Newmont, the world’s largest gold mining company, has increased its investment in Ariana Resources, a UK-based exploration firm, by purchasing additional shares for $871,000. This follows an initial $2.5 million investment in 2022 to explore copper and gold in southeastern Europe.
The alliance, now in its third year of a five-year term, is overseen by Western Tethyan Resources (WTR), a Kosovo-based entity in which Ariana holds a 76% interest, with Newmont providing technical support. WTR holds several exploration licenses in Kosovo and is working on target generation in other southeastern European countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
To date, the exploration programs have involved generative work in Kosovo and North Macedonia, with additional projects across the region reviewed and assessed. According to Mentor Demi, Managing Director of WTR, they have collected geological, geochemical, and geophysical data over the past two years, generating multiple priority targets and securing new exploration licenses. The first project area, Hertica, has revealed a copper-gold-molybdenum mineralised system.
Under the alliance terms, any project Newmont deems worthy of further development will be held under a wholly owned WTR entity. Newmont has the option to invest an additional $1 million over two years to earn 60% equity. Further spending of $15 million on a pre-feasibility study that identifies a mineral resource exceeding 2 million ounces of gold will increase Newmont’s stake to 75%. If Newmont decides to develop a mining project, funding will be on a pro-rata basis unless WTR opts out, allowing Newmont to earn up to 85%. Should either party withdraw or dilute their stake below 10%, they will relinquish their interest in exchange for a 2% net smelter return.
The agreement allows Newmont to increase its stake in promising projects by funding further exploration and development. Beyond this venture, Ariana also has gold projects in Zimbabwe and Turkey, and copper projects in Cyprus.
