Aurania Resources Ltd (TSX-V:ARU, OTCQB:AUIAF) announced that it is seeking to raise up to C$1.5 million pursuant to a non-brokered private placement of up to 2,142,857 units of the company at a price of C$0.70 each with CEO Keith Barron committing C$400,000 to the offering.
Each unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the company and one common share purchase warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one common share at an exercise price of C$1.25 for a period of 24 months after the closing of the offering.
The company noted that it will use the proceeds to maintain its annual mineral concessions in Ecuador, including concessions not covered by the use of proceeds for the October 2021 financing; conduct further exploration and target refinement at the Awacha porphyry target and the Kuri-Yawi and Kuripan epithermal gold targets, and for general working capital purposes.
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Following an internal review of the company’s projects, target types, and potential funding strategies, the company has approved a corporate strategy that focuses its financial and human resources on the exploration of Aurania's core mineral concessions in Ecuador.
The exploration company said it will do so by focusing on its epithermal gold and porphyry copper at the Lost Cities - Cutucú Project in Ecuador while exploring joint ventures and partnerships in respect of advancing certain of the company's non-core mineral concessions.
Aurania’s revised strategy represents a shift. It will now, subject to completion of its proposed private placement financing, maintain all of the concessions it currently holds in Ecuador. Previously, it had planned to reduce the number of its mineral concessions in Ecuador.
"In typical large-scale reconnaissance exploration such that Aurania has done over the last four years, it would be routine for the company to have identified a number of prospects or areas of high interest in only a small fraction of the property that would be conserved, and then the balance of the land would be released back to the state,” said CEO Barron.
He noted that in the case of the Cordillera de Cutucú in Ecuador, “Aurania's exploration results have been extraordinary, to such an extent that the company does not have the confidence at this time to discard any concessions of the 42 held.”
“All contain minerals of some description, and we don't want to leave value on the table for the next player,” Barron said. “It is also important to consider the land package for the potential of any mining project developments in the future.”
At this time, Barron said that the company’s copper porphyry and epithermal gold targets offer the best risk-reward ratio for its shareholders. “The epithermal gold targets contain sinters as does Fruta del Norte, and we believe they offer excellent exploration potential,” he said.
Initial stage exploration completed to date at Aurania's Lost Cities - Cutucu Project in southeastern Ecuador has identified a large number of targets, which are categorized according to target type into three distinct target areas— epithermal gold target area; porphyry copper target area; and sediment-hosted copper-silver/silver-zinc target area.
Each target area is defined by separately identifiable mineral concessions. The next stage of exploration of each of these areas will require increasingly more field exploration and, in particular, increased drilling.
The company does not currently have the resources to do all of this work simultaneously but has decided that exploration on its core concessions combined with exploration through joint ventures on the non-core mineral concessions is preferable to relinquishing or disposing of them, in order to maximize the potential value of the full land package in Ecuador and to advance the target types on multiple fronts.
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