Aurania adjusts operations in response to the Covid-19 virus

Situation in Ecuador

As of last night, March 17^th, Ecuador had reported 111 cases and two deaths from the virus.  The Ecuadorian government has moved decisively by adopting many of the policies introduced in China, such as self-isolation and an aggressive limitation on movement of people, to reduce the rate of spread of new infections.

Last Sunday night (March 15^th), Ecuador imposed an international travel ban.  As of midnight Monday night, March 16^th, all passenger flights, maritime and road traffic, into Ecuador were banned.  This ban does not apply to cargo and commercial goods – business continues to go on in Ecuador.  Additionally, President Moreno issued a directive to limit movements of persons within the country, with a few exceptions, effective March 17^th.  Ecuador is in lockdown mode and except for essential service personnel and healthcare workers, persons are encouraged to stay at home.  This will be enforced by the army and the police.

Situation in the Field

Aurania has translated the advisory that Ecuador’s Ministry of Health has issued, into the Shuar language of the local people and is distributing the document to communities in the Cordillera de Cutucu, in which the Project is located.  The advisory provides succinct information about the virus, how its spread can be mitigated, a list of symptoms, and information about whom to contact about a suspected case.

Aurania is withdrawing its personnel from the Cordillera de Cutucu.  All personnel have returned to their homes except for two field teams that were exploring very remote areas.  Both of those teams are led by Shuar geologists and they are scheduled to reach their pick-up point later today.  Permission has been granted by the authorities for a waiver of the travel restrictions so that these teams can be met and be transported to their homes.  By the time that the local travel ban had come into effect in Ecuador yesterday, all other personnel had returned to their homes. 

Our geologists will spend the next few weeks working through a backlog of geological information from the field.  They will focus on the interpretation of this information and the refinement of exploration targets for gold-silver and copper-silver.  We will be poring through seismic and well log data from Ecuador and Peru over the next few weeks to refine our sedimentary-hosted copper-silver targeting in both countries.  In addition, our recently completed LiDAR survey indicated many potential historic mining and prospecting locations on our concessions in Ecuador.  These are currently being integrated with our airborne geophysical data, stream sediment coverage, and known mapped geology for prioritization and ground investigation.  Field investigation was already underway when we were forced by circumstances to curtail operations, and it will take very little to restart the process once we can.

The annual concession fee payments, which are due by March 31^st, have been made for each of the 42 concessions in the Lost Cities – Cutucu Project.  The President has reappointed Mr. Fernando L. Benalcazar as Vice-Minister of Mines of Ecuador – he resumed his duties yesterday.  In a phone call Mr. Benalcazar stated that his office is at our disposal and he will diligently resume his mission to assist responsible development of the mining resources of Ecuador. 

Situation in Toronto

As recommended by the national and provincial health authorities, Personnel in our Toronto office are working from home for the duration of this crisis so as to avoid potential exposure to the virus on public transit.  Hence, we’re already complying with the terms of the state of emergency declared by the Province of Ontario yesterday morning.  The office remains fully functional and we’re working by remote means with our geological team in Ecuador and Peru.  All company personnel, Officers and Directors are well and healthy; there are no cases of COVID-19 in Aurania or in EcuaSolidus S.A., our Ecuadorian subsidiary, at this time.

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.  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-.

In Europe:
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www.resource-capital.ch

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Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains 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 and mine development plans, 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, 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.