Ariana solidifies strategic pathway to advance Zimbabwe’s largest undeveloped gold deposit
Ariana Resources has strengthened its war chest for the development of its Dokwe project – Zimbabwe’s largest undeveloped gold deposit - after banking A$27.4 million from the partial sale of its Turkish mining interests.
The company sold a 13.6 per cent stake in Turkish gold and silver joint venture Zenit Madencilik to partner Özaltın Holding, cutting its overall interest from 23.5 per cent to 9.9 per cent while retaining board representation and future dividend exposure.
The transaction leaves Ariana (ASX:AA2) with pro-forma cash and investments of about A$53 million and no debt, providing non-dilutive funding as it advances the 1.1 million-ounce Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe.
Dokwe, regarded as Zimbabwe’s largest undeveloped gold deposit, is moving into a critical phase of feasibility and development work. An updated pre-feasibility study is expected this quarter, followed by a potential resource upgrade later this year and a definitive feasibility study targeted for the first quarter of 2027.
Managing director Dr Kerim Sener described the sale as a strategic reallocation of capital designed to accelerate the development of Dokwe without diluting shareholders.
He said the transaction allowed Ariana to crystallise value from a mature producing asset while redeploying capital into a potentially transformational, wholly owned gold development project.
“The transaction reflects our disciplined capital allocation strategy and active portfolio optimisation, with a clear focus on accelerating the development of the flagship Dokwe Gold Project while minimising shareholder dilution,” Dr Sener said.
“This enables Ariana to redeploy capital into a potentially company-making, 100%-owned gold development project with long-term growth potential.
“Dokwe is underpinned by strong economics, as demonstrated in the pre-feasibility study update announced in 2025, and as it advances it continues to attract significant industry interest.
“Now complete and not subject to further approvals of any kind, this transaction provides substantial non-dilutive funding to support the rapid advancement of Dokwe through feasibility and development, strengthening our balance sheet and preserving shareholder value amid increasingly uncertain global macro-economic conditions.”
The transaction also means that, at today’s price, investors will pay an enterprise value of around only $70m for Dokwe’s resource, which is a highly competitive valuation compared with African pre-development peers including Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) and WIA Gold (ASX:WIA).
Recent drilling at Dokwe North and Dokwe Central has extended mineralisation beyond the current resource boundary, while shallow gold discoveries at the Sinkwe prospect have highlighted additional exploration upside.
The company has also expanded technical work programs at the project after completing a A$1 million metallurgical sampling and testwork agreement with Hongkong Xinhai Mining Services, part of a broader investment package of up to A$11 million from the global mining services group.
