The Nitra Gold Project (the “Project” or the “Property”) is located in the Mayo Mining district, approximately 10 kilometres ("km") west of the AurMac Gold property, within the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun. The property is 100% owned and operated by Banyan Gold Corporation ("Banyan") and covers approximately 296 square kilometres ("km2"). The property is accessible by road along the Silver Trail Highway, South McQuesten Road (Victoria Gold access road) and 4x4 roads.
Since initial staking in 2019 by Banyan, Nitra has grown from an initial 375 quartz claims covering 73.2 hectares to its current 1,442 claims comprising 296 km2 last staked in 2021.
Similar to the AurMac Gold Project, Nitra has a rich history of exploration and mining dating back to the beginning of the 1900's. Historically, the area nearby at Scheelite Dome has been subject to gold exploration, development, and mining with the first discovery of placer gold in surrounding drainages as early as 1894. Today, placer operations continue within the Nitra Property along the Seattle and Morrison Creeks.
The Nitra Gold Project is located around 7,076,500 N and 447,500 E within the Mayo Mining District of central Yukon. The Property lies approximately 25 km northeast from the village of Mayo and 347 km north of Whitehorse, within the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun.
The Property is accessible by road, located 35 km northwest of Mayo along the Silver Trail Highway and then 21 km up the South McQuesten Road (Victoria Gold Access Road). A 4x4 road heads west from the South McQuesten road that provides access to the claims which lies 19 km to the west. Placer mining and exploration activities throughout the claims have resulted in roads and trails of various quality that allow for access to much of the property. Alternatively, the property can be accessed from the south by the Minto Lake Road and a network of four-wheel drive roads and trails.
The Nitra Property lies in the northern part of the Selwyn basin and is underlain by metaclastic rocks of the Late Proterozoic Yusezyu Formation of the Hyland Group, similar to lithologies hosting portions of the AurMac Project. Middle Cretaceous Tombstone Plutonic suite intrusions occur along the property including the Morrison Creek and Minto Creek stocks. Regionally, these Tombstone Plutonic suite rocks are spatially and genetically associated with a range of precious and base-metal occurrences including the intrusion-related Dublin Gulch pluton, hosting Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine, as well as the proximal Scheelite Dome Stock, hosting the Scheelite Dome As-Bi-W-Au Scheelite Dome occurrence.
Exploration on the Nitra Property dates from the 1900's when Placer gold claims were staked and prospected. Documented exploration on the ground now covered by the Nitra Property includes placer testing, soil sampling and trenching. Previous operators who carried out the work include Dan Klippert (1994-2002), Breakaway Exploration (2012-2013), and Taku Gold Corp. (2017).
After initial staking in 2019, Banyan carried out its inaugural exploration program in 2020 with the collection of 4,250 soil samples from approximately 107 line-km. The 2021 field season comprised an additional 5,800 soil samples covering approximately 145 line-km to expand on previous soil sampling grids. Analysis of soil sampling results highlighted the presence of Au-in-soil anomalous trends and clusters situated above the Seattle and Morrison Creeks. Follow-up work in 2022 included an additional 6,500 soil samples intended to further define these Au-in-soil anomalies and to extend soil sampling coverage to the north and west. The first trenching and diamond drilling on the property was also carried out in 2022 consisting of a single 400 metres ("m") trench and four diamond drillholes totalling approximately 950 m. Trenching and drilling were designed to target the Southern Cluster of Au-in-Soil anomalies defined by the 2020 and 2021 soil sampling programs.
The Nitra Property covers similar lithologies to Banyan's AurMac Property, as well as middle Cretaceous Tombstone Plutonic suite rocks are spatially and genetically associated with a range of precious and base-metal occurrences including the intrusion-related Dublin Gulch pluton, hosting Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine. Mineralization potential for the property’s geology includes intrusion-hosted sheeted-vein Au mineralization similar to that of the Dublin Gulch Pluton hosting the Eagle Gold Mine, as well as metasediment-hosted sheeted-vein Au-mineralization observed in the Powerline and Aurex Hill zones of the AurMac property.
