Ortac Zambia Investment is Paying Off. New Investment into Zamsort, set to edge the Kalaba Copper stockpile project into production

Cash is king on AIM and the news out this morning by Ortac Resources is a welcome development for investors as the Kalaba copper stockpile project under the development by local copper company Zamsort which Ortac are a major investor in, receive a vote of confidence in the project as the latex investor Kopara, is seeing what I have seen all along. Kalaba is a great project. The mining risk has been taken away, its simple stockpile processing and with the cash this will bring, will help open up what is a huge copper asset, just waiting for decent exploration attention. With Ortac's strong geological team there to support Zamsort, Ortac is one of the few AIM plays that has a real opportunity to secure cash earnings in the near term. Shares in Ortac rose 88% on this news.

RNS is below

Ortac Resources Ltd., the AIM listed exploration and mine development company, is pleased to announce that Zamsort Limited ("Zamsort"), a company in which Ortac has acquired secured convertible loan notes, has raised a further US$2 million from Kopara Investments Limited ('Kopara'). 

This investment into Zamsort takes Kopara's interest in the share capital of Zamsort to 20% and extends the right for Kopara to appoint a director to the board of Zamsort, to represent its interests. 

Vassilios Carellas, Ortac CEO, commented: "Kopara's investment is an endorsement of the quality and potential of Zamsort's licenses and stands in stark contrast to the prevailing market. It provides further support for Ortac's US$1.2 million investment into Zamsort loan notes, which if converted will provide Ortac with a 19.35% interest in the share capital of that company. 

"Over the last six months, Zamsort has raised US$3.2 million in order to develop its licenses located in the copper belt. Zamsort is now better positioned to rapidly proceed with the development of a mining operation at its Kalaba deposit and commence initial exploration activities in the rest of its exploration license."

Blaschak Coal Corp, BIG Expansion in US Anthracite Sector, Two New Mines Announced.

MAHANOY CITY, Pa., Sept. 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blaschak Coal Corp − a company engaged in the mining, processing and distribution of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania, and one of the country's top anthracite producers – announced today that it is expanding mining activities into two new locations in the anthracite coal measures of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The addition of the two new locations means increased coal reserves for the company, additional capacity to produce run of mine coal at favorable mine ratios and operating costs, and critical flexibility to optimize production for quality assurance and cost of production.

Blaschak has executed a long-term lease to mine a significant reserve in the Mt. Carmel area of Columbia County, PA. The company will relocate a Marion 7450 Dragline to this location, as well as acquire a fleet of equipment to move into full operation on this site by the end of 2015. The second location is in the Eastern coal measures near Hazleton, PA. Blaschak is currently mining in this location with a Manitowic 4600 Dragline. First coal production from this site occurred in August of 2015.

The additional capacity will permit the company flexibility in operations, giving Blaschak five active mine locations containing high quality reserves. The reserve additions are expected to add as much as three million tons of clean coal.

The expansion coincides with release of a study suggesting that the carbon footprint of anthracite is smaller than that of traditional metallurgical coke.

"The expanded mining operations reflect our strategic belief in the value of anthracite in existing and emerging market applications," said Greg Driscoll, president and CEO of Blaschak Coal Corp. "We're excited to increase our mining capacity, extending the environmental benefits afforded by our re-mining and reclamation, and providing confirmation of our belief that Pennsylvania anthracite has favorable environmental impacts when used in place of alternatives in domestic steelmaking."

The study, prepared by Dr. Harold Schobert of Schobert International LLC, compared the carbon footprints of using traditional metallurgical coke relative to using Pennsylvania-produced anthracite as a fuel and reducing agent in U. S. domestic steelmaking operations.

The study confirmed that the use of Pennsylvania anthracite over metallurgical coke significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions, thereby minimizing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. In fact, replacing coke with anthracite in a single Electric Arc Furnace can reduce carbon dioxide by as much as 95,000 tons – the equivalent carbon footprint of 2,000 households, or 11,000 motor vehicles.

"We're proud to produce only the cleanest burning coal," said Driscoll. "With the addition of these reserves in the new mining locations, we can quickly and efficiently provide clean, Pennsylvania anthracite for customers around the world."

About Blaschak Coal Corp.

Blaschak Coal Corp. (www.blaschakcoal.com) is a miner, preparer and marketer of Pennsylvania anthracite. Blaschak is a market leader and one of the few fully integrated U.S. anthracite companies with a large reserve base, multiple mines and preparation plants, a bagging plant, both rail and truck loading facilities, and extensive marketing operations serving a wide range of end markets, including home heating, steel and water filtration.

- See more at: http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/09/16/768769/10149499/en/Anthracite-Proves-Its-Staying-Power.html#sthash.ezXqTHW9.dpuf

Ariana Resources (AIM:AAU) Fantastic Update to Shareholders

Ariana Resources (AIM:AAU) the near term Turkish gold mining company, today posted a fantastic letter to shareholders. Details are listed below
If anybody needed reminding of just what a good investment prospect Ariana is then please read the letter below carefully.

But just one reminder. The all in cash per ounce production costs of gold at the near term Kiziltepe Mine are circa $600 per pounce.

That means had Kiziltepe been in production for the last 12 months where the price of gold has averaged $1,240 per ounce

would have meant Ariana / Kiziltepe would have enjoyed a cash cost average operating
of circa $641 per ounce over the period. The prognosis for the gold price remains bullish 

as market uncertainty continues. 

 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS 
 
   Ariana Resources plc ("Ariana" or "the Company"), the gold exploration 
and development company focused on Turkey, is pleased to announce an 
open letter to shareholders, which will be posted today on the Company's 
website at www.arianaresources.com. 
 
   Dear Shareholder, 
 
   As we progress into 2015, I would like to take this opportunity to 
discuss the advances made by the Company towards production in Turkey 
and also to reflect on 2014, which, despite the challenging conditions 
prevailing in the market, was a year of significant development for 
Ariana. 
 
   Amongst the significant milestones achieved during the year were the 
following: 
 
 
   -- EIA approval: By the end of 2013 we had successfully completed the 
      permitting required by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urban 
      Planning as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") reporting 
      process. 
 
   -- 20-year licence extension:  Successful completion of the EIA enabled us 
      to apply for a 20-year extension to our primary operating licence, which 
      we were granted in April. 
 
   -- Tax incentives:  An application to the Ministry of Economy for a series 
      of tax incentives and other government support mechanisms was also 
      approved in June.  These incentives amount to an immediate US$2.2 million 
      saving over the eight-year life of the mine. 
 
   -- Bank loan for mine construction:  On obtaining these incentives from the 
      Turkish Government, we successfully finalised arrangements with a Turkish 
      bank, Turkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi A.S., to provide a US$33 million 
      debt facility to fund the development of the Kiziltepe mine. 
 
   -- Surface rights obtained: 100% of the land rights were also purchased over 
      our primary Reserve at Kiziltepe 
 
 
   We are now on the cusp of moving into mine construction at Kiziltepe as 
we await the delivery of the final permit for access to government-owned 
land, which in our case relates to an area of forest.  We are also 
mindful of the frustration our shareholders may have felt concerning the 
time taken for this final component to be signed off and for 
construction to commence.  Whilst it has not been easy to estimate 
timescales in this regard, it is important to appreciate that with our 
mine finance facility now in place, such permitting is very much viewed 
as a procedural process, rather than an area of undue uncertainty for 
the Company or its stakeholders. 
 
   In a recent development, we are now most encouraged to begin 2015 in the 
knowledge that several revisions to the Turkish Mining Law have been 
submitted to the Turkish parliament and are currently with the 
Parliamentary Commission.  We expect that these revisions, once accepted, 
will help to catalyse the permitting process for the mining sector in 
the near term. 
 
   Enhancing our Resource Base 
 
   As we move nearer to mine construction and production, we are also 
mindful of the fact that going forward, a key area of value enhancement 
for the Company will be our ability to build on and expand the size and 
scale of the mineable resource at Kiziltepe through our on-going 
exploration in and around the Red Rabbit Project.  The results of these 
efforts to date have been announced during the course of the past year 
and point to considerable additional resource potential.  In particular, 
we see immediate along-strike and down-plunge resource potential at 
Kiziltepe, in addition to resource growth opportunities at several 
prospects such as Kizilcukur and Kepez.  Once the Kiziltepe mine becomes 
operational, we expect to convert this potential into further mineable 
reserves, enhancing mine life as well as the long-term economics of the 
mine.  We have now advanced certain exploration targets in the vicinity 
of Kiziltepe to the point of drill-testing and will be looking to 
progress to the drilling stage. 
 
   Ardala-Salinbas Project Developments 
 
   Outside of our operations in western Turkey we continue to advance our 
exciting Ardala-Salinbas JV project with Eldorado Gold Corp. 
Shareholders will be aware that this joint venture is fully funded by 
Eldorado and whilst Ariana continues to retain a 49% stake in the 
project under the terms of the original JV, we also maintain a 
free-carry to the feasibility study stage.  Over the life of the JV, 
Eldorado has spent approximately $7M for almost 19,000 metres drilled, 
and we have identified a gross Indicated and Inferred JORC resource of 
over 1.1 million oz gold equivalent, with approximately 569,000 of this 
net attributable to Ariana. 
 
   We indicated in November last year that it was our intention to 
explicitly demonstrate the value of this project to the market and we 
have since been working with Eldorado to define several parameters 
required for a scoping level assessment of the project.  Independent 
reviews of geological, metallurgical and mining data were completed and 
the JV is now in the process of compiling this data as part of an 
internal scoping study which will be used to gauge the potential value 
of the project. 
 
   Tigris Resources IPO 
 
   We are also very pleased to see that Tigris Resources Ltd is continuing 
to progress towards an IPO on the TSX-V following a capital pool 
transaction with Kirkcaldy Capital Corp. and an associated fundraising 
of C$1.3 million.  Significantly, this transaction was supported by 
Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd.  Ariana currently holds 1.75 
million shares in Tigris, which will be rebranded as Royal Road Minerals 
Ltd. 
 
   Special Thanks 
 
   On a more personal note, I would like to express my greatest 
appreciation to my father and our founding General Manager in Turkey, 
Erhan Sener, who as of year-end 2014 has retired from a full-time role 
within the Company.  In late 2003, Erhan was instrumental in the 
establishment of Ariana's operations in Turkey; as General Manager he 
brought to bear his considerable experience and expertise of the Turkish 
business sector on the way we managed our operations.  Erhan will now be 
replaced by Fatma Yildiz, who was our licence manager and has a strong 
background in mining engineering.  We welcome Fatma to her new role and 
wish her much success.  Meanwhile, Erhan will continue with the Company 
in a part-time consulting capacity. 
 
   Moving in to 2015 
 
   We are encouraged to note the resilience and renewed strength in the 
gold price of late.  Whilst the gold market and demand for physical gold 
in Turkey has continued to remain robust throughout the down-cycle of 
the last three years, a more positive global gold price environment can 
only enhance overall sector sentiment.  Importantly, production costs in 
Turkey have remained amongst the lowest in the world and the recent 
reduction in energy costs will further reduce operational costs in the 
country.  Considering our Kiziltepe feasibility study was completed at a 
time when a barrel of oil was approximately $100, the current price 
environment, if sustained, will make a considerable positive impact on 
the economics of our operation, which has a current forecast operating 
cost of $600/oz. 
 
   Whilst considerable advances have been made during the course of 2014, 
we are acutely aware that the Company remains valued by the Market at 
approximately GBP5.5 million at the current share price.  In contrast, 
internal estimates of the value of our assets and the resource ounces 
currently attributable to the Company (based on the comparable 
transaction methodology), provides hope that the Market value will 
eventually begin to converge with the combined valuation of our assets, 
as sentiment towards the sector improves once more. 
 
   2015 is set to be a transformational year for Ariana Resources, as we 
move towards mine development, leading to maiden production and revenues 
at Kiziltepe, in addition to the numerous positive developments and 
expected news flow as outlined above.  We believe it would be hard for 
the market to overlook these positive developments and we will ensure 
that the Market is aware of the significance of our news in this regard. 
We look forward to updating shareholders on our developments at this 
exciting time for Ariana. 
 
   Yours faithfully, 
 
   Dr. Kerim Sener 
 
   Managing Director