Banyan Gold Corp. (TSXV: BYN) has expanded the AurMac drill programme in the Yukon to three drills working onsite with associated increases in drilling production.
The Phase II 2021 AurMac exploration programme continues to follow up on successful 2021 Phase I drilling at the Project which, since February of this year, has culminated in approximately 25,000m and over 120 diamond drill holes completed to date.
With planned drilling of over 30,000m, there will be assay results for well over 90 drill holes in the coming months.
The remainder of this calendar year will see a two-fold exploration focus at AurMac:
- Two diamond drill rigs targeted on continued growth of the Powerline Deposit through expansion of the on-going 100 m step-out grid-based drilling resulting in the definition of a much larger overall mineralized footprint of the Powerline deposit; which remains open in all directions, and
- One diamond drill concentrated on tighter spaced drilling towards refinement of the gold continuity modeling of the Powerline Deposit – towards an updated AurMac Gold Resource statement in 2022.
Diamond drilling at AurMac since the Q1 2020 maiden resource announcement stands at approximately 35,000m – which has been targeted on potential resource expansion of the Airstrip Deposit (2020 drilling); and throughout 2021, the focus has been the rapid expansion of the mineralization footprint at the Powerline Deposit. It is anticipated that this season’s exploration campaign will continue into December and will recommence in early 2022.
2021 drilling to date has continued to build towards the definition of a large, near-surface, potentially bulk-tonnage extractable, resource and significant mineralised intervals and include:
0.88 g/t Au over 54.6 m from 80.0 m in AX-21-66
0.56 g/t Au over 67.5 m from 60.5 m in AX-21-68
0.75 g/t Au over 46.6 m from 52.5 m in AX-21-70
0.55 g/t Au over 81.2 m from 86.5 m in AX-21-73
0.73 g/t Au over 56.6 m from 38.1 m in AX-21-75
0.50 g/t Au over 76.2 m from surface in AX-21-79
0.56 g/t Au over 50.3 m from 15.2 m in AX-21-86
1.03 g/t Au over 81.4 m from 32.0 m in AX-21-88
0.70 g/t Au over 50.3 m from 85.1 m in AX-21-91
0.69 g/t Au over 45.7 m from surface in AX-21-93
0.70 g/t Au over 52.3 m from 119.9 m in AX-21-95
0.42 g/t Au over 186.1 m from surface in AX-21-97
0.62 g/t Au over 110.7 m from 96.6 m in AX-21-99
0.54 g/t Au over 195.9 m from surface in AX-21-100
0.74 g/t Au over 144.8 m from surface in AX-21-101
0.50 g/t Au over 89.6 m from surface in AX-21-111
1.28 g/t Au over 28.2 m from surface in AX-21-113
“The execution of an efficient drill program designed to deliver maximum value for shareholders, by increasing ounces, will continue to be the focus of Banyan’s 2021 AurMac exploration season,” President and CEO,” Tara Christie, said.
“At current drilling rates, we will exceed the 30,000 m drill target we have set for ourselves this year and anticipate we will be well positioned for a meaningful AurMac resource update by Q2 2022.”
Assay results from 2021 drilling at Aurex Hill, another near surface bulk tonnage extractable target on AurMac that was the focus of 4,400 m (18 holes) of exploration drilling, are pending and have been held up due to protracted process timelines at Yukon preparatory analytical laboratories.
Expansion of the Team
Banyan Gold has named Jasmine Sangria as the Vice President of Corporate Communications.
A seasoned brand strategist, Ms. Sangria brings over 20 years of experience in innovative marketing and collaborative leadership to the new role. Prior to joining Banyan Gold, Ms Sangria served as CEO of Tourism Lethbridge, steering the region’s destination marketing efforts through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multilingual in three languages, Sangria has lived in North America and Asia – cultural experiences that have influenced and shaped her work in communications and corporate development. Ms. Sangria’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree in applied design, and a master’s degree in business administration.
In anticipation of a very busy 2022, Banyan is aggressively hiring field staff and site personnel for the end of 2021 and the early start to the 2022 season.
Metallurgy
Metallurgical characterisation of AurMac gold mineralisation is ongoing with an additional 50 composite samples sent to Forte Analytical LLC for recovery determination test work. Column tests of ½” crush material from dedicated drill holes from the Airstrip Zone remain underway, after the return of highly encouraging bottle roll results which highlighted an average 90% recovery. Based on results of the metallurgical test work to date, more advanced recovery test work will continue throughout 2022.
Permitting and Infrastructure
Banyan has received a Decision Document and draft renewed permit which allows for 2022 anticipated exploration work on the recently expanded AurMac claim block and Nitra properties. The combined permitted exploration area now covers 254 square kilometres of ground interpreted to be prospective for the discovery of additional gold mineralisation.
Banyan has proactively set up accommodations, inventory, planning and risk assessment for the 2021 and 2022 exploration programs, which includes securing employees, drill contractors and reducing risk on potential supply chain issues.
Banyan has also initiated a broad based and robust set of baseline environmental studies on the AurMac Project which will, in combination with the aforementioned work, serve to de-risk the overall Project.
Nitra Property and Regional Exploration
Soil sampling on the Nitra property was done on a 25 m sample spacing, with 100 m spaced lines over identified target areas from 2020 work, with over 6,000 soil samples collected and sent for analysis.
The Nitra Property is located west of the AurMac property and is comprised of 593 claims (117 sq. km) 100% owned by Banyan with no underlying royalties. The earliest documented work on the Nitra property is from a 1980’s – 1990’s placer gold exploration which identified erratically deposited coarse gold hosted in quartz-arsenopyrite veins and in calcareous schist horizons upstream of these placer workings.
No follow-up exploration had been reported. Banyan recognised the potential for the geological model utilised to successfully unlock near surface gold resources at Airstrip and Powerline and has applied this to Nitra and more broadly, the district.
Once 2021 results are received, a focused first pass exploration programme will be designed and implemented for the 2022 season.
For further information please visit: https://www.banyangold.com/
