Banyan Gold Co. [BYN-TSXV] said Tuesday July 9 that it has re-negotiated the terms on the Aurex-McQuesten properties options, which will allow the company to earn a 100% interest in the Yukon properties. The contiguous Aurex and McQuesten properties are located in the Yukon’s Mayo Mining District, adjacent to Victoria Gold Corp.’s [VIT-TSXV] Eagle heap leach gold mine and Alexco Resources Corp.’s [AXR-TSX; AXU-NYSE] Keno Hill silver district.
Victoria’s Eagle Mine is now built and scheduled to be producing gold by September, 2019. Victoria and Alexco are both shareholders of Banyan, holding 5.0% and 8.8% respectively.
Banyan said the addendum to both agreements gives it the option to extend the time frame to complete the first earn-in (51% total interest) by up to three years.
Banyan shares were unchanged Tuesday at $0.04. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $0.04 and $0.035.
“The time extension on these parallel option agreements provides Banyan with additional flexibility on timing and location of exploration, which positions Banyan well for the forecasted gold market improvement,” said Banyan President and CEO Tara Christie.
“The compilation of historic work and ground-based exploration has resulted in the definition of a brand new mineralized model at the McQuesten Zone, and these amendments allow for the development of a near-surface, bulk tonnage resource, in unison with testing other prospective targets on the properties,” Christie said.
Banyan’s flagship Hyland gold project is located approximately 70 km northeast of Watson Lake, along the southeast end of the Tintina gold belt.
The Hyland main zone hosts a NI 43-101-compliant indicated resource of roughly 236,000 ounces. On top of that is an inferred resource of 288,000 ounces. The deposit-type is sediment-hosted, structurally controlled mineralization that is similar in style to mineralization found along the Carlin gold trend in Nevada.
Banyan’s has said its 2019 exploration plans at Aurex-McQuesten include over 1,000 metres of diamond drilling in and around the McQuesten Gold Zone. The program was expected to commence in June. Approximately 400 metres of diamond drilling will be dedicated to infill drilling (increased drill density) at the McQuesten Gold Zone.
A key aim of the program is to further refine the geological model for the McQuesten Gold Zone through the definition of the extent and distribution of these higher-grade intervals.
With the 2019 exploration drill program under way, Banyan has incurred the required exploration expenditures to fulfill the earn-in requirements for 2019 on both properties.
The amended agreements require Banyan to spend minimums of $1.66 million on the Aurex property and $1.6 million on McQuesten to complete the 51% earn-in on both properties.
Meanwhile, Banyan recently said it has commenced the 2018 field exploration season with field-based trench, diamond drill and geochemical programs planned for the Hyland Project.
“This season’s program on our Hyland Gold Project will focus on establishing mineral continuity between the current NI-43-101 compliant resource in the Main Zone and the Camp Zone, an area never tested before,” Christie said.
The company is planning to complete 1,200 metres of diamond drilling and 1,000 metres of trenching.