Business Reporter
LONDON-and Australia-listed mineral exploration and development company Ariana Resources plc has published its prospectus to launch a private placement in Zimbabwe to raise between US$3 million and US$5 million to fund its Dokwe gold project in Tsholotsho.
The capital raise will be followed by a secondary listing of its ordinary shares by way of introduction on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).
Ariana’s ordinary shares were originally listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in July 2005.
Expanding its investor reach, the group completed a dual listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in September 2025 via CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs).
Beyond its flagship asset in Zimbabwe, Ariana maintains a diversified international portfolio.
The Dokwe project is strategically key to Zimbabwe’s gold mining industry growth, as one of the country’s largest new, large-scale greenfield gold developments in decades.
Gold is Zimbabwe’s primary foreign currency earner (generating a record US$4,61 billion in 2025) and serves as the core physical collateral backing the country’s domestic currency, ZiG.
Zimbabwe recorded a record-high gold output of 46,7 tonnes in 2025.
For 2026, Zimbabwe has set a baseline target of 50 tonnes.
Dokwe is one of several greenfield and brownfield gold projects under development across the country.
It retains a 9,9 percent equity stake in Zenit Madencilik in Türkiye — which operates the producing Tavşan gold mine and Salinbaş project — alongside non-core exploration assets in Kosovo (Western Tethyan Resources) and Cyprus (Venus Minerals).
The private placement opens on November 11, 2026 and closes on December 2, 2026, at an offer price of US0,023 per share.
Local Zimbabwean institutional asset manager Dendere Asset Management has committed US$1 million as a cornerstone investor at a discounted price of US$0,022 per share, with an option for the company to call up to an additional US$1 million.
Dendere’s subscription shares will be subject to a 12-month voluntary escrow.
Admission and trading on the VFEX are targeted for December 11, 2026, creating full share fungibility across the AIM, ASX and VFEX platforms.
Net proceeds of the private placement will directly fund exploration, sterilisation, and resource-extension drilling programmes at Dokwe.
Located in Matabeleland North Province, approximately 110 kilometres north-west of Bulawayo, the 100 percent-owned Dokwe Gold Project represents Zimbabwe’s largest undeveloped gold asset.
An updated Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) released in May 2026 outlined robust metrics.
These include Joint Ore Reserve Committee (JORC)-compliant mineral resources of 62,5 Mt at 0,80 g/t Au, containing 1,60 million ounces of gold (including 1.50Moz at Dokwe North and 0.10 Moz at Dokwe Central).
Dokwe North holds an ore reserve of 45,9 Mt at 0,77 g/t Au for 1,13 million ounces.
Dokwe is structured as a 20-year operation.
It comprises an initial 12-year open-pit phase producing approximately 80 000oz annually (peaking at 100 000oz) at an average strip ratio of 3.7:1, followed by an 8-year low-grade stockpile processing phase producing c. 20 000oz per annum.
Total life-of-project production is targeted at 1,06 Moz of gold via a 2,5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) plant.
Based on a US$4,250/oz gold price assumption, the project exhibits a pre-tax net present value of US$1,056 billion, a post-tax NPV of US$740 million, a pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 92 percent and a rapid payback period of 1,2 years.
Pre-production capital costs are estimated at US$164 million, with a life-of-mine C1 operating cost of US$1,685/oz and projected life-of-project earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$1,993 billion.
Ariana has strengthened its working capital base, reporting a pro-forma net cash position of US$27,7 million and zero debt following non-core asset sell-downs in Türkiye during mid-2026.
In alliance with technical and equity partner Hongkong Xinhai Mining Services, Ariana completed a 5 659-metre drilling campaign in early 2026 that extended shallow mineralisation at Dokwe North and Central.
Metallurgical samples have been dispatched for laboratory testing in China and Australia to inform plant engineering designs.
The company is currently conducting a 3,700-metre diamond drilling programme, aiming for a JORC resource and reserve update in the last quarter of 2026, followed by the completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) in the first quarter of 2027.
