Mariana Resources Ltd : High Grade Gold-Copper Mi

Additional High Grade Gold-Copper Mineralisation Reported from Infill and Extension Drilling at the Hot Maden Project, NE Turkey. 

Mariana Resources Limited ('Mariana' or 'the Company'), the TSX.V and AIM (MARL) listed exploration and development company with projects in Turkey, South America, and Côte d'Ivoire, is pleased to provide the following update on the ongoing diamond drill program at the high grade Hot Maden gold-copper project in north east Turkey.

Results are reported for a total of 19 new drill holes ( HTD-88 to HTD-106 ), all of which were completed around the Main Zone resource area and the "Ridge Area" (the transitional zone between the Main Zone and new Southern Deposit; Figures 1 & 2). Two of the reported drill holes ( HTD-90 and HTD-106 ) form part of the 25m x 25m infill drill program underway in the Main Zone resource area, with the remainder being step-out holes designed to extend known high grade gold-copper mineralisation.     

Highlights:

• Two drill rigs currently remain active at Hot Maden, with a third rig having arrived on site.
• High grade gold-copper (Au-Cu) mineralisation continues to be intersected in both infill and step-out drilling on Main Zone sections 4,542,175N and 4,542,225N. Best results include:

Main Zone - Section 4,542,225N HTD-90:                79.0m @ 8.1 g/t Au + 1.90% Cu from 248m downhole. (Infill)                    Including 34m @ 15.2 g/t Au + 1.60% Cu from 256m downhole . (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 55m)

HTD-88:                74m @ 3.0 g/t Au + 1.57% Cu from 326m downhole. (Step back            Including 28m @ 6.3 g/t Au + 1.88% Cu from 326m downhole. to HTD-75)           and 29m @ 0.3 g/t Au + 1.31% Cu from 422m downhole. (approximate true width of total Au-Cu zone is 60m)

Main Zone - Section 4,542,175N HTD-106:             116.5m @ 6.7 g/t Au + 1.70% Cu from 244.5m downhole . (Infill)                     Including 16m @ 35.7 g/t Au + 2.90% Cu from 249m downhole.                                 (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 70m)

HTD-101:             33m @ 4.1 g/t Au + 1.24% Cu from 393m downhole. (Step back            Including 9m @ 13.3 g/t Au + 1.8% Cu from 410m downhole. to HTD-78)          (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 25m)

• Discovery drilling under the "Ridge Area" (the transitional zone between the Main Zone resource area and the new Southern Deposit) continues to return excellent results, with drill holes HTD-92 and HTD-100 both intersecting significant intervals of high grade gold(-copper) mineralisation. Host rocks to the Au-Cu mineralization in the Ridge Area are dominantly dacitic breccias with minor andesites / andesitic volcaniclastics.  Key results include:

HTD-92:                29.0m @ 6.8 g/t Au + 0.49% Cu from 151m downhole. (Step forward to HTD-80)   (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 24m)

HTD-100:             32.8m @ 15.5 g/t Au + 1.07% Cu from 311.8m downhole. (Step back            Including 2m @ 85.3 g/t Au + 0.54% Cu from 321m downhole. to HTD-33)          (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 26m)

• High grade Au-Cu assays associated with vein / breccia zones continue to be returned from other scout holes in the "Ridge Area".  Highlights include HTD-93 ( 2m @ 41.8 g/t Au + 2.47% Cu from 329m downhole; 1m @ 21.7 g/t Au + 0.57% Cu from 339m downhole; and 1m @ 19.2 g/t Au + 3.20% Cu from 350m downhole) and HTD-102 ( 2m @ 49.9 g/t Au + 0.14% Cu from 260m downhole). 
• Including the Ridge Area discovery, multi-phase gold-copper mineralisation has now been drilled over a strike length of 700m at Hot Maden.
• No drilling has yet been undertaken in the southernmost "Russian Mine Zone", which is located about 1.5 km south of the Main Zone Resource and where high grade copper-gold mineralisation was extracted prior to 1923 by Russian mining interests. Initial drilling of this prospective zone is now expected to be undertaken during Q2, 2017 with the 3 ^rd rig having arrived on site.
• The Company's cash position as at 1 March 2017 was -US$4.75M

Links to Figures: http://media.wix.com/ugd/24ee23_652e9ab3db884...a6be75.pdf

Chief Executive Officer, Glen Parsons, today commented:

"The focus for Mariana and the Joint Venture over the last two months has been to develop greater confidence in the resource area at Hot Maden for the purposes of completing the Preliminary Feasibility Study ( "PFS"). 

"Both infill and step-out drilling has occurred around the Main Zone resource area, as may be observed in the drill plan in Figure 2.  Results continue to impress and increase our confidence in the high grade mineralisation and continuity thereof.  Furthermore, drilling for extensions towards the New Southern Discovery zone has yielded particularly encouraging results with nice intercepts of high grade Au-Cu complementing the existing mineral resource.  If one compares the mineralisation footprint on the drill plan to that of late last year we can see the growth and continuity that has been achieved in drill holes HTD 63 to 106, with a mineralised strike length of now 700m, and which we are confident will translate into an increased mineral resource for this developing new zone."

"Drilling is continuing with one rig around the Main Zone for the completion of PFS-related studies. Meanwhile, the second drill rig is focused on the New Southern Zone extensions and the  third rig which has now arrived will be deployed over various targets, including the undrilled Russian Mine Zone."

"Mariana has the ability to comfortably fund its operations well into the first half of 2018 with its existing cash reserves of US$4.75M; and expected exercise of "in the money" warrants which would deliver US$1.3M next month ; and further expected exercise of its remaining warrants which would provide an additional ~US$5.0M over the balance of 2017 and early into 2018." 

"Mariana continues to be well positioned to take advantage of exploration successes in its portfolio and we look forward to updating the market accordingly."

Hot Maden Gold-Copper Project Update

Approximately 34,000 m of diamond drilling have now been completed by the Mariana-Lidya JV at Hot Maden since November, 2014 (Figures 1 and 2).  Recent drilling activities have dominantly focused on: -

• Main Zone: Two infill drill holes were completed on sections 4,542,175N and 4,542,225N, with step-out drilling also being completed around the margins of the current Main Zone resource area. Selected holes utilised for geotechnical studies and metallurgical testwork.   

• Deeper step-out drilling continued in the "Ridge Area", which lies in the transitional zone between the Main Zone and new Southern Deposit.

No significant work has yet been undertaken in the area of the former Russian mines (Figure 1).

Main Zone Resource Area

The planned 25m infill drill program in the Main Zone resource area advanced with a further two holes ( HTD-90 and HTD-106 ) being completed on sections 4,542,225N and 4,542,175N, respectively. To date, this program has been highly successful in confirming the internal continuity of the high-grade gold-copper mineralisation within the Main Zone. In addition, step-out drilling was also advanced along the margins of the Main Zone resource area.   

On cross-section 4,542,225N (Figures 3a and 3b), infill drill hole HTD-90 returned 79m @ 8.1 g/t Au + 1.90% Cu from 248m downhole in a multiphase, chalcopyrite-pyrite-hematite-jasper-bearing breccia. A further two step-back holes on this same section (including HTD-88: 74m @ 3 g/t Au + 1.57% Cu from 326m downhole and 29m @ 0.3 g/t Au + 1.31% Cu ) succeeded in extending the down dip extension of the Au-Cu mineralised zone.  However, Au-Cu grades decrease significantly at a vertical depth of 350m from surface (500m RL) as late-stage anhydrite floods the mineralised multiphase breccia.  The source of this late-stage anhydrite is currently not clear; deeper drilling will be required to establish what happens to the mineralized breccia below the 500m RL level.

Infill drill hole HTD-106 (cross-section 4,542,175N) successfully intersected 116.5m @ 6.7 g/t Au + 1.70% Cu from 244.5m downhole, and confirmed the continuity of high grade Au-Cu mineralisation within the core of the Main Zone resource.  This drill hole also intersected the "Ultra High Grade" mineral domain ( 16m @ 35.7 g/t Au + 2.90% Cu from 249m downhole) that typically lies on the eastern margin of the multiphase breccia system.  

New drilling on cross-section 4,542,125N (Figure 4) included holes HTD-89 and HTD-91 . Drill hole HTD-89 ( 37.6m @ 1.9 g/t Au + 1.34% Cu from 304.4m downhole and 32m @ 1.2 g/t Au + 1.67% Cu from 349m downhole) is the step-back hole to HTD-82 and has confirmed a down-dip extension to the main Au-Cu mineralised zone. However, as is the case in adjacent sections, the tenor of the Au-Cu mineralisation is diminished due to the presence of late-stage anhydrite at these depths. Hole HTD-91 appears to lie close to a (fault?) contact which juxtaposes well-mineralised andesites and andesitic breccias to the E with poorly-mineralised dacites to the west.     

 "Ridge Area"

High grade Au-Cu mineralisation continues to be intersected in scout drilling in the Ridge Area. Best results include HTD-92 ( 29.0m @ 6.8 g/t Au + 0.49% Cu from 151m downhole; Section 5,452,200N - Figure 5) and HTD-100 ( 32.8m @ 15.5 g/t Au + 1.07% Cu from 311.8m downhole; Section 4,542,75N). In addition, high grade vein / breccia zones were also intersected in HTD-93 (e.g. 2m @ 41.8 g/t Au + 2.47% Cu ) and HTD-102 ( 2m @ 49.9 g/t Au + 0.14% Cu ). 

Gold-copper mineralization in the "Ridge Area" is mostly hosted by dacites, with the mineralisation tending to occur in discreet, sub-parallel and sub-vertical vein / breccia zones. These features may suggest that these dacitic units acted as more rigid blocks in the deformation history of the Hot Maden Fault Zone (as compared to the andesite hosted Main Zone to the North); further structural interpretation will be required in order to connect the main mineralized trends.   

Table 1 : Summary of assays for drill holes HTD-88 to HTD-106 (see also Figures 1 to 5 for drill hole locations and key cross sections).

Quality Control and Assurance

Mineralised intervals presented in Table 1 are drill intersection widths and may not represent true widths of mineralisation. Drill core obtained from the diamond drill program was dominantly HQ-sized core with the remainder being PQ-sized core. All drill core was photographed and quick logged prior to sampling. Standard sampling protocol involved the halving of all drill core and sampling over generally 1 m intervals (in clearly mineralised sections) or 2 m intervals (elsewhere), with one half of the core being placed in a sealed sample bag and dispatched to the analytical laboratory for analysis. Samples have been analysed at ALS Laboratories' facility in Izmir, western Turkey. All samples have been analysed for gold using a 30g Fire Assay with AAS finish (or Screen Fire Assay for higher grade samples), in addition to a 32 element ICP-AES analysis of an aqua regia digest.  Samples in which ICP analyses returned greater than the maximum detection limit for the elements Ag (10 ppm), Cu (10,000 ppm), Fe (15%), Pb (10,000 ppm), and Zn (10,000 ppm) were reanalysed using the AAS analytical technique, Standards and blanks were inserted in to the analytical sequence on the basis of one standard for every 20 samples, 2 blanks in every batch, and one duplicate every 40 samples.

Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE)

No HSE incidents have been reported during the current diamond drill program.

Hot Maden drill holes - technical data

Technical data relating to Hot Maden diamond drill holes HTD-88 to HTD-107 are given in the following table.

Mariana Resources Limited "Glen Parsons" Glen Parsons, CEO

**ENDS** Qualified Person                                                                                                                         The technical and scientific information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved for release by Eric Roth, the Company's Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr Roth is the Company's Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director and holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG).  Mr Roth has 25 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.

About Mariana Resources Mariana Resources Ltd is a TSX.V and AIM (MARL) quoted exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of gold, silver, and copper projects in South America, Turkey, and Ivory Coast.  

Mariana's most advanced asset is the Hot Maden gold-copper project in northeast Turkey, which is a joint venture with Turkish partner Lidya Madencilik (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya) and which is rapidly advancing to development.  On January 17, 2017, Mariana released the results of a Preliminary Economic Study ("PEA") which demonstrated exceptional potential economics for the Hot Maden Project (after-tax NPV and IRR of USD 1.37B and 153%, respectively) based on a development scenario incorporating a 1Mtpa underground mining / processing operation and the production of two saleable concentrates (a copper-gold concentrate and a gold-pyrite concentrate). This PEA was based on the updated (July 25, 2016) mineral resource estimate of 3.43 Moz gold equivalent (Indicated Category) and 0.09 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) in the Main Zone, as well as a maiden 351,000 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) resource in the New Southern Discovery. Elsewhere in Turkey, Mariana holds a 100% interest in the Ergama project where first drilling was reported on February 14, 2017, to have intersected porphyry-style gold-copper mineralisation.  

On October 7, 2016, Mariana announced the signing of a binding Term Sheet to acquire an indirect 80% interest in Ivory Coast-focused private exploration company Awalé Resources SARL ("Awalé").  Through the transaction Mariana will gain an immediate foothold in an established exploration portfolio with known gold mineralisation and artisanal gold workings, and which comprises i) 3 granted contiguous licenses (1,191 km ² ) in the Bondoukou area, and ii) 4 licenses under application (1,593 km ² ) in both the Bondoukou and Abengourou areas. The Boundoukou concessions lie along the southwestern extension of the Birimian Bole-Nangodi greenstone belt in adjacent Ghana, host to a number of high grade orogenic gold deposits.

In southern Argentina, the Company's core gold-silver projects are Las Calandrias (100%), Sierra Blanca (100%), Los Cisnes (100%), and Bozal (100%). These projects are part of a 100,000+ Ha land package in the Deseado Massif epithermal gold-silver district in mining-friendly Santa Cruz Province.

In Suriname, Mariana has a direct holding of 10.2% of the Nassau Gold project. The Nassau Gold Project is a 28,000 Ha exploration concession located approximately 125 km south east of the capital Paramaribo and immediately adjacent to Newmont Mining's 4.2Moz gold Merian project. 

In Peru and Chile, Mariana is focusing on acquiring new opportunities which complement its current portfolio.

*Au Equivalence (AuEq) calculated using a 100 day moving average of $US1,215/ounce for Au and $US2.13/pound for Cu as of May 29, 2016. No adjustment has been made for metallurgical recovery or net smelter return as these remain uncertain at this time. Based on grades and contained metal for Au and Cu, it is assumed that both commodities have reasonable potential to be economically extractable.

1. *-The formula used for Au equivalent grade is: AuEq g/t = Au + [(Cu % x 22.0462 x 2.13)/(1215/31.1035)] and assumes 100 % metallurgical recovery.
2. **-Au equivalent ounces are calculated by mulitplying Mineral Resource tonnage by Au equivalent grade and converting for ounces. The formula used for Au equivalent ounces is: AuEq Oz = [Tonnage x AuEq grade (g/t)]/31.1035

Safe Harbour This press release contains certain statements which may be deemed to be forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this press release and include, without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, the realization, cost, timing and extent of mineral resource estimates, estimated future exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, and requirements for additional capital.  The words "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimate", "forecasts", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "may", "will", or similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the effects of general economic conditions; the price of gold, silver and copper; misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements; risks associated with international operations; the need for additional financing; risks inherent in exploration results; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters; currency and commodity price fluctuations; title matters; environmental liability claims; unanticipated operational risks; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or in the completion of development or construction activities; political risk; and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's annual financial statements for the most recently completed financial year which is available on the Company's website at www.marianaresources.com .  Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.  There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.  Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.