Auryn Intersects 116 meters of 0.58% Copper Equivalent in Historical Drill Core from Auryn’s Fierrazo Target at Sombrero

Auryn Intersects 116 meters of 0.58% Copper Equivalent in Historical Drill Core from Auryn’s Fierrazo Target at Sombrero
Vancouver, British Columbia – June 13, 2019 – Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX: AUG, NYSE AMERICAN: AUG, “Auryn” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce results from eight historical drill holes, totaling 988 meters of drilling, from the Fierrazo target at the Sombrero project in Southern Peru. These holes were drilled in 2013 targeting iron skarn mineralization, however Auryn’s assay results encountered copper-gold mineralization in each hole. Highlights include 116 meters of 0.58% copper equivalent (0.42% Cu and 0.24 g/t Au), 90.4 meters of 0.51% copper equivalent (0.48% Cu and 0.05 g/t Au) and 51 meters of 0.53% copper equivalent (0.43% Cu and 0.16 g/t Au) (Figure 1 & Table 1).

Significance of the Results:

• Copper-gold sulphide mineralization extends to depth underneath the previously reported surface channel sample of 232 meters of 0.55% Cu equivalent (see April 3, 2019 release).
• Copper-gold mineralization encountered at the Fierrazo target provides a clear analogue to discover additional large-scale mineralized exoskarn bodies within the Sombrero property, based on similar geophysical and geochemical signatures.
• The mineralization encountered in the historical drill holes confirms Auryn’s belief that Sombrero has analogous geological and mineralization characteristics of the deposits of the Las Bambas district.

A Message from Michael Henrichsen, COO & Chief Geologist:

“The presence of a cohesive copper-gold exoskarn body at Fierrazo has given us a great deal of confidence in terms of discovering other large-scale exoskarn bodies, which could make Sombrero a world-class discovery. Fierrazo is only a small window into the potential sub-surface mineralization and we are very excited for what’s to come for the rest of the Sombrero Main system, where drill permits are in process.”

Table 1:

The Fierrazo Target:
Geology:
The historical drilling at the Fierrazo target has defined a cohesive body of copper-gold exoskarn mineralization at the lateral contact between the Ccasscabamba diorite sill and the Ferrobamba limestones and Upper Mara shales and siltstones (Figure 2). The exoskarn body is characterized by massive to semi-massive magnetite and disseminated chalcopyrite and pyrite mineralization that can be cut by high-grade gold retrograde structures with chlorite and epidote alteration. Copper-gold is hosted within the Ferrobamba limestone, the calcareous shales and siltstones of the Upper Mara Formation, within late-stage monzonitic porphyry dykes, and as endoskarn mineralization within the Ccasscabamba diorite sill (Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6).

The majority of the drilling at the Fierrazo target intersected copper-gold mineralization within the calcareous sediments of the Upper Mara Formation due to the fact that the majority of the Ferrobamba limestone has been eroded away at this target area (Figures 7 & 8). This is important as it demonstrates an additional 70 – 100 meters of prospective stratigraphy for copper-gold mineralization that had been previously unrecognized within the Sombrero project area. Combining the Upper Mara Formation with the 225 meters of the Ferrobamba limestone along the margins of the Ccasscabamba diorite sill demonstrates a minimum of 300 meters of prospective stratigraphy for exoskarn mineralization within the Sombrero project area.

Drill Results:
Collectively, the historical drill holes define a mineralized body totaling 300 meters of strike length with an average width of approximately 150 – 200 meters that is open both to the north and to the south (Figure 1). The average grades of all intercepts within the historical core is 0.5% copper equivalent, calculated using a 0.15% copper cut-off grade, as presented below in Table 2. This average grade compares favorably to other deposits in the Las Bambas district such as Constancia, Antacapay, Haquira, and Las Bambas projects (Table 3). In addition, when calculating the average grades based on the lithology within the historical drill core at Fierrazo, it is observed that the grade within the calcareous shales and siltstones of the Upper Mara Formation is 0.46% copper equivalent compared to 0.59% copper equivalent within the Ferrobamba limestone (Table 4). Auryn’s technical team believes it is then reasonable to assume this grade relationship will be consistent when exploring other exoskarn targets, such as at the Chumpi target where higher grades could be encountered within the Ferrobamba limestone (Figure 9).

Table 2:

Table 3:

Source:

• Constancia – 2017 NI 43-101 Technical Report
• (https://s1.q4cdn.com/305438552/files/doc_downloads/2018/ConstanciaTechReport_032918.pdf)
• Antapaccay – 2018 Glencore – Resources & Reserves Report
• (https://www.glencore.com/dam/jcr:ae4466b4-7ef4-4407-ae00-6ca55b694028/GLEN_2018_Resources_Reserves_Report-.pdf)
• Haquira – 2010 NI 43-101 Technical Report
• (https://secure.kaiserresearch.com/i/jk/tr16/TRANM20100902.pdf)
• Las Bambas – 2018 Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves Statement
• (http://www.mmg.com/en/our-operations/~/media/Files/Investors%20and%20Media/2018/June%202018%20Mineral%20Resources%20Ore%20Reserves%20Statement.pdf)

Table 4:

Geophysical Exoskarn Analogue:
The encountered copper-gold mineralization hosted within exoskarn bodies at Fierrazo has provided a clear and direct analogue for other areas of exoskarn mineralization, with a particular focus on Auryn’s Chumpi target which has a 3.3 kilometer strike length (Figure 9). The geophysical responses that characterize exoskarn mineralization at Fierrazo are as follows for oxide and hypogene mineralization respectively: 1) Oxide mineralization is mapped in geophysics as a magnetic only response that is characterized by a hematite-magnetite exoskarn with copper and iron oxides. 2) Hypogene mineralization is mapped by geophysics as a coincident magnetic and conductivity response characterized by magnetite exoskarn with copper and iron sulphides (Figures 3 – 5). These same responses are observed at the Chumpi target and provide Auryn’s technical team confidence that copper-gold exoskarn mineralization may be encountered during Auryn’s initial drill program on the project. Note that at the Chumpi target the entire section of both the Ferrobamba limestone and Upper Mara shales and siltstones are interpreted to be preserved, giving a minimum of 300 meters of prospective stratigraphy to drill test.

Update on Sombrero Targeting:
In conjunction with working the historical core from Fierrazo to aid in the larger targeting effort across the property, Auryn focused on understanding the distribution of grade across the project from all surface channel and grab samples. This analysis has focused on the three stages of mineralization recognized on the project to date: 1) Prograde mineralization associated with the emplacement of the Ccasscabamba diorite sill and the development of exoskarn and endoskarn mineralization, 2) Retrograde mineralization associated with the emplacement of high-grade gold structures associated with chlorite and epidote alteration and 3) Porphyry staged mineralization associated with the emplacement of monzonitic porphyry dykes.

The spatial distribution and average grades associated with the three stages of copper-gold mineralization are presented in Figure 10, where prograde exoskarn mineralization is situated along the margins of the Ccasscabamba sill, and both retrograde and porphyry styles of mineralization are contained in broad north – south structural corridors. Average grades of all surface sampling on the three phases of mineralization are as follows: prograde exoskarn mineralization is 0.3% copper and 0.15g/t gold, retrograde high-grade gold mineralization is 0.18% Cu and 0.74g/t gold, and porphyry style high-grade copper mineralization is by 0.9% copper and 0.06g/t gold. Future drilling at the Sombrero project will target areas where all three phases of mineralization converge spatially to focus on drilling high-grade mineralization.

Figure 1: Illustrates the drill intercepts from the historical core at the Fierrazo exoskarn target. The drilling has defined a cohesive mineralized body measuring 300 meters in length and approximately 150 – 225 meters in width and is open to both the north and the south.

Figure 2: Illustrates the emplacement model of the Ccasscabamba diorite sill with exoskarn mineralization developed primarily within the Ferrobamba limestone, the calcareous shales and siltstones of the Upper Mara Formation and as endoskarn mineralization within the sill itself.

Figure 3: Illustrates oxide exoskarn mineralization hosted within the Ferrobamba limestone as well as later-stage mineralized monzonitic porphyry dykes from drill hole FE-DDH-03A. Note that the primary geophysical response in the oxide mineralization will be a magnetic high.