Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 3, 2024) - Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU) (OTCQB: AUIAF) (FSE: 20Q) ("Aurania" or the "Company"). Aurania has signed non-binding Memoranda of Understanding ("MOUs") with the Communes of Ogliastro and Nonza in Cap Corse, Northern Corsica, France, through Aurania's wholly-owned subsidiary Corsica Ressources S.A. for the exploitation of heavy mineral beach placers that are highly enriched in nickel (Ni) and other metals. Analysis by Activation Laboratories Ltd (Actlabs) of Ancaster, Ontario, of a heavy mineral concentrate produced by simple gold panning the beach sand by hand yielded an assay of 50.4% nickel, 0.701% cobalt (Co), and 0.476% copper (Cu). A Mozley gravity table concentrate of magnetic beach sand performed by SGS Laboratories of Lakefield, Ontario yielded 40.1% nickel. These nickel grades are far in excess of any known hard rock deposits to our knowledge. The Management of Aurania was quick to realize the significance of this "discovery" and has worked over the last year with the Mineral Resources Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Interministral Delegation for the Provision of Critical Minerals and Strategic Metals as well as various levels of Government within Corsica.
Aurania's Consultant Geologist, Stefan Ansermet, located a Geological Survey of France (BRGM) report from 1968 entitled "Le problème du nickel dans le serpentines de Corse" (The problem of nickel in the serpentinites of Corsica) which contained a one-paragraph reference to an accumulation of natural nickel-iron alloy (awaruite) on the beach of Albo, originating from asbestos mine waste that had been disposed of in the Mediterranean Sea. At the Canari open-pit mine, processed mine waste was dumped in the sea from 1948-1965. This has been broken up by storms and tides and travelled up to six kilometres along the coast and silted up two historic ports: Albo and Nonza. The awaruite mineral resides within the serpentinite host rock which in the surf has been naturally attrition milled. In the historical data a minus 2 millimetre fraction of beach sand from Albo, concentrated by heavy liquids, gave a Ni assay more than double the typical grade of mine waste. Aurania's Chairman and CEO, Dr. Keith Barron examined satellite images on Google Earth and found what appeared to be beach placers of black sand on the nearby Nonza Beach (Figure 1). Within days, Mr. Ansermet travelled to Corsica and confirmed that there were indeed black sand accumulations on the beach (Figure 2). Subsequently, 130 kilos of sand were taken on a N-S traverse of Nonza beach. ALS-Chemex Laboratories determined that 31.7% of this raw material was magnetic through Davis Tube recovery. This magnetic sand is made up of free particles of awaruite (Ni3Fe) and magnetite (Fe3O4). In the areas of black sand placer, the awaruite and magnetite content approaches 100%. Awaruite is a natural Ni-Fe mineral alloy with a composition approximating stainless steel with 77-83% Ni. Though the initial source of the awaruite was asbestos mine waste, there is no present hazard on the beaches according to the French National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risks. Both awaruite and magnetite are heavy minerals and easily recovered from beach sand by gravity techniques that are similar to placer gold recovery. Both minerals are also highly magnetic, and the magnetic susceptibility differences between magnetite and awaruite is such that they can easily be separated. The technology is simple, cheap, and well understood. No chemicals are used in the recovery. The awaruite product can be dried, bagged and shipped to a potential smelter or battery-grade nickel sulphate producer. SGS Labs (Lakefield) is currently working on the 130 kg sample to determine the most efficient means of separating out awaruite.
Dr. Barron commented, "A nickel prospect where a potential nickel-matte furnace feedstock requires no need for drilling, blasting, or beneficiation, and can possibly be shipped from Corsica direct to a purchaser sounds like a dream scenario. Encouraging local community support makes this even more attractive. I would like to thank Stefan Ansermet for alerting Aurania to this exceptional opportunity."
Although this does represent a considerable departure from Aurania's on-going copper and gold exploration project in Ecuador, Dr. Barron, who has considerable experience in commercial heavy mineral recovery, immediately recognized the economic significance of this phenomenon and initiated a project of geological investigation. Though artificial, it is believed that these are the sole alluvial concentrations of nickel known on Earth and that they potentially constitute a major resource of the metal heretofore unrecognized. According to the BRGM, more than 11Mt of processed serpentinite grading 0.2% Ni were dumped in the sea. However, the beach pebbles are predominantly larger than the historical 3 cm crushing width, suggesting that large amounts of development rock from stripping was also disposed of in the sea. At this juncture, the Company has not determined a Resource or Reserve.
Figure 1: Much evidence of Beach Placer concentration indicated by arrows (taken August 7, 2020) Google Earth (cf. Hou et al., 2017). Carried by longshore drift southwards 6 kilometres from the abandoned open pit mine to Nonza. This beach is approximately 1350 metres long and 350 metres at its widest. The beach placers are believed to be very high grade.
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Figure 2: One of many beach placer accumulations of Black Sand (awaruite and magnetite). Boot imprints in the foreground for scale. Grains of magnetite extracted from Black Sand by attraction to a simple magnet, inset photo.
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Figure 3: Fairly pure concentrate of awaruite in a gold pan. This material assayed 50.1% nickel. Awaruite is present as silvery scales which tarnish yellow. Maximum grain size is approximately 2 mm.
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Figure 4: Historical airphoto on the left and present-day photo on the right, showing the progradation of the beaches over time.
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Figure 5: Nonza Beach, Corsica
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Independently published studies have concluded that heavy metals (Ni, Co, Cu) are leaching from the beach material and contaminating marine life. The beaches themselves appear to be entirely sterile. We consider our Project equally as a critical metals recovery project and a "clean up operation". Both of these are "wins" for the planet.
The Company has retained SGS Laboratories/Lakefield to determine the best method for awaruite commercial recovery. SGS has sent a Geologist to Corsica to verify the material above and to take umpire samples. His report is pending receipt of final assays. The Company has also retained IHC Mining B.V. a Netherlands-based company, which specializes in dredging solutions, that is currently preparing a scoping study to best advise on suitable heavy mineral recovery methods and equipment.
Technical Information
All sampling reported in this release was supervised by project geologists, including chain of custody. Hand sediment panning and alluvial grab samples have been prepared at the indicated laboratories, and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. A portion of the material is stored in a secured storage facility for future assay verification. No capping has been applied to sample composites. The Company utilizes a rigorous, industry-standard QA/QC program. Rock samples are reconnaissance select grab samples that display mineralization and assay results may not be representative of, nor verify economically mineable mineralization.
Qualified Persons:
The geological information contained in this news release has been verified and approved by Aurania's VP Exploration, Mr. Jean-Paul Pallier, MSc. Mr. Pallier is a designated EurGeol by the European Federation of Geologists and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators.
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 - Cutucú 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.sedarplus.ca, 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 Corporate Development & Investor Relations
Aurania Resources Ltd.
(416) 367-3200
carolyn.muir@aurania.com
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 contains forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes Aurania's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the tonnage and grade of mineralization which has the potential for economic extraction and processing, the merits and effectiveness of known process and recovery methods, the corporation's portfolio, treasury, management team and enhanced capital markets profile, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration, timing of the commencement of operations, the Company's teams being on track ahead of any drill program, the commencement of any drill program and estimates of market conditions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Aurania, including the assumption that, there will be no material adverse change in metal prices, all necessary consents, licenses, permits and approvals will be obtained, including various local government licenses and the market. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things: 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; the inability to recover and process mineralization using known mining methods; the presence of deleterious mineralization or the inability to process mineralization in an environmentally acceptable manner; commodity prices, supply chain disruptions, restrictions on labour and workplace attendance and local and international travel; a failure to obtain or delays in obtaining the required regulatory licenses, permits, approvals and consents; an inability to access financing as needed; a general economic downturn, a volatile stock price, labour strikes, political unrest, changes in the mining regulatory regime governing Aurania; a failure to comply with environmental regulations; a weakening of market and industry reliance on precious metals and base metals; and those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR+. Aurania cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. Although the Company 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. The Company 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
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