Aurania signs new access agreement and provides update on operations

The Company yesterday signed an access agreement with the community of “Kim”, in the southern part of the block of concessions.  This is the first time the Company has been granted access to this important area.   At the community meeting there were a large number of artisanal gold miners.  The Kim community is located near where Metron (see press release dated September 26, 2019) forecasted the potential position of one of the “Lost Cities”.

Metron Inc. of Reston, Virginia, USA, used Bayesian data analysis to generate probability maps of the position of “Logroño de los Caballeros”, a gold mining settlement that was founded circa 1562 by the Spanish conquistadors, and abandoned circa 1605.  The location has been lost.  Numerous expeditions have been carried out over the intervening years to relocate it.  Metron incorporated historical documents, and clues from geography and geology into a “search matrix”, and then through statistical algorithms produced a map with statistical likelihoods the settlement would be in specific areas.  Kim will be a focus of work going forward.

Ms. Carolina Lasso Amaya has replaced the former Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for Aurania.  Ms. Lasso has been the Director of the Step Forward Foundation (Dar el Paso Adelante) in Ecuador for over two years and has extensive knowledge of the communities in the Cordillera de Cutucu.  Her first act has been to successfully negotiate access to Kim. 

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2019, Ms. Lasso worked from 2011 to 2017 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombia, primarily working in the border areas of Amazonia with indigenous groups.  During this period, she also dealt with elements of the FARC, the Colombian Paramilitaries, cocaine growers, persons recruiting child soldiers and other difficult and potentially dangerous groups.  She developed post-conflict models to integrate communities into the social fabric.  During her time with the Foundation, she has initiated a number of clean water projects, nutritional projects, and the extremely popular “Warastai” soccer tournament between villages.  Such activities are important in gaining and maintaining social license to operate with Aurania’s stakeholders.  Ms. Lasso is an Ecuadorian resident and is fluent in both English and Spanish.    

The number of daily new COVID-19 infected cases in the Province of Morona-Santiago where Aurania’s Project is located has now dropped in half from a month ago.  The Red Alert in Ecuador has not yet been lifted but there is optimism the pandemic is abating.  

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.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) 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.