to that, we have a partnership with Newmont across Kosovo and the wider Balkans region. And partnership is already through its first very successful year, and I'll come on to talk about further developments there.

6:09 And the Magellan project, which is a copper gold project primarily in Cyprus. And again, I'll talk about the latest developments, Venus Minerals, that holds those assets in Cyprus. Now one of the interesting things about ARIANA in that it's a relatively unusual company, an exploration and development company in essence, yet it has demonstrated a significant return on investment since 2016. And really, that's backstopped by the fact that the company has been in profit, which is a highly unusual thing for an exploration company, but it has been in profit for seven years now.

6:57 And in addition to that, as a result of the deal that we completed in Turkey, we have been able to pay GBP 7,740,000 in dividends to shareholders since 2021. So again, a very unusual thing for an exploration and development company. And so in that sense, we're very unique. We've got an active drilling program across a number of different project areas in Turkey primarily, but we've also been drilling relatively recently in other locations as well. The results of which we've announced for Venus Minerals previously and indeed through the work that we've been undertaking on behalf of some of our investee companies through the Asgard Metals Fund in Australia, in particular, the Kogliye nickel copper nickel cobalt deposit in Laverton in Western Australia.

7:55 Coming back to Turkey, we've over the years grown our resource base substantially. This is primarily a gold resource base, but there's associated copper and other metals associated with that. And we've continued to develop that portfolio across some of those other areas in the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern European region. How we've been able to do this is ultimately underpinned by a very strong Board and management team. The management team has continually been developed and augmented in Turkey and elsewhere. We've grown the team over the last couple of years to encompass a wide range of geoscientific disciplines that we're using to apply to our current exploration and development programs.

8:48 And as we've demonstrated previously, to do so very successfully at a very low gold discovery cost. And I'll come on to talk about that further as we go through the presentation and indeed the Q and A more specifically. As a result of the strategy, we have been able to build up a substantial cash pile. We have no debt currently both in our own rights, but through Zenits partnership in Turkey. All debts having been paid off now associated with the Kuzuketep mine development.

9:31 And we're continuing to fund ongoing exploration and really developing that portfolio and taking that portfolio from strength to strength and adding to it continuously, adding to the project pipeline and moving those projects through the development curve, derisking those assets and ultimately increasing value of those assets. And so that's what we've done very successfully over a number of years now, and that's what we're going to continue applying going forward. Another thing that we've done in more recent years is that we've moved from being very much a Turkey focused company to a company that's applying its methodologies and its approach to exploration over a wider range of commodities and jurisdictions.

10:21 So that's something that we're very excited about. And I've already touched on certain aspects of that being our work with Newmont in The Balkans to some of the investments that we've secured under the Asgard Metals Fund in Australia. Lastly, I'll just end here on this introduction just to emphasize our major partners. Newmont Mining Corporation, I've already mentioned, the world's largest gold miner involved with us through Western Tekken Resources in a five year exploration alliance. And it's been fantastic working with the Newmont team over the last year. And I think they're very pleased with what they've been seeing. And also, Ozark and Holding and proceed construction in Turkey, our partners in the highly successful Zenik Mardinjedik JV.

11:14 So I think I'll leave it at that for the introduction, a very brief introduction because I know that we're a little pressed for time. And I'll throw it open to questions. I can see that there's one question that's already come through already from John Dee. The company website says, the two Executive Directors comprise the company's Managing Director and Chairman who dedicate 100% of the contractually required time to the group. Please tell us how much time is contractually required. So

11:53 I should actually I suppose part of the answer here is already stated in one of the answers to the question pre submitted questions that came in. And we live and breathe ARIANA RESOURCES. If you could see me now, and I'm sorry that you can't, but I know Michael is in the same situation.

12:15 We're wearing the ARIANA RESOURCES PLOLO shirts. I don't own very many shirts, but most of the shirts I own are ARIANA RESOURCES shirts. So you'll rarely see me in a shirt other than one that shows the ARIANA logo. The logo is very close to my heart,

12:33 physically, and actually. So I certainly, and I know Michael does, we dedicate our times extensively to the business of ARIANA RESOURCES. And it very much is just ourselves and the wider team. It very much is a 20 fourseven business. And the fact that our team is also spread globally effectively, it doesn't shut down. There's always someone somewhere working on ARIANA business. So with there's perhaps no other way to stress the significance of that other than to say that we're fully committed to seeing ARIANA RESOURCES develop further and add to its ongoing success.

13:26 Karim, I

13:27 endorse exactly what you've said and echo that. I'm not involved in multiple other businesses. This is what I work on all the time. And and I think you can say the same thing. And and I think the same is true of the rest of the team.

13:42 In the spirit of looking at other people's questions, let's let's look at where questions might tie in with what we've put out in news recently to see if we can fill in some of the gaps. I think the one that I'm most interested to to discuss is is the additional drilling around Kisl Tepe and the Kepes prospects of becoming involved in producing mines for or pits for the the existing mine. Maybe you could just dwell on that for a bit because I think that probably goes to discussing how much longer the Kisl Tepe plant will run for. And many people want to draw a timeline on that and know when it's gonna end. I think you've shown us with all the exploration work that that that isn't something that's exactly imminent.

14:33 There is a lot more to be to to be discovered in that area and brought into reserves and resources. Yes. So exploration has been ongoing in and around the Kusuppe deposit and satellite prospect areas for some time. I mean, really, it's been an ongoing process of exploration over many years, in fact. But since the initiation of our enhanced partnership with those often on board, a significant amount of additional emphasis and indeed funding has been applied to the exploration of the Puzzle Pepe sector.

15:22 And the drilling programs that we've conducted in recent years have been the most extensive drilling that's ever been undertaken on the project as a whole. And it's hard to sort of

15:37 drive home and emphasize that enough. But the drilling that's been undertaken at Khozupepe has already led to an enhanced resource and reserve, which we announced in early twenty twenty two. We are currently in a drilling program at the moment that is continuing to drill some of the extensions and to do some resource infill drilling within that previous resource. And as a result of that, we'll continue to build on the reserve base. In addition to that, we've been drilling for the first time in some prospect areas, some satellite prospect areas that really have not received very much attention to date.

16:28 We previously did not have the sort of budget that we have currently for exploration through the Zenith JV. And the work that's been undertaken at Kepes has yielded some very interesting results. And I should also say it doesn't just relate to the drilling. It relates to the geophysics work that we've completed recently and announced. We've identified a significant geophysical IP resistivity target sitting under Kepa's main hill. And we've consequently designed a drilling program to test that particular target.

17:15 We believe that the mineralization or the more likely gold bearing zone within that system is at some depth. So 150,200, two fifty meters beneath the top of the hill. So it will require some deeper drilling. But as I said, we plan that out carefully.

17:42 We're in the process of going through the forestry permitting for that area and indeed testing some other areas, Kepes North, which we've previously part in mind. So the Kepes North area has also received some additional drilling.

18:01 And as a consequence of that, we'll be evaluating that data when it comes through and then determining whether any further work needs to be undertaken in that area with a view to potentially expanding the Kepes North Pit. The other area of interest and significance to us is Kepes West. Again, this is an area that's only received cursory drilling in the past. We have announced an inferred resource related to Kepes West previously. But we haven't drilled there for some years. The last drilling that was undertaken there until the most recent program was 2015. And some further work is underway at the moment on that area and we hope to continue to build on our understanding and eventually hopefully put together a new resource estimate for that area.

19:00 Kepes West, I should point out, is a little bit closer to the Kepes processing plant than the Kepes North area, which is where we were previously trucking some very high grade ore. So those are a couple of the satellite prospects at the Kasupepe sector. There's also Karakawak. So the drill rig is currently drilling at Karakawak at this point in time.

19:25 So it will be interesting to see what comes out of that area. And we're also planning around putting a new drilling program together for Kazuchakur. So we hope to be able to make some further announcements on that in due course. So hopefully that's answered that question related to exploration around the Kazoopepe sector. Yes. And Karim, I think the last comprehensive update that you've just made reference to was the

19:56 one on the 02/01/2022, which was a resource and reserve update, Kisl Tepe. And Yes. That's the one. So we probably are due for a more broader update of the Kisl Tepe drilling in some months in the future? Yes. We'll be putting together a new resource estimate in the coming months. And following that, we'll be doing further work on and indeed this sort of ongoing work of the mine operational team on the optimizations and bringing resource into the reserve category ultimately for mining. And then we'll have a much clearer picture as to life of mine beyond what we're currently projecting? Yes, indeed. So we'll reinforce the current reserve position.

20:53 Actually, I'll move on one slide because it's relevant. So the current reserve position will see the mine exhaust its current reserve in 2025. And that does include the Kuzu Chukwu satellite.

21:09 It's important to note that. And as I said, we do need to do some more drilling at Kuzu Chukwu to demonstrate that we can mine the area previously designated as reserve.

21:23 So we see the mine exhausting itself based on its current reserve in 2025. Yes, that will become a more understood picture when we put out a later update on the resource and reserve statement. Yes. That's correct. Okay. Now well, that dovetails nicely into how things have been going on at Tarshan because while we were in construction, something stopped it. We can talk about that, but we should also talk a bit about what we've managed to do to enhance Tarshan. So when it does come back onto the construction slate and goes into production, then we've got to discuss its life of mine and how that might change our production profile for Zenith.

22:09 Yes. So firstly, again, the point of resources and ultimately reserves, the last resource update that we put out for Kaohsiung during last year demonstrated over 300,000 ounces of gold and most of that being in the measured and indicated jaw categories. So the

22:34 most de risked categories of resource. And we've had a further drilling program underway at Kaohsiung to continue to derisk the resource and to continue to enhance those that proportion of the resource that's in the measured category in particular. And that program is currently paused. We decided to pause that following the initiation of the quarter or the process back in March.

23:15 As we previously indicated, the court process is due to recommence soon. We obviously have to go through a process that involved the appointment of an expert committee as mandated by the courts to make certain judgments or take a particular view on certain aspects of the environmental impact assessment as it related to forestry and agricultural land among other things.

23:50 That report was completed last month and has been submitted to the court for review. We're now waiting for the court to determine a date. And then that will then lead to ultimately a judgment being made in relation of the recommencement of operations. So both construction operations and indeed other operations such as drilling across the project area.

24:24 It's probably worth pointing out that the drilling program, we were planning to just continue drilling post the court ruling. But after a little while, we decided just as a precaution that we should probably bring that drilling program as well to a close to just ensure that we were never going to fall foul of any particular issues on the Kanshan Mine site.

24:56 So we're very hopeful that we'll get through this and we'll be able to recommence construction very soon. If we're able to commence construction again, we'll be moving into mining and the deep processing around sort of the end of the first quarter of next year. That's the current.

25:22 So actually, the the process of construction that remains for the completion of the Carlshan Mine is not that long as in it's probably six to eight months?

25:38 So in terms of sorry. In terms of the construction process itself post the decision? Yes. That's what I meant, not the calendar date, number of months Correct. That it would take to complete construction and commissioning. Yes. That that is correct. Yep.

25:57 So actually, it's not that far off given that things do fall into place as we hope and expect. Yep. Yeah. Definitely. Okay. Just looking at some of these other questions that have come in

26:16 from the bottom. So a question from Steve B, What is the expected waiting time to get a hearing? Also I thought that the delay was in relation to linings with forestry involved, is this going to be a longer delay because forestry can take ages based on previous experience?

26:36 So the timing of the hearing is entirely dependent on the completion of the expert report. So operations construction operations were shut down in March.

26:53 We had initiated the or secured the expert panel to commence their work. And that work was concluded last and submitted to the court. The court can it may request a further review, it's possible. We have to get to that stage. And if they do, that additional review could be given a further thirty days. Our current expectation based on progress to date is that during this month, we will hear where we stand with the call as to whether they will complete the hearing and we will determine the path forward or they

27:45 choose to accept further expert review. If it goes back to further expert review, as said, that's a period of

28:01 I think your phone has gone off, Kerem. Hi, Michael. Yes. Kerem's phone has just disconnected, so please do bear with me while I just reconnect him. Okay. I can I can hear you fine? Alright, Kiran. Carry on. Yeah. So so, hopefully, you you heard all of that in relation to the timing. Yes. And the there's this point about the delay was in relation to linings. That's that that's not correct. It's not connected at all. It's and the the the question around forestry is forestry is a subset of the complaint, which is an EIA umbrella complaint.

28:51 Correct. There's only one aspect of it. The other aspect were land ownership, and I forget what the third one was. Yeah. So, actually, the point about forestry is a very interesting one, and it just highlights the the oddity here in that the EIA provided for to enabled us to apply for areas of forestry, which we then secured through the forestry permitting process. And once those areas were successfully secured from forestry, the forestry department itself then submits those areas for tender for the felling of trees. Once it's gone to tender, it's under the control and remit of the forestry department themselves.

29:42 So of all all the things that are currently going on on the project,

29:47 it's interesting. The forestry department is still overseeing the process of the felling of trees. So that forestry process is ongoing. And in that sense, work is still ongoing on the project because it doesn't involve us. It involves the forestry department. So that's that's a bit of a bizarre sort of situation, but that's the reality of it. K. I think it's worth pointing out the photograph in the bottom left corner of the screen shows the forest has been removed.

30:21 Yes. At at least in part. And so No. No. Because there's Some of the areas are agricultural areas. Mhmm. And, actually, some of the you you don't really see it so much in that photograph, but immediately to the right hand side of that photograph are the areas that are associated with the the heap leach pads and the areas that were being prepared for for that. And and so those areas are completely clear of trees at this point in time. So, you know, work work hasn't stopped on on Tanshan. Work in some form has continued. So, you know, that's that's certainly a positive.

31:07 Alright. Hopefully, you have answered that question. Okay. Again, sort of taking it from the the bottom.

31:19 Lovro r has asked, I have noticed many changes in mining code in various countries recently. Do any new changes in legislation potentially impact ARIANA's exploration or JVs, royalties, liberty state ownership, etcetera.

31:36 So, yes, I mean, this is obviously an issue for for many jurisdictions, and it's an ongoing battle, I suppose, that mining companies and exploration companies subject themselves to. And we just have to play along.

31:57 You know, some of the the legislation obviously makes our lives trickier than we we feel it ought to. But that's just the the nature of the beast, and you just have to find ways of navigating those issues. In Turkey, there's been a progression of changes to the mining law since the first major revamp that occurred in 2004. There've been changes intermittently since in two thousand ten, fifteen, and tweaks here and there to the royalty regime. And that those those issues have been ongoing, and we expect further amendments to be made in the coming years as well.

32:43 Some of some aspects of that have made our lives easier, I have to say. Other aspects have made our lives harder.

32:51 And so you take the rough with the smooth sometimes. And certainly from from a broad perspective on on Turkey specifically, the the environment has actually been broadly conducive to the development of mining operations. So having said that, we could argue that there are some aspects of the current mining law that are less conducive to the exploration stage. And expiration stage licenses are one positive I should point out is that expiration licenses now have a longer life than they used to. So that's that's definitely a good thing.

33:38 But the conditions under which you can maintain such license in good standing has become more onerous, both in terms of cost and in terms of the the work commitment that's required at various stages through that seven year life. Now there's obviously there are good aspects to that because it encourages companies to have all the owners of the license licenses to actually do functional work on the ground. So I can see why the government has promoted that and certainly applaud that. Because what you don't want is for licensed owners to just sit on ground and not do very much work because it just locks up the ground holding, and the the ground doesn't get explored particularly effectively.

34:29 But the the result of that is that in the Turkish case, there does seem to be a bit of a consolidation occurring because it's only the more advanced companies that have deeper prop pockets that can successfully apply themselves to exploration. So there is a bit of a thinning of the field as a result of that. And it's interesting to see that Turkey previously had I mean, go this is going back to about two thousand thirteen, fourteen. There were about 23 foreign companies operating in the country at that time. And then through these changes among other things, that that's whittled down to no more than a handful.

35:18 So that that's a consequence of those sorts of changes. But we've, you know, we've always operated as a as a Turkish company, and we've been able to navigate these issues better than many other foreign and and junior exploration companies. And I think that's why we're, in that sense, the last man standing in Turkey as a aim listed junior. So I think we we can be quite proud of that. Kerem, in summing up, I think one can look back two decades and say there's been a fair amount of support and stability around the development of mines. And consequently, 20 have come into operation. That's large scale mines in Turkey in twenty years. And Yep. The other choice we've made is choosing partners that are in country who have a good corporate citizen record, and they've worked with us. And that has helped as well. So Yes. One thing to comply with the law.

36:17 It's another thing to know how to get it to work. And I think the third point I wanted to make is that we don't go into areas where the mining law isn't and the exploration law is not conducive to to operating. So we choose our destinations according to geology and the fact that the environment is accommodating. Yes. Yeah. Definitely. Just scanning through some of these other There's a point about Kosovo, which is worth flowing on from what we've just discussed with with addressing. Kosovo. Hold on. Yes. Kosovo. So a question from Neda l. Kosovo, what major mines were opened there since independence?

37:02 Are we optimistic to open an operating mine on the great geology, or are there other considerations? So Kosovo is a a very interesting country to operate in, and there are some serious advantages. And in a in a sense, in the the Balkan regions, it can be considered the jewel in the crown. So take taking, for example, their geological geoscientific data management system, it's effectively first world. They they've obviously had a lot of independent input from other countries. World Bank has obviously been an important contributor to certain developments in in the country, including these sorts of initiatives and these these programs associated with geoscientific data.

38:01 So they've got great coverage with airborne geophysical programs. You know, really very good indeed, very high quality data, and that that data is available. It's very cost effective. A lot of the other geoscientific data can be sort of read readily accessed in indeed via an online platform, which is highly unusual for the part of the world that we're talking about. You you know, even Turkey doesn't have an online plat platform. In that sense, Turkey is very much behind the curve. But the the sort of platform that they have available in Kosovo is similar to to what we're perhaps used to here in Australia.

38:50 So that's certainly an encouragement, and it's an incentive for exploration companies to go into the country. But there are other advantages to operating in Kosovo as well. We we find that the the mining law and the the framework around the the issue of licenses is very straightforward. There is an independent board or independent commission referred to as the ICMM, and and that independent board so it's a it's a sort of quasi government organization independently appointed to run the mining sector in in the country.

39:36 And periodically, the the board has there hasn't been a standing board in place, and there have been times when we've had to wait for applications to be reprocessed or and then eventually for licenses to be granted. So there are some delays in that. But generally speaking, it's a fairly fluid process. And it's, you know, contrasting that to to what I've been saying about Turkey and and the sort of hurdles that we have to go through in Turkey, Kosovo actually seems to be more straightforward. So that that's a real positive, and and we very much appreciate that. In terms of mines, so in our sector, no new gold mines or precious metal deposits. Base base metal deposits are obviously historical.

40:27 But we, you know, we don't see any particular issues with the opening of a new mine in the country. I think that, you know, if there was no desire to open mines in the country, they wouldn't bother having a mining board. So or or even issuing licenses. There there's obviously a desire to see to mines come into fruition. It's just a matter of being well, just just like any country or any jurisdiction, it's just a matter of being patient and and working through the issues, both local, geological, and ultimately social. And, you know, as long as the the the social factors and and the environmental factors are dealt with appropriately, there's no reason why a mine can't be operated there.

41:19 I think I'm correct in saying that Mentor worked in that process of establishing the legislation in the early part of Yes. Yep. Yeah. So so that's worth pointing out that Mentor Demi, he's the managing director of Western Tethian Resources and the the founder of Western Tethian. And, you know, he's got an extensive background as a Kosovohn himself, operating in from his base in Pristina. And so he's very much plugged into the exploration and mining scene in the country. So that's that's another real positive and really essential in order to get get things done in that country.

42:10 Underscores our confidence in going into the Suburban agreement. Correct. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just going back back to the top of the the list of questions. Again, a question from Nida l on the JV minority rights protection beyond the law in the JV contract. Can you elaborate, please? Oh, ins sorry. Can the biggest shareholder No. Well, I think I don't really I really understand the question. But The the brief answer is we understand JV minority rights protections in the context of our JV with with and with and and I think that's the context of that question, and we went into that into a lot of detail to make sure that the the minority rights were well protected.

43:08 Yes. Yeah. That that's correct. And the one thing that's worth emphasizing here, I think, is that both PROSEA and ourselves so we we were the two originating partners in the Zenith joint venture prior to us often coming in. Now both PROSEA and ourselves diluted to 23.5% each of the enhanced JV as we call it. Partnership is is probably a better term. So it was in interest as well as our interest to ensure that those minority rights were protected. So the two originating partners very much saw eye to eye on what was required of the enhanced partnership following the addition of.

44:04 So I I think that's, you know, that that's as as robust a position as that we can be. Alright. I'm going to to hold on. There's a very long question here, I see. Oh, so from Nick V. And and this actually related to a question that was presubmitted for which we provided the answer. And then the the comment being question five in your answer. Surely, share price is the market view of how well you're doing all the things you state in your answer. The recent move would suggest a lack of confidence.

44:54 The the market actually, I'll tell you what. The the easiest way to answer this is to just have a look at the the peer group analysis. So the market moves in and out of sectors periodically. And you can see in this particular peer group, which is a a decent peer group by which we can compare ourselves because the other companies chosen are all at the production stage that they're in production. They're in the same commodity. Some in operating in similar jurisdictions, Anglo Asian, for instance, just next door, in essence, to Turkey, sentiment in Egypt, Middle Eastern country, if you class Turkey as Middle Eastern.

45:44 And it's interesting that in in these cases, and indeed, in the other examples given there, that the share prices will just move based on overall movement in the sector. And part of that can be driven by gold price or rather changes to gold price, both positive and negative. And it's not really influenced by day to day news flow. That that doesn't really impact. And we've done an extensive analysis of this. News flow does not really impact the movement of share prices, at least in in our sector. There's there's a general trend, and it's you know, those companies and some of those peers are dividend paying. So that's another important factor.

46:39 And and in fact, that graph shows where we paid our own dividends through recent years. And, you know, that you can't really relate the the payment of the dividend to the movement in the share price. But it is quite interesting that over that time period and the time period is also another important factor, which I I referred to in one of the the answers to the presubmitted questions. It really does depend on which time frame you're looking at as to the overall performance of a group of companies or one relative to to another. But over this time period, and and this one chosen specifically because all companies took a major hit in around the 03/15/2020 because of the onset of the COVID nineteen pandemic.

47:32 So it's a good time frame by which to set the the origin of the graph. And ARIANA is the blue line. We move with more or less very similar movements to to other peers there. And in fact, we're one of the better performers. The the only other one that beats us is Caledonia Mining that's operating in Zimbabwe. So what this this graph tells me is that over that particular time frame, it's good to be invested in a gold mining company in Turkey and a gold mining company in Zimbabwe, and that's about it. Karim, I think we need to move on to a few more of the recent questions so we don't leave them out with time running out. But the one that sticks in my mind is we've got to talk a little bit more about Selenbash and how long it's taken to get those drilling results out and when there might be a comprehensive report on that. I know you've made reference to it in your already written answers, but let's just discuss that briefly.

48:36 Yep. So there's actually a question here now from Paul relating to that. So this was previously explained. The drilling program that we initiated on Salembush in very late twenty twenty one, obviously, that was a very bad time to be initiating a drilling program in a highly mountainous part of Turkey right in the middle of winter. So the drilling program obviously got off to a very slow start. And we were expecting that. We planned for that. But we wanted the drilling program to commence. And obviously, with the support of Erzalten, we were able to make that happen. And the drilling program not only progressed through those those difficult weather conditions, but it was also drilling in some very tricky areas. So there there's a thick cover of colluvium through which even prior drilling programs had had struggled. So the the drilling was very slow.

49:43 And, you know, we we outlined that in some detail in our announcement on Salenbazh results. Coupled to that, we made the decision that we wanted to utilize the expanded Kuzlutepe mine laboratory, which is now accredited in Turkey for the analysis of all the Salamba samples. And so material was periodically being sent from the drilling program to mine laboratory for analysis. We were going through all our routine quality control, quality assurance tests, and we'd identified failures of certain QAQC controls.

50:32 And as a result of that and this is normal. This is normal course of business. It's what we we have to do. We always have QAQC control samples in sample stream. Just for a moment, just explain what that is because I think it's it's a complex technical point for those not doing it day to day. Yeah. So when when we send off samples for analysis, we don't just send off the material to the laboratory and accept the laboratory's results. We we've never done that. And in fact, you can't do that. The the current requirements on the spec specify the use of what's called blank material.

51:23 So material that is of similar nature to the material that you're analyzing routinely that you know contains no gold or other commodity of interest. So you know that there's an assay result that's gonna come back zero. If it doesn't come back zero, you know you've got a problem at the laboratory, and especially if it's consistently not coming back zero when it should. Yeah. The other thing that we place into the sample stream are duplicates. So duplicate samples are splits of an individual sample. So it could be let's say you're taking half core for analysis. A split would be a quarter of the core. Just I'm I'm explaining this as simply as I can. Yes. A split would be a quarter of course. So one quarter goes off for analysis in one laboratory.

52:21 Another quarter call could actually be sent off to another a different laboratory. So that's one way of dealing with a duplicate sample. Our duplicates, we've we tended to use what are called pulp duplicates and crushed duplicates. So pulp duplicates require the pulverizing of the sample. And that's so you have a pulp prepared, and then you do a split of the pulp. And in this case, it's analyzed at the in an individual laboratory. But you're checking whether one pulp is coming up with the same number in the assay as the other pulp. We also do that at the crush stage, so it's a much coarser coarser grind to determine whether we're getting contamination ultimately at another stage of the process of sample preparation.

53:19 So it's to try and understand where there may be laboratory error, where there may be error being introduced as a result of the preparation methodology prior to laboratory analysis. And then the last check that's done, and this is done on a batch by batch basis, the last check that's done is in terms of a reference or a standard material. So a standard material is a material that has been analyzed across a number of international laboratories that are internationally accredited. And it's a material that consistently yields the same grade of the commodity of interest, so gold or silver or whatever.

54:06 Now if our analysis of our own laboratory deviates from that reference material significantly and you assess that statistically based on the standard deviation of the the deviation, you can determine whether you've got some other problem with the laboratory analysis. Now we we do this absolutely routinely across all our exploration programs. Sometimes that requires us to have material reanalyzed, not only at our own laboratory, but external laboratories. So it's an ongoing process. Now because so coming back to the point, because the Khozl Tepe mine laboratory had never handled the particular ore type demonstrated at Sullenbosch, it is a very different style of mineralization to what the Kuseltepe laboratory was previously used to at Kuseltepe.

55:08 So it took some time for the laboratory to work through the sorts of issues that I've been talking about and us working through that with them to refine the analysis. And there there were initially, were problems with gold, then we identified there were some problems with some of the base metals. And but over time, we've improved improved the results, and we've we we have confidence in the results. And as a result of that, we were able to announce the first batch of results to the market. We'd never announce batches of results to the market unless we are 100% confident in the the results. Otherwise, that that's it could be highly misleading.

55:57 So we have to work through these things, and some of these things can take time. You can imagine if samples have to be reanalyzed and especially given the workloads, not only of the laboratory, but the international laboratories in recent times. I mean, there are just to give you an example, there have been delays of three months at some of the Western Australian laboratories. So this is an international problem as well. It the the sheer sample volume being submitted to to the laboratories is is difficult for the laboratories to manage. So we have to be patient. We have to spend time working through the QAQC matters. We have to gain complete confidence in those results before we'd ever announce them.

56:44 And the other thing is that even when we got those results, we need to put it into a geological framework. There's know, so we we determine a threshold of materiality to our results. And then we'll announce those results when we determine that it's materially important for the market to see that data. So I think that's important for people to to to recognize. Thanks, Kieran. Just so that we've got an order of magnitude, how many thousands of meters were drilled and how many thousands of samples were sent in? So we've drilled would it be over 12,000 meters of of drilling, and most of the mineralized horizons are over sort of 15 to 30 meter intervals in in each hole.

57:35 So there have been several thousand samples submitted and and more more analysis coming in at this time. We're looking at further analyses anal analytical results coming in imminently. And and we'll be making doing our assessments as I've described. We'll be determining the the the the QAQC go through the QAQC and determining the correctness of the results. And then once we're comfortable and myself, I'm the competent person providing sign off, but so so are other members of our team, Zach Van Collar, Ruth Begtash.

58:26 Once we're collectively comfortable with the results, then we'll put together announcement, make that announcement available. And all of this is about how we're going to deal with in the longer term, which is probably the most promising single biggest project we've got in Turkey, let alone Zenit. Yes. Yeah. That that that's that's correct. And it's very much an elephant country if you look at the the neighbors around us and how big some of their discoveries have been. Yes. Yeah. Very much so. So it's Solenbosch project as a whole is a highly prospective area. You know, the fact that we've got the the mineralization that we've seen at Sollenbosch itself, the gold, silver, coupled to a porphyry copper gold molybdenum system.

59:20 That that system occurring in the north part of the project area as we go to the south, we've we've now made the discovery of the Hussali Islay area, which was previously just a it was just a geochemical anomaly. But, you know, clearly, there's there's a system there. And and that system, we're now testing with drilling the the the visually, we we can see mineralization in the drill core. So base metal mineralization primarily, but we've also had some surface assay results from similar material that, you know, we're seeing over a gram per ton gold in some of those surface assays. So it's it's very encouraging.

1:00:08 We we feel that in that particular area, we probably need to drill as deep as possible because we we feel that the the system is an expression in a high level of the the hydrothermal system. So we need to to test much deeper into that system to encounter a more enriched gold zone. Maybe we should just talk more broadly about what our longer term strategy is. And then with with you giving that in-depth explanation as to how we drill out and analyze what we do, let's talk more broadly about how we identify where we go and why we go to different places and how we have projects in various stages of development, and we don't have all our eggs in one basket.

1:01:02 Yep. And, obviously, that's a good thing as an exploration development company. You know, the you you hear these horror stories of companies with single asset in a single jurisdiction, and something goes wrong something goes wrong with the the jurisdiction. And no matter how good the deposit, you know, you could be sitting on several million ounces, it can all go up in smoke. So as a way of mitigating that issue, it is actually important to diversify across jurisdiction and also from a commodity perspective. Again, having all your eggs in one basket in a single commodity, you know, I don't think even Newmont's doing that anymore. You know, they're they're also interested in in copper among other things.

1:01:57 We are. So yeah. So, you know and especially mineral systems that contain multiple commodities such as copper gold. So and anything that's sort of porphyry related can quite often be copper gold associated. Obviously, the volcanogenic massive sulfide systems that we've been working on in Cyprus with Venus Minerals, that's likewise the copper gold system as we've now proven. So there are certain commodities that will always tend to go together. Silver's another good example of that in the case of a low sulfidation epithermal system that we're currently mining at.

1:02:45 So I I think, yeah, sort of a systems based approach to to commodity makes a lot of sense. And even further afield, you know, if if you look at our investment into Panther Metals in Western Australia, there again, it's a it's a systems based approach. It's nickel cobalt that's that's being drilled currently. And, you know, that's that's one of the standouts and one of the larger nickel cobalt in Western Australia at this time. So, obviously, a lot more work to be done there, but, you know, we're we're confident in the progress being shown. You know, we're we're also looking through, again, the Asgard Metals Fund now in into Kazakhstan.

1:03:36 And, again, there there's a sort of multi commodity approach there, copper, gold, and and somewhat different styles of copper mineralization as well, including in the in a sedimentary copper basin that is one of the standout sedimentary copper basins globally that's received very little international exploration attention in the past. But, you know, that that's very much a case to watch this space, I think. So we've been looking at things that are Greenwich Meridian and East. We've ignored South America, North America for a good reason, and you might want to just mention that. But then more importantly, talk about what's directly down the Greenwich Meridian. Yeah. So, obviously, we have to draw the line somewhere, and, you know, the world's a big place.

1:04:27 As a company, myself included, none of us have experience in The Americas. You know, maybe a little bit in Canada, but really no experience whatsoever in The Americas from North all the way to the South. And to to venture off into yet another continent is not appropriate. Obviously, there are massive mineral systems, in Southern America, but it's just not the environment for us. None of us are Spanish speaking or Portuguese speaking. So it it's just a nonstarter. The the sorts of places that we could readily explore are any English speaking country, any country that has a a Turkic element or Ottoman Turkish influence.

1:05:27 So good example of that being a whole Balkans region. Yep. And the the Ottoman influence in that region was so significant that there are many people through that region that will speak Turkish. And, you know, I've I've experienced it myself working in in that region. You quite often you'll you'll encounter people that will speak Turkish, and and that's that's that's that's a fantastic thing. Kazakhstan's another good example. It's a form of Turkish that they speak there. And in in any English speaking country, well, that's, you know, a large part of of Africa. And, you know, we've we've had experience in Africa in the past at at board level.

1:06:13 Yes. Indeed. Indeed, elsewhere within the company and and Australia for that matter. So it's yeah. That that's really the reason we've chosen to look at the the Eastern Hemisphere. And if it's an English speaking jurisdiction, it's likely to have a link a legal system that we're more familiar with and and we would find more normal from our perspective as well as government administration, which is all the stuff you have to plug into. And you should be working in something that you're at least reasonably comfortable. It shouldn't be a chat just to understand that. The geology is difficult. Well, that well, that's it. I mean, you don't wanna make a rod for your own back unnecessarily.

1:06:58 And, you know, if there are ways to reduce the height of the hurdle. Yeah. And there are many hurdles in this business. You you do what you can to to ensure you're jumping over the smallest possible hurdles. You know, they it's it's simply that. Just Michael, I just wonder whether we should touch on some of these other questions. Oh, yes. Sorry. I'm taking you off a few minutes. That have come in. I've got one comment from Steve b that he prefers this format. So thank you, Steve b. Glad glad that it's working out. John d oh, okay. Is mine development in Kosovo in any way impacted by its status as a disputed territory whose independence is not recognized by the United Nations or by the difficulties between the Serb and Albanian communities. So I think there's some other questions actually that related to oh, yeah. There's another question from Steve b relating to troops being there.

1:07:57 I I don't know whether people have heard, but interestingly, that's the the NATO troop reinforcements actually came in from Turkey this time. So it was a Turkish mechanized brigade that was mobilized. And, obviously, there's, you know, strong American military presence in the country as well. Yes. They have had some issues with Serbia. That's something that's sort of bubbled away in the background for a long time. It's sad that that sort of thing happens, but it's certainly no one's interest for there to be any more conflict. And, you know, we've already got enough conflict in the world and, you know, hope hopefully, cool heads will always prevail, and and hopefully, they they prevail elsewhere too.

1:08:54 So, you know, as an exploration company and coming back to the the point that I was making earlier, you know, you you diversify risk. And, you know, if one jurisdiction doesn't work out for whatever reason, you've got other strings to the bow, and you just move on to those and emphasize those further. Cyprus is a good example and, you know, coming back to the point we were making just now about language and the sort of hurdles in place, legal framework. Cyprus is obviously English speaking, both north and south. Legal framework, both north and south, although you can't work in the North. But in the South, you know, the the legal framework is effectively the British legal framework.

1:09:41 So, you know, that it's those sorts of things that we're we're constantly working on and evaluating and trying to to sort of drive a a route forward. Kiran, there's a quick Neda, sorry to interrupt. Have you finished, or can I move on? Yeah. Yeah. That that that's that's fine. K. Neda, in what currency and where is the 15,000,000 joint venture cash equivalents cash and cash equivalents? And can we specify the difference between the two? Within the joint venture company, they hold currency in both USD and Turkish lira. That's pretty much cash, or it's a a receivable for for gold that's delivered. The interesting point, I think, that's worth drawing attention to is that cash is being utilized for the things that you've described Zenith is doing. And more importantly, that's cash available for the construction of Taushan, which has meant we have not go had to go to the project finance market to fund the construction of Taushan, which in this environment will be both expensive and difficult.

1:10:46 Yes. So we've saved that tremendous project finance cost that would have otherwise been a requirement. Yes. That that's correct. I mean, we're very fortunate that we didn't go down the bank debt route in the case of the Tarshan mine built and that we chose sensibly to the and and I should say collectively. So this the partners agreeing that that was the best route forward was to to retain cash within the Zenith entity and to utilize part of those cash resources for ongoing exploration around Kuseltepe elsewhere, but also to to fund the ongoing mine build at. Had had we taken on debts a year or so ago, I I think we would be in a worrisome place.

1:11:41 But that's that's not the case, and all all debt associated with the Kuslopepe mine bill has now been paid off. So we're in absolutely great shape both in our own right as ARIANA, but also the Zenith operational entity. In terms of the the how the cash is held within the entity, you know, you're right that there's obviously receivables from gold and silver at the at the refinery in Istanbul. There's also I I should say, though, that we're obviously most of the golden the silver is actually sold to the central bank. So the gold, specifically, the gold is sold to the central bank, and it almost always is bought by the central bank and is paid for in Turkish lira.

1:12:33 However, we immediately convert to US dollars, and we hold US dollar cash reserves within Zenith. Some of those cash reserves are held in what are called interest rate sorry, exchange rate protected accounts Yes. Where where they, in essence, exist in Turkish lira, but the exchange rate is locked in on day one. So when you exit after whatever period, one month, three months, six months, you you've already pre secured the rate of conversion irrespective of what actually happens to the exchange rate in the meantime.

1:13:19 So that's something that was brought in by the Turkish government. When would it been? Sort of late twenty early twenty early twenty two or thereabouts. So some some of our cash is held that way and some, obviously, in Turkish lira current account because we have all our expenditure in Turkey and Turkish lira. So, you know, we keep it across a a number of different currencies. Yeah. As they all required a number of different currencies. Yeah. For good cash management. Well, there were a few left, and we can go through them if we still have time.

1:14:12 Yeah. How many hours dedicated to specific projects in our in our portfolio? It's a bit difficult to answer because it's quite a general thing. But Yeah. All over the place, really. Well yeah. I mean, maybe I can answer this by just saying that with with the team, you know, every day, pretty much, we're moving from one project to the next project. So we're the the it's a constant chain of of project development. And, you know, as one project gets advanced in terms of our understanding and, you know, our reporting on on said project, we move on to the next project and so on. Then by by the following week, we're back on to project a.

1:15:08 So it it's it's it's constant. And that's that's a great thing because it, you know, certainly keeps everything keeps us all on our toes and ensures that nothing about the the portfolio is in any way boring. Everything's sort of new and exciting, and, you know, we're always adding new data. We're evaluating different datasets. We're looking at new projects on a continuous basis. So not only the projects that we're con currently working on, but there are new projects coming to us that we're assessing and determining whether they they may be a fit for the portfolio.

1:15:54 So it's it's all really quite exciting. And, you know, it's been great working with the team, particularly over the last couple of years. It's been really fantastic. In terms of services, so through Asgard, the the arrangement that we've got there is really we we take a position in an investee company for cash. And the sorts of the the levels of cash that have been invested range from about, let's say, $50,000 to $300,000. But coupled to that is a consulting agreement, typically, that is paid for in shares. So in in the case of Panther, you know, being the the very first investment we made this way, we made a cash investment of a $100,000 at the time, but we secured $250,000 worth of shares upfront in in lieu of the consulting input over two years.

1:16:55 So it's that sort of arrangement that we put in place with our investee companies, and it's working out really well for us. And as we expected, it's working out really well for them. Because one of the challenges, I think, for junior exploration companies that's, you know, our end of the market, so to speak, and private companies in particular, is that they often do not have the the capacity or depth of team to apply to their exploration projects. Now ARIANA represents a a full spectrum geoscientific team with a complement of, obviously, geologists, but all the way through from remote sensing specialists to geophysicists to geochemists and and so on. So we we're able to apply that expertise very effectively to other investee companies.

1:17:47 So those companies, they might go off and do, you know, a drone magnetic survey. They want that data assessed. So rather than sending it to another consultant that's got no skin in the game, they send it to us. We analyze the data. We provide them the outputs and the recommendations. And then that might feed on into a new drilling program, for instance. So it's a very sort of interactive, iterative arrangement that we've got with our investee companies, and I think it's working out really well. Garem, that sort of dovetails into the question from Lovro r. And is the company in a position to exclusively aim for joint ventures or our sale of assets a probability? If the right offer comes along, well, that's always the case, I think. And how do you in in value creation creation offers of sales of similar? Well, of course, the the lithium discovery you made in in Australia, the decade. Yeah.

1:18:42 Yeah. Exactly. So, I mean, in that case, you know, that that was just one of those serendipitous things in a way because we were able the the lithium sector was not doing particularly well at that stage. There there'd been a sort of brief moment in in the sunshine in around two thousand and twelve, thirteen. But but by 2014, there there was no interest in lithium. And so it it had reached a particular point in the market cycle where we were able to pick up lithium assets very cost effectively to to the extent that ARIANA itself only injected $30,000 into the acquisition of the projects. And we were able to to bend those into two separate ASX listed companies.

1:19:36 And within the space of eighteen months, it cashed that out to the tune of $3,000,000. So that that's admittedly, that's a sort of unusual example, but it's one where the sort of timing worked out perfectly well. And and the sort of work that we were involved in was early stage prospecting. It was identifying the ground, doing some initial prospecting, working up the opportunity to the point that it was of interest to someone else. And, you know, we weren't in a position at that time to to go on and develop those projects any further ourselves because we had our hands full with the development of the mine at that stage. So it made sense for us to just cash out both in in terms of real hard cash as well as shares, which we later sold.

1:20:30 So, yeah, we're we're always up for that kind of thing where, you know, the the opportunity permits. But, also, in in the case of the the longer road that we we've chosen at where we started off with a relatively early stage exploration project, and we were able to systematically drill test that, partner up with a a capable partner in the form of, develop that into to our first mine, and and ultimately benefit from the cash flow as we did up until the point of the result in result in coming in as a third partner and benefiting then from result in cash in in the form of an expanded partnership that involved the Sullenbosch asset, which, of course, is the largest single resource within the portfolio. So it really needed a large amount of additional capital expended on it. So that partnership with Ozalten came at a perfect time.

1:21:39 And as a result of that, we were able to part partly sell down our interests in Turkey, which has then enabled us to look at these other jurisdictions and and go through the process of more broadly derisking the company so that we we are spread across a a variety of different areas and and commodities. So we're we're no longer in the situation that we were once in going back to, you know, 02/2010 through to 2016 of essentially being a single asset company. And if if we weren't able to get because of the operational, you know, that could have been the end of the matter. But that that's that was the risk of that strategy. So we're trying to avoid being cornered effectively into the same position by broadening out our horizons, applying the skill sets that we've built up over the years successfully in the case of our Turkish assets, and then reapplying those skills to the identification of new deposits elsewhere.

1:22:45 And in new partnerships potentially, moving those assets up the development curve to the point of mining. Kieran, thanks. I think it's about time for us to wrap up, but answering that question the way we have in part answers the question is exploration profitable. I think what we've discussed in the past, if we weren't just making discoveries at $11 an ounce, we wouldn't be profitable, and and the the profit that we've just reported proves that as well. I think in wrapping up, I just want to mention that we put out an r and s this morning about, a problem with Broadridge and the proxy voting platform they use and an incorrect listing of resolutions, some of which were duplicate, some of which were nothing to do with us, and some of which are plain wrong.

1:23:33 That has been corrected. They have acknowledged they made a mistake, and they have apologized. And that platform is now corrected for those shareholders who lodged their shares with who bought their shares through Broadridge. But in in in summary, think, Kerem, is there a closing remark? And and let's let's do it today. Yes. So thank I think just to say thank you to all listeners for their time. We very much appreciate the the interaction. Obviously, the this this platform provides for a particular style of interaction in the form of the presubmitted questions, which we've done our best to answer, as I said. But, hopefully, some further value has been extracted through the the live q and a session.

1:24:26 I know that we we we're not able to answer all questions in the live format because it's difficult for us to to both speak and and read the questions. But, again, we we do our best to work work towards an answer that is hopefully satisfactory, and we very much welcome these opportunities to to present to to shareholders and investors. Thank you. Yeah. And thank you too, Karen, and thank you to those who who've attended and for your interest and questions. Mike do that. Michael, Karen, that's great. And thank you very much indeed for being so generous of your time in addressing all of those questions and also for updating investors this afternoon. Could I please ask investors not to close this session as you'll now be automatically redirected for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order that the management team can better understand your views and expectations?

1:25:20 This may take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of ARIANA RESOURCES PLC, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation. That now concludes today's session. So good afternoon to you all. Thank you, and good afternoon to you too. Thank you.