Ecuadorian Government Provides Support FOR Mineral Exploration BY Making Provision to Extend “Initial Exploration” Phase
TSX-V: ARU
NR 2020-41
ECUADORIAN GOVERNMENT PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION BY
MAKING PROVISION TO EXTEND “INITIAL EXPLORATION” PHASE
Toronto, Ontario, December 21, 2020 – Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU) (OTCQB: AUIAF)
(Frankfurt: 20Q) (“Aurania” or the “Company”) reports that, on December 9, 2020, the Ecuadorian
government adopted legislation whereby mineral concession-holders can be compensated for government-
related delays in permitting by extending the term of the “Initial Exploration” phase.
Mineral concessions in Ecuador are granted for a period of 25 years, provided that they are kept in good
standing through annual concession fee payments to the State, annual work and expenditure commitments
being met and annual environmental impact reports being presented, all reports meeting the regulated
standards. Current legislation is that the life of a mineral concession is segmented into a four-year “Initial
Exploration” phase, followed by a four -year “Advanced Exploration” stage, foll owed by a two- year
“Economic Evaluation” stage, leading to mine construction and mineral production in the remainder of the
25-year term. T he annual concession fee payable to the State doubles from approximately US$10 per
hectare in Initial Exploration to US$20 per hectare in Advanced Exploration – the concept being to
incentivize exploration companies to reduce their concession holdings to focus on specific exploration
target areas as quickly as possible – and therefore to free up the rejected areas for f urther investigation by
competitor companies.
The new legislation adopted on December 9 clarifies that the “Initial Exploration” phase of a mineral
concession begins not on the date that the concession was granted, but on the date on which the mineral
concession-holder receives the permits required to effectively carry out operational activities on each
concession. For Aurania’s Lost Cities -Cutucu Project (the “Project”), this means that the Company may
apply for extensions of between 16 and 40 months, d epending on the date on which permissions were
granted for each of its 42 concessions. Extending the Initial Exploration phase means that the annual fees
paid to the State remain at approximately US$10 per hectare through this extension period, rather tha n
doubling to approximately US$20 per hectare after January 2021.
Aurania’s Chairman & CEO, Dr. Keith Barron commented, “We applaud and thank
the Ecuadorian government for recognizing that permitting delays have hamstrung the
exploration industry – and for taking such decisive action to correct this situation. We
look forward to making mineral discoveries that will help to drive the growth of the
Ecuadorian economy in the years ahead. I would like to thank Minister Ortiz, Aurania’s
legal counsel, and other exploration companies working in Ecuador for their efforts in
having this legislation adopted.”
As stipulated in the new regulation, Aurania will be submitting, within 30 days of the adoption of the
legislation, applications to extend the Initial Exploration phase on each concession within the Project.
According to the legislation, the e xtension of the Initial Exploration phase for Aurania’s concessions that
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experienced the shortest delay in permitting will be to April 16, 2022, and for those that have been delayed
the longest, to May 12, 2024. Annual concession fee payments will continue at a rate of approximately
US$10 per hectare during the extended “Initial Exploration” phase – payments are due by the end of March
each year.
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 – 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-.
For further information, please contact:
Carolyn Muir
VP Investor Relations
Aurania Resources Ltd.
(416) 367-3200
Dr. Richard Spencer
President
Aurania Resources Ltd.
(416) 367-3200
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policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain 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 i nformation 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, statemen ts, exploration results, potential mineralization, the corporation’s portfolio,
treasury, management team and enhanced capital markets profile, the estimation of mineral resources,
exploration, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of mark et 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, politic al 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 pr ices, 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, the effects of COVID-19 on the
business of the Company including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities,
capital market conditions, restrictions on labour and international travel and supply chains, and those risks
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set out in Aurania’s public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Aurania be lieves 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.