London-listed Ariana Resources, which has assets in Africa and Europe, has published a revised prefeasibility study (PFS) for its Dokwe gold project, in Zimbabwe, which is based on a 1.13-million-ounce ore reserve and estimates a net present value (NPV) of above $1-billion.

The updated PFS reports an updated ore reserve, key financial outputs and updated processing and operating costs estimated by Xinhai Mining Group.

"The PFS update brings together a revised mineral resource estimate, the strategic optimisation study (SOS) completed with Whittle Consulting in 2025 and an update to project input parameters, enabling an increase to our ore reserves at Dokwe North," comments Ariana MD Dr Kerim Sener.

The revised PFS sets out a long-life, low capital cost and high-margin gold operation. The project is expected to produce about 1.06-million ounces of gold over the life of the project, with peak production to reach 100 000 oz/y. 

The production schedule is based on a maximum 2.5-million-tonne-a-year plant throughput and a high-grading production strategy, reflecting the SOS undertaken by Whittle Consulting.

Preproduction capital is estimated to be $164-million, the pre-tax NPV $1.06-billion and the post-tax NPV $740-million. The study estimates a one-year payback from commissioning and total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $1.99-billion.

The revised PFS, together with the advanced stage of the metallurgical and geotechnical drilling that is under way, are important prerequisites for the definitive feasibility study (DFS) that is set for completion in the first quarter of 2027.

"The results provide further impetus to test other strategic opportunities identified in the SOS as we progress Dokwe into production. In particular, refinements to the mining fleet configuration and processing route may further improve the NPV and will be examined further in our ongoing studies.

"The company is already ahead of schedule with its three-rig, 3 700 m diamond drilling programme at Dokwe, supported by the Xinhai Mining Group, to provide additional geotechnical and metallurgical data for the DFS," says Sener.

He adds that there are immediate opportunities to further increase ore reserves through the conversion of resources at Dokwe Central and recently reported extensions to Dokwe North and Dokwe Central identified in recent reverse circulation drilling.

"Geotechnical drilling and the metallurgical testwork programme for the DFS are expected to lead to further improvements to the ore reserves during the second half of this year," says Sener.