Ariana Resources, a mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, this week released a financing and initial public offering update on Cypriot mining company Venus Minerals.

Ariana Resources, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a specialized unit of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), provided the update as it advances its plan to list Venus Minerals on the London Stock Exchange.

According to the announcement, Ariana’s shareholding in Venus will increase to 56 per cent following the conversion of the existing loan of £500,000.

An additional loan of a further £200,000 is expected to convert simultaneously on the same terms, taking Ariana’s holding to 58 per cent.

Moreover, the company said that Venus is currently undertaking a capital restructuring in preparation for its initial public offering (IPO) and in order to complete the Ariana share issue.

london stock exchange

The company also explained that several drill-ready targets have been identified across the Venus portfolio, including the newly acquired Margi Prospect and the recently discovered Troulli Prospect at the Mariner Project in the eastern part of Cyprus.

Ariana Resources managing director Kerim Sener stated that the company is pleased to be increasing its shareholding in Venus at what it considers to be an important time, as Venus advances on its plan to complete an IPO on the London Stock Exchange,

Furthermore, he stated that the company is continually assessing market conditions so that it can achieve a listing of the company under the most optimal circumstances.

“Various initiatives are being advanced by Venus in order to develop our projects in Cyprus as efficiently as possible,” Sener said.

“Recent copper discoveries such as Troulli and the newly acquired Margi prospect demonstrate the opportunities available in Cyprus for copper-gold deposits,” he added.

Sener went on to say that “as major shareholders in Venus, we are fully supportive of the team and wish them much success in their current endeavours”.

Regarding the capital restructure and other recent developments, the company explained that Venus is currently in the process of undertaking a capital restructure, reducing the nominal amount of each share to £0.1 from £1.

Subsequent to this and as touched on earlier, Ariana will elect to convert its existing loan to Venus totalling £500,000 into shares along with a further loan for £200,000 which is expected to be completed and then converted on the same basis simultaneously with the first loan.

As a consequence, a total loan amount of £700,000 is expected to be converted into new shares in Venus.

Following the conversion, Ariana will own 58 per cent while Semarang Enterprises will own the balance of 42 per cent.

“Venus has undertaken further fieldwork and is refining targets at several of its exploration projects in Cyprus in order to carry out drilling in the upcoming field season and once it has completed its planned IPO,” the company stated.

“Venus has developed a robust geological model for the exploration of Cyprus-type Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) systems based on its recent exploration successes, including the discovery of significant gold-rich zones at the Magellan Project and the recent greenfields discovery of copper mineralisation at the Troulli Prospect, which is part of the Mariner Project in eastern Cyprus,” it added.

Regarding the latter project, the company said that it represents the first significant new copper discovery in Cyprus for the past two decades and is “a testament to the diligent exploration approach of the Venus team and particularly in the application of field portable XRF technology”.