Mariana Resources “plenty of value still to come”

Mariana Resources LON:MARL Chief Executive Officer Glen Parsons today commented:  “Mariana is currently valued nearly solely on the significant high grade gold and copper Hot Maden project in Turkey; however, it is worth recalling that up until 2012 Mariana was solely rated on its existing Argentinean portfolio before the political downturn. Despite this Mariana has remained committed and active to its strong portfolio in the Deseado Massif.

“New exploration work to date in Argentina, as highlighted, has identified potential new target areas for follow up exploration and drilling with a particular emphasis on high grade gold and silver.

“Mariana’s continued lower cost exploration approach in Argentina over the last three years has positioned its Santa Cruz portfolio favourably, especially with the renewed interest in the gold sector and, more importantly, the improved investor climate in Argentina.  The positive steps made by the new government regarding direct foreign investment and business promotion has brought renewed interest into the country where we can hopefully see valuations increasing and re-ratings closer to levels previously achieved.

“Recent drilling results in Chile from the Dona Ines project were disappointing, however Mariana’s strategy is to continue leveraging its experience to acquire and explore new opportunities in prospective regions like Chile.”

Mariana Resources Ltd (‘Mariana’ or ‘the Company’), the AIM and TSXV listed exploration and development company with projects in Turkey and South America, is pleased to provide the following update on the Company’s projects and strategy in Argentina and Chile.

In Argentina, despite the downturn over the recent years, Mariana has continued its exploration efforts albeit on a reduced cost basis. The focus of these exploration activities has been on the advancement of high grade gold-silver vein/breccia targets on the Company’s extensive tenement holdings in the highly prospective Santa Cruz Province (Figure 1). Key works performed include:

1. Eastern Deseado – Las Calandrias District:
   1. At the Las Calandrias Project, field evaluation of 4 high grade gold-silver vein/breccia systems (La Morena, El Nido Norte, Las Calandrias Feeders, and Refugio; Figures 2 & 3), all adjacent to the La Calandria Norte vein (Indicated Mineral Resource of 162,000T @ 9.35/t Au at a 3 g/t Au cut-off), has commenced. One scout drill hole (CND 250) from 2011 (drilled prior to the downturn in Argentina) in the La Morena vein returned 0.6m @ 68.1 g/t Au + 107 g/t Ag, making it an immediate priority for follow-up exploration activities.
   2. At Bozal, which is located 30 km NW of Calandria Norte, field activities have focused on the evaluation of the Lucia vein/breccia system and the Joaquin vein. Samples from trenches on the Lucia vein have returned assays up to 1.3 m @ 18 g/t Au + 55 g/t Ag. The veins at Bozal are NW-SE trending and are only exposed over a total distance of around 800m before disappearing under post mineralisation basalt flows. Five short (473m in total) scout holes were drilled at Bozal in 2015, and these have provided additional vectors to possible high grade shoots on the property.
2. Los Cisnes Project (Figures 4 – 6)

At Los Cisnes, which is located approximately 75km SW of Yamana’s Cerro Moro project and due E of Anglogold Ashanti’s Cerro Vanguardia mine, field work has focused on both the high silver grade El Brio vein/breccia target and the bulk tonnage El Solar gold-silver dome-hosted mineralization. A scout drill program in 2015 returned high grade silver values from the Brio vein (up to 2.9m 755 g/t Ag in LCsD09) and bulk tonnage style gold mineralization in the El Solar target.

1. Western Deseado – Sierra Blanca District (Figures 7-8):

Mariana’s focus at the Sierra Blanca Project, which is located adjacent to Austral Gold’s recently acquired Pinguino project and 44km from the Cerro Vanguardia Mine, continues to be the evaluation of 22km strike extent of poorly explored, high grade intermediate sulfidation epithermal veins. The oxidized central portion of the central Chala vein has returned exceptional gold and silver grades from channel sampling (up to 25.7 g/t Au and 7,600 g/t Ag), and represents a near term opportunity for the delineation of a near surface high grade silver-gold resource.

Significant improvements have occurred in the political and investment climate in Argentina since December 2015, and with this increased investor sentiment Mariana is well positioned to achieve a re-rating on its Santa Cruz portfolio.

In Chile, scout drilling at the Doña Ines gold prospect yielded no significant results and, following discussions with our funding partner Asset Chile, it was agreed to adopt a disciplined approach and suspend further operations at the Doña Ines and Exploradora projects. The Company has significant in-house experience in both Chile and Argentina, and will leverage this experience in the evaluation of new opportunities.