Ariana Resources Accelerates Dokwe Gold Project With Six Active Workstreams

Ariana Resources accelerates Dokwe Gold Project feasibility on multiple fronts

Ariana Resources (AIM: AAU, ASX: AA2) is advancing its Feasibility Study Programme for the 100%-owned, 1.6 Moz Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe across several simultaneous workstreams. The company has commissioned AMC Consultants (UK) to undertake an independent Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) under the JORC Code (2012), incorporating approximately 11,000m of recent RC and diamond drilling results. A revised Ore Reserve statement is expected “towards the end of this year,” with Dokwe Central anticipated to be included in the Reserve for the first time.

Dr. Kerim Sener, Managing Director

“We are making excellent headway with the Feasibility Study programme for the Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe on a number of very active fronts. With the recent completion of exploration and resource drilling programmes totalling c. 11,000m, we are now advancing our work towards an independent Mineral Resource Estimate with consultants, AMC Consultants Limited in the UK. This will become the final MRE for the purposes of the Feasibility Study. Furthermore we are advancing towards a revised Ore Reserve statement which we expect towards the end of this year. This is expected to include Dokwe Central in Reserve for the first time, following the completion of recent geotechnical and metallurgical drilling at that location. Metallurgical testwork with Xinhai in China is underway and sub-samples have now also been sent from China to IMO in Perth, Australia, for additional testwork for the feasibility study. Various other project developments are underway, notably the commencement of our c.2,200m water drilling programme to ensure we will have sufficient water supply for the processing plant. Knight Piesold are underway with a tailings management and layout design options study, which will determine a final layout and tailings option for the feasibility study. Beyond this, we are preparing to commence several new exploration and development activities across the project. Notably, we are due to commence from early October a sterilisation and exploration drilling programme in the expected mine infrastructure area. In addition we will be undertaking a detailed aeromagnetic and LiDAR survey over the entire project area, in order to assist with future exploration drilling planning. Ultimately we want to test systematically the remaining 10km of identified prospective shear zones that are untested by drilling, which has to date only examined 3km of strike…”

What’s underway: six active workstreams driving the feasibility study

The breadth of concurrent activity underway at Dokwe reflects a project moving through final pre-development study stages, not a single-thread programme. Six distinct workstreams are currently active:

1. Independent Mineral Resource Estimate: AMC Consultants (UK) Limited has been commissioned to produce an independent MRE under the JORC Code (2012). The estimate will incorporate assay results from approximately 11,000m of recent drilling, including the Dokwe North extensional programme to the northeast and the southern extension of mineralisation at Dokwe Central.

2. Water bore drilling: Wellfield Geosciences is conducting a 2,155m programme across 12 planned holes, targeting the Forest Sandstone aquifer approximately 10km north of Dokwe. Three holes have been completed to date, with strong flows of good quality water encountered in the third hole.

3. Metallurgical testwork: Eight tonnes of samples have arrived at Xinhai’s facility in Yantai, China, where 28 composites have been prepared. Three bulk composites will be tested at Yantai; the remaining mine schedule and variability composites are being shipped to Independent Metallurgical Operations Pty. Ltd. (IMO) in Perth, Australia, for additional testwork. Ariana Board members have visited both testing sites.

4. Geotechnical drilling at Dokwe Central: Six oriented diamond drill holes were completed for a total of 1,251m. Cores have been logged and sampled by OHMS representatives on site, with selected samples dispatched to a geotechnical laboratory in South Africa. The OHMS report is pending and will inform pit design.

5. Sterilisation and exploration drilling: Twenty-three new RC holes for 2,300m are due to commence from early October 2026 in the proposed mine infrastructure area. A second phase of 14 holes for 1,400m is also planned, targeting the contact between volcanic and sedimentary rocks.

6. Aeromagnetic and LiDAR survey: A detailed survey is expected to commence shortly over the entire project area to assist with drill target definition and planning for future exploration programmes.

Understanding the feasibility study process — and why each workstream matters

A Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) is the comprehensive technical and financial study a mining company must complete before it can make a decision to construct and operate a mine. Lenders and investors require a DFS before committing capital to a project. Each workstream currently underway at Dokwe feeds a specific, non-negotiable input into that study.

Here is what each workstream contributes:

• Water bore drilling → confirms sufficient water supply for the processing plant design
• Metallurgical testwork → generates gold recovery data used to model how efficiently ore can be processed
• Geotechnical drilling → provides rock strength and stability data required to design safe, optimised open pit walls
• Tailings and layout design (Knight Piesold) → determines the size, type, and placement of the tailings storage facility and waste rock dumps
• Independent MRE → establishes the final resource base to be carried into the DFS

The Ore Reserve statement deserves particular attention. An Ore Reserve is a higher-confidence classification than a Mineral Resource. It incorporates modifying factors such as mining method, processing recovery, and economic parameters, and is the standard required by banks and project financiers when assessing whether to fund mine construction. The anticipated inclusion of Dokwe Central in the Ore Reserve for the first time would expand the declared development case beyond the Dokwe North deposit alone, which has underpinned the resource to date.

The Dokwe mineral resource and the untested exploration upside

Current mineral resource estimate

The Dokwe MRE is reported within a pit shell optimised at US$5,000/oz Au, using a cut-off grade of 0.2 g/t Au, in accordance with JORC (2012). The total contained gold stands at 1,598,000 oz at a grade of 0.80 g/t Au across 62,467 kt.

Note: Reported within a US$5,000/oz Au optimised pit shell at a 0.2 g/t Au cut-off, in accordance with JORC (2012). Figures are both gross and net attributable to Ariana via its subsidiary Canister Resources (Pvt) Ltd in Zimbabwe. Errors may be present due to rounding.

Only 3km of 13km drilled — the exploration upside case

The 1.6 Moz resource sits within a project area that contains significantly more prospective ground than has been tested. Three structural corridors within the Dokwe project area have a combined strike length of approximately 13km, yet only approximately 3km of that strike has been drilled to date.

The Dokwe North Structural Corridor (DNSC) alone strikes for 4.5km within the project area, hosting the approximately 1.5 Moz Dokwe North deposit. At least 2.5km of that strike length has never been drilled.

Gold deposits in Archaean greenstone belts (ancient volcanic rock sequences, typically over 2.5 billion years old, that commonly host major gold systems) tend to form where structural corridors are disrupted by intrusions, jogs, or fold structures. The upcoming aeromagnetic and LiDAR survey is intended to map these disruptions in greater detail across the remaining untested shear zones, assisting in the definition of future drill targets.

The approximately 10km of prospective structural corridor that remains undrilled represents potential resource growth beyond the current 1.6 Moz base. No assurances can be made about what future drilling may return, but the structural setting and the scale of existing mineralisation provide geological rationale for continued systematic exploration.

What comes next — catalysts to watch before year-end

Investors tracking Dokwe have a clear sequence of near-term newsflow to monitor:

• Sterilisation RC drilling programme commencing early October 2026 (23 holes, 2,300m)
• Aeromagnetic and LiDAR survey commencing shortly over the entire project area
• Independent Mineral Resource Estimate to be finalised by AMC Consultants (UK) — no specific deadline has been disclosed
• Revised Ore Reserve statement expected “towards the end of this year” — anticipated to include Dokwe Central in the Reserve for the first time
• Tailings and layout design options study (Knight Piesold) to be confirmed and acted upon once the design layout has been finalised
• Second phase sterilisation drilling (14 holes, 1,400m) — no specific timing has been disclosed

Each of these catalysts feeds directly into a Feasibility Study that management is advancing on multiple fronts simultaneously, building the technical foundation required before any construction or production decision can be made.

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