Ariana Resources has entered into a strategic investment term sheet with Hongkong Xinhai Mining Services for A$8 million in immediate funding and to progress the definitive feasibility study at the Dokwe gold project in Zimbabwe.
The payment will be made, inclusive of a A$500,000 signing fee, at a price of A$0.30/ CDI (CHESS Depositary Interest).
Xinhai will provide technical services in relation to a metallurgical sampling and testwork programme for A$1 million and complete the definitive feasibility study of Dokwe, under the management of Ariana, for up to A$2 million to be paid in CDIs at the issue price.
The definitive agreements are expected to be completed by 31 January 2026. Xinhai will nominate one member to the Ariana board following the completion of the definitive agreements.
Zach van Coller, special projects geologist for Ariana, told Mining Magazine last week: "We have to do a bit of metallurgy work [at Dokwe] and then get feasibility initiated."
"Ariana is unique in a lot of ways from a junior exploration perspective," he said. "Firstly, we have a unique team."
"We have specialist in-house geophysicists, a specialist in-house remote sensing geologist and a specialist in-house geochemist, which is unusual for a junior company. They often give work out to consultants."
"They interact with each other to build dynamic models in their fields and cross-populate information, which is what has been helpful."
"The whole team is continually working on these projects together."
He added that Ariana's use of technology, including the detectORE portable XRF analysis from Portable PPB, which allows the company to get gold readings in the field in a short space of time, has given it an advantage.
"It is a tool for us to make quick decisions on what is important and what isn't important," he said. "We can drill smarter. The market responds better if you can bring things of interest to them much more quickly."
This method has led to a new discovery on the Dokwe site to the north of the Dokwe North project, which could potentially be of a similar size.
"Nobody knew it was there," Van Coller said of the discovery.
"All it took was some new thinking and some new technology. That is an area we are now drilling, and we are using detectORE not only from the surface perspective, but also downhole, so we can correlate those anomalies there as well."
Shares in Ariana were at 1.55p on the LSE, valuing the company at £36.22 million.
