UK-BASED miner Ariana Resources Plc has completed more than half of its planned drilling programme at the Dokwe Gold Project in Zimbabwe, with early results reinforcing geological models and raising the prospect of further resource growth as the programme progresses.
The update comes days after Ariana announced it had secured an AU$8 million (about US$5,31 million) strategic investment from Hongkong Xinhai Mining Services to fund metallurgical test work and complete a definitive feasibility study at Dokwe.
The project, Ariana’s flagship asset, hosts more than one million ounces of gold and is estimated to hold an in-ground resource valued at nearly US$4 billion at current prices.
Based on the latest resource estimate, the Dokwe Gold Project contains approximately 1,42 million ounces of gold across the Dokwe North and Dokwe Central deposits, with the bulk of the resource concentrated at Dokwe North.
“On 4 November 2025, Ariana announced the initiation of a 26-hole 4 000m RC drilling campaign designed to test four target areas within the 100% held Dokwe Project. To date, 15 holes have been drilled,” Ariana said in a statement.
The holes include five drilled northeast of the Dokwe North resource area, six to the west of Dokwe Central, three at the Sinkwe target, and one within the Dokwe Central resource area. The latter was designed to test the continuity of mineralisation and provide material for metallurgical test work. A total of 2 411 metres has been drilled so far.
Ariana said its exploration team is systematically collecting portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) and magnetic susceptibility measurements metre by metre as samples are collected at the drill collar.
XRF is a technique used to rapidly analyse the chemical composition of rocks, soils and drill samples. The data is being used in real time to update exploration models and refine the drilling programme as new geological interpretations emerge.
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“This data is being used in ‘real-time’ to update exploration models and to adapt the drilling programme as new geological interpretations are developed, ensuring every metre drilled provides maximum value to the programme detectORE™ analysis has also been employed during this campaign, enabling the team to conduct on-site screening for gold indications within a 24-hour window,” Ariana said.
The detectORE™ analysis is a rapid gold-screening technique used during exploration to identify gold in samples on-site, without waiting for full laboratory assays.
The Dokwe project is located in the Tsholotsho District, 110 kilometres west-northwest of Bulawayo.
“We have made a great start to the exploration drilling programme at the Dokwe Project, and we are just a little over the halfway mark. “Based on our interpretation of the geology encountered so far, we are encouraged to note that our geological models have proven remarkably prescient,” Ariana managing director Kerim Sener said.
“Notably, drilling along the Dokwe Central shear zone has largely confirmed the suspected offsets of this structure, and the distribution of known mineralisation is now better understood.
Sener said geological logging, together with pXRF data, highlighted the need for additional drilling in parts of the Dokwe Central area, prompting the company to adapt the programme accordingly.
Ariana said it expects to receive the first assay results before the end of the year and will report them in due course.
