Canada's AurMac Gold Project Targets Completion of First PEA in Q4 2026

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Banyan Gold Corp. (TSXV:BYN)'s AurMac project in Canada's Yukon is entering the development preparation stage, with plans to complete its first Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in the fourth quarter of 2026 while simultaneously advancing 70,000 meters of drilling. The open-pit constrained resources at AurMac are: 3.64 million ounces at 0.68 g/t gold in the Indicated category, and 4.98 million ounces at 0.58 g/t gold in the Inferred category, with a resource effective date of May 2026. President and CEO Tara Christie stated that the company did not wait for this year's drilling results to improve the study, but instead chose to release its first economic assessment at this time. Banyan is transitioning from explorer to developer; with gold prices currently above US$4,000 per ounce, Ottawa is prioritizing projects that can drive Canada's economy.

The PEA is based on drilling through the end of 2025. All 2026 drilling is being designed around the open-pit shells that the study will delineate. This year, approximately 60,000 meters of drilling at AurMac is targeting high-grade mineralization to drive resource conversion: upgrading some to Indicated resources and expanding margins in key areas; the goal is to increase grades, reduce the strip ratio, and improve production performance in the first 10 years of the potential mine life. The swamp zone between the Airstrip and Powerline deposits was previously untested because it could only be drilled in winter; this gap returned 13.03 g/t gold over 14.2 meters, including 142.70 g/t over 1.0 meter. Christie said this result could change the open-pit mining sequence and potentially define a new starter pit. Banyan increased its drill rig count to six this fall and plans to increase to eight from mid-January; in 2027, it plans to complete 100,000 meters of drilling at AurMac and an additional 20,000 meters at its Nitra project.

Christie acknowledged that there are reasons to wait for 2026 results to be incorporated before releasing the study, but the company is focused on defining the project scope so it can engage in substantive dialogue with communities, First Nations, and government ahead of permitting, and also give regional government a basis for planning power and roads. She described the PEA as conservative, expecting to assume a processing capacity of approximately 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes per day, processed through a carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit with gravity recovery, for total recovery of approximately 90%, of which about 40% comes from gravity. Power is one of the clearest optimization levers; because the grid cannot currently be relied upon, the PEA will assume self-generation using liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel. The Yukon government's planned Whitehorse power hub expansion will add approximately 160 megawatts, which Christie said is sufficient to meet the project's needs. Other Yukon projects such as Snowline Gold are also competing for this attention.

Banyan announced a C$50 million Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (LIFE) offering alongside an C$8 million private placement, both priced at C$2.00 per share, with Canaccord Genuity as lead underwriter, expected to close on or about September 29, 2026. Franco-Nevada has agreed to subscribe for 10 million shares across both tranches. The financing will bring Banyan's treasury to approximately C$100 million, sufficient to fund through 2027 and into 2028. All major shareholders except one are participating pro rata. Earlier this year, Franco-Nevada purchased a net smelter return (NSR) royalty on AurMac's history for C$52.2 million, and Banyan has the right to reduce it to 1% for C$10 million. Christie views this as long-term alignment of interests, as faster development would bring royalty revenue forward; she personally invested C$500,000 in the financing. Banyan has also been included in the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), expanding its reach among passive and ETF investors.

Banyan is adding the skills needed for a development-stage company: Patrick Langlois has joined as Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development, and the company is also recruiting a Vice President of Engineering. Baseline environmental and water resource work has been ongoing since 2021. On community engagement, Banyan holds monthly community meetings, spends approximately C$50,000 per month at the community grocery store in Mayo, and operates a shuttle bus so local day-shift workers can commute about 20 minutes to site while still sleeping at home. Christie said the company is building the team to develop AurMac itself; if a buyer emerges, the same de-risking work will command a higher premium. She said the company cannot afford to sit and wait to be acquired, because without completing all the steps and advancing the project along the permitting path, too much time value of money would be lost; as a major shareholder, she would weigh any takeover offer against the risk of Banyan becoming a single-asset producer.

Banyan's greenfield exploration team has shifted to the wholly owned Nitra project, located approximately 25 kilometers west of AurMac; of the 11 targets drilled in 2026, the first two have yielded discoveries. Roaring Fork returned 1.62 g/t gold over 5.0 meters, including 17.80 g/t over 0.4 meters; Seattle Creek intersected 0.91 g/t gold and 27.01 g/t silver over 12.1 meters, including 5.70 g/t gold and 544 g/t silver over 0.5 meters. Christie said intrusive rocks have also been identified. She believes that within haul distance of the processing plant, a satellite open pit with grades above 1 g/t and a scale of 200,000 to 500,000 ounces could significantly improve grades and production performance. She also expects AurMac's next resource update to exceed 10 million ounces, calling that threshold critical.

Key risks include the predominantly Inferred nature of the resources, reliance on future grid power, permitting timelines, and single-asset concentration. Catalysts include the Q4 2026 PEA release, completion of the financing, and a resource update that management expects to exceed 10 million ounces. Early drilling at AurMac stopped at approximately 200 meters depth, so at higher gold prices, its open-pit shells are constrained by drilling extent rather than economics.