North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Auryn Resources Inc. March 18 announced that it has recalled all personnel from its gold and copper exploration projects in Peru in response to concerns surrounding COVID-19 but is continuing the economic analysis and exploration planning for its precious metals projects in Canada.

Prior to the Peruvian government mandating a temporary two-week border lockdown, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based mineral explorer recalled all its personnel from the field of that Latin American country.

Auryn has three mineral exploration projects in southern Peru – Sombrero, a copper-gold skarn and porphyry district; Curibaya, a high-grade precious metals project; and Huilacollo, which hosts oxide gold.

As a result of all work at public institutions in Peru being suspended for 15 days, Auryn's employees in Lima are working from home. The company said these disruptions can be expected to result in modest delays to its business.

As of March 17, Peru was reported to have a total of 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no deaths. Auryn said it will resume operations in the country once the borders have re-opened and the government has deemed this strain of the coronavirus no longer a threat.

In the meantime, the exploration company continues to work on a preliminary economic assessment for its Homestake Ridge high-grade gold-silver project in northwestern British Columbia.

Located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Stewart, B.C., Homestake Ridge hosts 624,000 metric tons of indicated resources averaging 6.25 grams per metric tons (125,000 ounces) gold and 47.9 g/t (1 million oz) silver; plus 7.25 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4 g/t (932,000 oz) gold and 90.9 g/t (21.2 oz) silver.

The company completed 2,482 meters of drilling since this 2017 resource calculation and it is expected that an updated resource will be included with the PEA, which is slated for completion in the coming weeks.

Auryn will also be releasing revised drill targets for its more than 667,000-acre (270,000 hectares) Committee Bay gold project in Nunavut.

Committee Bay is a massive property that covers a gold enriched greenstone belt that extends for roughly 300 kilometers (180 miles) across Nunavut's Kitikmeot region.

At the heart of this belt lies Three Bluffs, where 2.1 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 7.85 grams per metric ton (524,000 ounces) gold; and 2.9 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 7.64 g/t (720,000 oz) gold has been outlined.

Over the past couple of years, Auryn has identified two promising targets – Aiviq and Kalulik – along a 20-kilometer- (12.5 miles) long shear zone north of Three Bluffs.

Auryn used artificial intelligence to target a 2019 drill program at Committee Bay and is now working on new targets based on a break-through in geophysical targeting in differentiating low-grade versus high-grade gold responses in conductivity data. The results from this work are expected in the coming weeks.

Auryn has offered all employees at its corporate offices in Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta the option to work from home. This decision aligns with the federal government's latest recommendation for all Canadians to work from home where possible.

Ivan Bebek

"The health and safety of our employees and the communities we work in are of primary concern," said Auryn Resources Executive Chairman Ivan Bebek. "Although we are temporarily unable to conduct work in Peru, we are very fortunate to have a strong balance sheet amidst the volatile market created by COVID-19. Capital preservation is a priority, however, once humanity gets past this challenge, we will be in a great position to continue to deliver on the promise of our exceptional portfolio of mineral assets."

Auryn said its management will stay abreast of the COVID-19 situation as it unfolds and will adjust policies accordingly.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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