- Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU) has announced an update on its expansion into northern Peru
- The company has applied for 419 mineral leases, which cover 413,200 hectares
- Aurania’s license applications with the Peruvian Government are still pending
- Previously, a competing company discovered mineralisation in Peru, similar to that found at Aurania’s Cutucu Cordillera site in Ecuador
- Aurania Resources (ARU) is up 6.8 per cent and is trading at C$3.14 per share, with a market cap of $121 million
Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU) has announced an update on its expansion into northern Peru.
The company has applied for 419 mineral leases in the region, which cover 413,200 hectares.
The company identified Northern Peru as a possible zone for exploration after another mineral exploration company posted geological data that looked similar to data at Aurania’s Lost Cities project in Ecuador, 300 kilometres north.
Peru has a long history of oil and gas exploration, which means the vast majority of the licenses have already been explored to some extent, improving Aurania’s prospects.
Seismic, magnetic and gravimetric savers have been undertaken by both oil companies and the Peruvian government across many of the licenses. Aurania can collect this data from the Peruvian Government for a nominal fee.
This has given Aurania a leg up in determining which leases are viable copper-gold targets and which aren’t, without having to conduct expensive metallurgical mapping programs.
Aurania created a Peruvian subsidiary to apply for exploration licenses in late 2019.
The company is currently processing its permits with the Peruvian government, which are expected to cost approximately C$4.21 per hectare per annum. The company’s next scheduled payment is June 2021.
Aurania has no timeline on when or if the Peruvian government will grant its applications.
Earlier in the year, a competing company discovered mineralisation in Peru, similar to that found at Aurania’s Cutucu Cordillera site in Ecuador.
Aurania’s CEO, Dr. Keith Barron outlined the similarity between the two discoveries.
“The Peruvian occurrences appeared to occur in proximity to salt domes, and within our concessions in Ecuador are two areas that have been utilised by the Shuar community for decades, if not centuries, for salt.
“Believing that salt is geochemically a significant piece of the puzzle and potentially the reason for the extent and distribution of the copper and silver, it was considered too compelling to ignore the Peruvian opportunity, and we filed for open ground covering the prospective sedimentary horizons in proximity to salt deposits previously discovered during oil exploration,” he said.
Aurania Resources (ARU) is up 6.8 per cent and is trading at $3.14 per share at 11:00am EDT.