LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Ariana Resources announced the discovery of a significant new gold-in-soil anomaly adjacent to its planned Dokwe North open pit in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
The AIM-traded firm said the anomaly, which extends about 500 metres, lies just 125 metres northeast of the pit rim and presents a strong gold and arsenic geochemical signature consistent with the known Dokwe North mineralisation.

It said the discovery was made using portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) coupled with 'detectORE' technology, which enables rapid in-field gold detection.

Ariana said the anomaly aligned with the geological context of Dokwe North and represented a priority drilling target with the potential to extend the existing resource.

"This is a highly significant gold-in-soil anomaly, supported by other geochemical and geological information, which must be tested through drilling as a priority," said managing director Dr Kerim Sener.

"Today's news reveals an exciting new development for Dokwe, which could greatly improve our development plans for the project."

Sener added that the successful deployment of detectORE technology at Dokwe had dramatically accelerated target generation.

"This breakthrough also demonstrates how detectORE can be applied regionally.

"We are now preparing to deploy these technologies across the broader Bulawayo-Bubi Greenstone Belt, with the aim of determining whether Dokwe forms part of a larger, camp-scale cluster of deposits."

The Dokwe Gold Project hosts a resource of over one million ounces and is progressing toward feasibility.

Ariana said the discovery had already prompted modifications to the planned mine site layout.

The company said it was running a series of optimisation scenarios with Whittle Consulting, alongside regional geophysical and geochemical studies, to support both development and exploration.

It said the anomaly exhibited a northeast trend similar to Dokwe North's mineralisation and remains completely untested by drilling.

The discovery reinforced the geological model of the project, which was controlled by sub-vertical shear zones interacting with lithological contacts and heterogeneities in the host rocks.

Ariana said it intended to drill the new target at the earliest opportunity.

At 1056 BST, shares in Ariana Resources were up 7.55% at 1.43p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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