AUIAF - Aurania Resources (AUIAF)(ARU:CA) - Exploration Focuses on Three Main Target Areas
Focused exploration strategy. Following an internal review of its projects, target types, and funding strategies, Aurania announced in February that it would focus its resources on the exploration of its core mineral concessions in Ecuador, including epithermal gold and porphyry copper targets. The company is exploring joint ventures and partnerships to advance non-core mineral concessions that include sediment-hosted copper-silver and carbonate replacement silver-zinc-lead targets.Priorities in 2022. Exploration will support the refinement of drilling plans for the Awacha porphyry copper target, and Kuri-Yawi B1 and Kuripan epithermal gold-silver targets. We anticipate drilling could begin at Awacha in the first quarter of next year. Recall that an access agreement was signed with the communities around the Awacha porphyry copper target area in January. Geophysics work has confirmed the top of a porphyry body and management believes it may be a cluster of porphyries.Augmenting technical expertise. Aurania recently appointed and retained Dr. Steve Garwin as a senior technical advisor and geological consultant. Dr. Garwin has over 30 years of experience as an exploration geologist and is an expert on porphyry, epithermal, and Carlin-style mineralization. He has worked with more than 35 exploration and mining companies in over 20 countries. Based on work to date, Dr. Garwin concluded that field observations are consistent with the presence of a porphyry in the Awacha target area and that Aurania’s exploration is proximal to potential mineralization.Rating remains outperform. In our view, the company is well-positioned for a productive year, and we think exploration at the Awacha copper porphyry target could provide near-term catalysts for the stock, along with potential joint ventures associated with non-core concessions. The addition of Dr. Garwin should strengthen exploration activities and enhance the likelihood of successful drilling outcomes. Read More >>