LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Mineral explorer and developer Ariana Resources released its full-year production results for the Kiziltepe Mine in Turkey on Wednesday in which it holds a 23.5% stake through its shareholding in Zenit.

The AIM-traded firm said that in 2023, Kiziltepe produced and sold 17,683 ounces of gold, including gold in carbon and in circuit at year-end, surpassing the full-year production guidance of 18,000 ounces of gold set for the year.

Mining operations at Arzu North, Derya, and Banu were ongoing, with the company expecting to extend the Banu pit in 2024 with the acquisition of new forestry permits.

The gross full-year revenue generated by Kiziltepe totalled $39.2m, achieved at an average realised gold price of $1,945 per ounce.

That resulted in average revenue per gold ounce of $2,218, thanks to silver credit.

Since the start of operations in early 2017, the Kiziltepe Mine had produced a cumulative total of 151,041 ounces of gold, exceeding the planned 100,000 ounces, as well as 1,682,265 ounces of silver, generating $274m in revenue as of the end of 2023.

"Kiziltepe has now recorded seven highly successful years of production and the mine continues to perform extremely well," said managing director Kerim Sener.

"We are currently working towards completing an updated resource and reserve estimate, as we plan to bring Kiziltepe mining operations to a close over the next few years.

"Beyond this, we continue to explore within the immediate vicinity to identify further sources of potential mill supply that are not currently part of the mining plan."

Dr Sener said the firm anticipated that those would be operated as satellite operations, some of which are located within Zenit-owned licences, and others identified within neighbouring licence areas.

"During 2023, the strong gold price environment resulted in one of the best years for gold revenue since operations started.

"This has certainly boosted the capacity for Zenit to continue self-funding the development of the Tavsan mine build without recourse to debt finance.

"We are continuously monitoring the capital requirements of the Tavsan build and balancing these financial demands against practical and operational timelines, given the continued poor state of the debt markets."

Meanwhile, mining operations had recently started at Tavsan, while the Main Pit development was proceeding well with around 40,000 tonnes of ore currently stockpiled, ready for heap-leaching, Dr Sener added.

"Construction of the heap-leach, specifically the laying down of liners, is currently paused due to poor weather conditions and this work will recommence in the next drier and warmer weather period.

"Steel construction and fabrication, along with the delivery of various plant components are being staggered in accordance with cash-flow considerations.

"There will be further updates on Tavsan operations over the coming months, with first gold from the heap-leach currently expected to be delivered during the third quarter of 2024."

At 1349 GMT, shares in Ariana Resources were down 7.78% at 2.08p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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