Toronto, Ontario, June 27, 2022 – Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU; OTCQB: AUIAF; Frankfurt: 20Q) (“Aurania” or the “Company”) announces that it has completed the process of renewing certain annual mineral concession applications in Peru. The concessions selected are part of the blocks with higher geological potential, where the application process has been completed and most of the concessions granted. Minor field work is contemplated for these concessions in the coming months as a precursor to generating the initial technical report to support further work and/or a possible corporate transaction.
In total, 130 concessions were renewed covering an area of 128,700 hectares. Thirty of these concessions did not require payment in 2022 and the total cost for the other 100 concessions was US$296,000.
The Company did not renew a total of 145 concessions, most of which still remain in the Peruvian application process, thereby focusing its resources on those concessions that can be advanced and/or transacted upon with clear ownership confirmation. Although the Company believes that many of these concessions remain prospective, management determined that the additional annual costs and the continuing uncertainty of when the remaining concessions would be granted, were not appropriate for a non-core asset.
The renewed concessions noted above, represent the majority of those that had been previously granted to the Company over the last two years (see press release dated May 22, 2020). In January 2020, the Company had applied for 419 mineral concessions covering 413,200 Hectares (“Ha”) in northern Peru based on a potential opportunity for additional copper and gold exploration as a result of the possible extension of a mineral belt from Aurania’s project in Ecuador (see press release dated Jan 17, 2020).
In connection with the renewal of the Peruvian concessions, Dr. Keith Barron (the “Lender”) completed a loan of C$1,000,000 to the Company. The loan is unsecured, bears interest at 2% per annum and matures upon notice of twelve months and one day from the Lender. Up to US$300,000 of the loan was allocated to making annual concession payments in Peru, the balance funding working capital and ongoing exploration activities.
Dr. Keith Barron is a related party of the Company by virtue of the fact that he is the Chairman, the President and Chief Executive Officer, a promoter and a principal shareholder of the Company, and as a result, each of the Loan constitutes a “related party transaction” for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”). The Company is relying upon an exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements under MI 61-101 in respect of the Related Party Transactions, in reliance on Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1) of MI 61-101, respectively, as the fair market value of the Related Party Transaction, collectively, does not exceed 25% of the Company’s market capitalization, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report related to the Loan more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Loan as required by MI 61-101, as the Company required the funds from closing on an expedited basis for sound business reasons.
The Loan and the Insider Participation were approved by the members of the board of directors of the Company who are independent for purposes of the Related Party Transactions, being all directors other than Dr. Barron. No special committee was established in connection with the Loan and the Insider Participation, and no materially contrary view or abstention was expressed or made by any director of the Company in relation thereto.
Qualified Person
The geological information contained in this news release has been verified and approved by Jean-Paul Pallier, MSc. Mr. Pallier is a designated EurGeol by the European Federation of Geologists and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
About Aurania
Aurania is a mineral exploration company engaged in the identification, evaluation, acquisition and exploration of mineral property interests, with a focus on precious metals and copper in South America. Its flagship asset, The Lost Cities – Cutucu Project, is located in the Jurassic Metallogenic Belt in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range of southeastern Ecuador.
Information on Aurania and technical reports are available at www.aurania.com and www.sedar.com, as well as on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/auranialtd/, Twitter at https://twitter.com/auranialtd, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurania-resources-ltd-.
For further information, please contact:
| Carolyn Muir
VP Investor Relations Aurania Resources Ltd. (416) 367-3200 |
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of Aurania. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe Aurania’s future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Aurania or its management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”, “may”, “could”, “would”, “will”, or “plan”. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to Aurania, Aurania provides no assurance that actual results will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to Aurania’s objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the corporation’s portfolio, treasury, management team and enhanced capital markets profile, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, regulatory, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty to accommodate indigenous peoples, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restrictions on labour and international travel and supply chains, and those risks set out in Aurania’s public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Aurania believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Aurania disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
