Auryn Resources Inc. [AUG-TSX, NYSE American] has encountered high-grade silver and gold mineralization in rock samples extracted from its Curibaya Project in southern Peru.
The company said initial sampling results are from the newly acquired Sambalay and Salvador concessions, which are adjacent to and now part of the 11,000-hectare Curibaya Project in Tacna Province.
“High-grade mineralization was sampled throughout a 1.5-kilometre by 3-kilometre quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration system with more than 20 samples assaying above 200 g/t silver and multiple results over 1,500 g/t silver and up to 7.67 g/t gold,” the company said in an October 28, 2019 press release.
Investors have responded by sending Auryn shares to recent high of $2.09 on October 30, 2019. That was up from $1.56 on October 25, 2019 the last trading session before the results were announced. On Thursday, the stock had given back some of those gains to trade at $1.97, down 0.5% or $0.01 on the day.
The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.14 and $2.45.
Auryn, a 12%-owned affiliate of Newmont Goldcorp Corp., [NGT-TSX; NEM-NYSE], is focused on scalable high-grade gold deposits in established mining jurisdictions, which include the Committee Bay and Gibson MacQuoid projects in Nunavut, the Homestake Ridge Project in northwest British Columbia and a portfolio of projects in southern Peru.
The Peruvian portfolio includes rights to the Huilacollo and Curibaya properties in Tacna province, which together cover 38,500 hectares within the prolific Pliocene gold-silver epithermal and Micocene copper-gold porphyry belts, respectively.
The company also has the option to acquire the 4,600-hectare copper-gold Sombrero property mining concessions located 340 km southeast of Lima.
The Curibaya Project is situated in a copper porphyry belt that hosts some of Peru’s largest porphyry deposits, including Freeport-McMoran Inc.’s [FCX-NYSE] Cerro Verde deposit, Southern Copper Corp.’s [SCCO-NYSE] Cuajone and Toquepala deposits and Anglo American’s [AAL-NYSE] Quellaveco deposit.
“The Curibaya Project sits in the world class Southern Peru copper porphyry belt and is adjacent to the Incapuquio fault zone that is a control on the copper porphyry and epithermal deposits in the region,” said Auryn chief operating officer and chief geologist Michael Henrichsen.
“The observed high-grade precious metal mineralization makes for a compelling sulphidation epithermal target in addition to the strong potential for porphyry and skarn mineralization at shallow depths,” he said.
“We look forward to rapidly advancing the project to drill-stage through geophysical surveys and continued mapping as well as receiving additional surface results.”
A first-pass reconnaissance sampling program was conducted to better understand the spatial distribution of high-grade mineralization throughout the alteration system as well as to confirm historical rock sampling results.
This program demonstrated that the mineralization hosted within veins and stock work vein systems was more extensive than historical results suggested, as vein sets were sampled throughout the alteration system thereby confirming the high-grade nature of silver and gold mineralization.
The mineralization encountered throughout the quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration system has strong average grades of silver and gold over 640 rock samples. Combining both historical and current sampling, the alteration system is averaging 72.9 g/t silver and 0.19 g/t gold.
The company said additional rock sampling results are pending from the western side of the alteration system and will be available in the coming weeks.