Banyan Gold Maiden AurMac PEA Nears, 10+ Million Ounce Resource Growth Continues

• Banyan Gold holds about C$100 million after its September financing which funds its programs through 2028 without new equity.
• The maiden PEA for AurMac is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026 and will use drilling completed to the end of 2025.
• The 1.5 km gap between the Airstrip and Powerline deposits is classed as waste in the current plan, and President and CEO Tara Christie reported it could become a new starter pit.
• Christie expects the next resource update to exceed 10 Moz based on drilling through roughly March 2027.

Banyan Gold Corp. (TSXV:BYN) is heading into its first economic study with a treasury of about C$100 million and drill contracts already signed for 2027. Its AurMac project in Canada’s Yukon hosts 3.64 million ounces (Moz) Indicated at 0.68 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 4.98 Moz Inferred at 0.58 g/t, on a site with existing roads, hydro power and cell phone coverage. A maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Gold has pulled back from a high of about US$5,600 per ounce to around US$4,000, and Banyan spent early November in Munich and Zurich meeting investors. Drilling this winter targets a 1.5 kilometer corridor between AurMac’s 2 deposits that the mine plan treats as waste, and management expects the next resource estimate to exceed 10 Moz.

Drilling the Gap Between Airstrip & Powerline

Banyan has completed about 90% of its 70,000 m program for 2026, with 60,000 m focused on AurMac and 7 drills operating in November. Drilling is expected to finish around the end of November, with a seasonal break from about mid-December. Rigs are scheduled to return on January 4. The break also gives the ground between the Airstrip and Powerline deposits time to freeze, which is when drills can reach most of it.

That gap is roughly 500 m wide and 1.5 km long, and about 20,000 m of drilling is still needed to test it. In the current resource model and the PEA it counts as waste, because it was undrilled. An earlier hole in the gap returned 13.03 g/t gold over 14.2 m, including 142.70 g/t over 1.0 m. A single hole reported cut 4 separate mineralized zones down-dip of Airstrip, including 1.34 g/t over 20.2 m and 1.18 g/t over 27.5 m, with estimated true widths of about 95% of the downhole lengths.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Banyan Gold, Tara Christie, explained why ground classed as waste could change the first decade of a mine plan: 

“It does come into the first 10 years of mining because it’s the gap between the two pits. As the pits lay back in the current plan, it’s all waste. If it’s 1 g/t, maybe some of it’s higher grade like that 13 g/t material, but on average it could be really significant, and it could even become our new starter pit in the next study that we put in.”

Christie separated the bulk mineralization from the high-grade zones. The geological model projects consistent zones over widths of more than 20 m into the gap. The highest grades are harder to forecast because they follow a fault zone that likely acted as a fluid pathway. Christie said an earlier 350 m hole ended in 15 g/t material, and Banyan has since stepped out 400 m and drilled holes as deep as 850 m, while most of the current resource pit is shallow.

C$100 Million Treasury Raised Into Strength

Banyan closed a C$54.3 million financing on September 2026. The company launched the raise on a Friday afternoon, shortly after its inclusion in the VanEck Junior Gold Miners exchange-traded fund, with the share price up. Franco-Nevada came in as lead order and bought 10 million shares. That equity stake adds to the 6% net smelter return royalty it purchased over AurMac in February and financing carried no warrants.

Christie said the dilution was less than 5% and that the raise secures Banyan’s programs through 2028 while saving about a year on the development timeline. Drill contracts for 2027 are signed, and geologists, geotechnicians and core loggers have effectively year-round work.

Preliminary Economic Assessment Underway

The PEA is still targeted for the fourth quarter, but Christie states it will not be released over the Christmas holidays, so it could move into early 2027 if the work is not finished. Consultants are busy with many clients, and suppliers have been slow to deliver quotes because many projects are under construction. The study uses drilling only to the end of 2025, because assays from that program were not complete until March and April 2026 and fed the resource estimate with an effective date of May 15, 2026.

The study is aimed at the Yukon government, regulators and communities as much as at investors. Banyan wants a larger footprint in the PEA because it is better to permit big, even if a later study phases development around a high-grade starter pit. She expects the study to show a mine that could run for more than 25 years and a significant net present value, with tax and employment figures the territory can plan around.

Power is one of the main open variables. The Yukon government’s Whitehorse power center is set to add 160 megawatts, which makes grid supply a possible option for AurMac, although Christie said it cannot be assumed in the PEA until it happens. The study also examines alternatives to the base case. Larger companies have asked about a 50,000 tonnes per day scenario, and the team has looked at smaller-scale ramp-ups, heap leaching alongside a mill and flotation.

Interview with Tara Christie, President & CEO of Banyan Gold Corp.

Targeting 10 Moz Resource Update to the Next Study

The 2027 program is planned at about 100,000 m at AurMac plus 20,000 to 30,000 m at Nitra. Banyan intends to cut off the data for the next resource update after roughly the first 3 months of 2027, once the gap and other areas in the first 10 years of the mine plan have been drilled. Assays would then be expected around June or July. Christie said she expects that update to exceed 10 Moz.

That resource would feed the next study, which Christie expects in late 2027 or early 2028. She said Banyan will more likely move straight to a prefeasibility study (PFS) than update the PEA, because the next study sets the processing method and footprint for permitting.

Exploration Upside, Silver & a Developer’s Team

Banyan’s greenfield work at Nitra produced discoveries at Seattle Creek and Roaring Fork from the first 2 of 11 targets drilled in 2026. Assays for 18 more holes are pending. Christie said the company holds about 1,200 square kilometers of ground, along with the Hyland project, which has an existing resource, and ground beside the Coffee project.

Silver is a separate option. Banyan has found 8 high-grade silver veins, and Christie said they could eventually provide early, low-capital cash flow through toll milling. The company is keeping silver secondary to gold to avoid mixed messages, and a spin-out of the exploration assets has been considered with no rush to do it.

Christie said funding and the project’s scale are bringing developers to the team and board, while long-serving exploration staff move to Nitra.

The Investment Thesis for Banyan Gold

• AurMac hosts 3.64 million ounces Indicated and 4.98 million ounces Inferred on a road-accessible site with hydro power, an infrastructure advantage over more remote Yukon projects.
• A treasury of about C$100 million funds Banyan’s programs through 2028, so the Preliminary Economic Assessment and 2027 drilling do not depend on new equity.
• The gap between the Airstrip and Powerline deposits is classed as waste in the current plan, and results such as 13.03 grams per tonne over 14.2 meters show it could add higher-grade material to the first 10 years of mining.
• The Preliminary Economic Assessment, targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, gives institutions the baseline many require before they invest.
• Management expects the 2027 resource update to exceed 10 million ounces and to support a prefeasibility study in late 2027 or early 2028.

Macro Thematic Analysis

Gold’s retreat from about US$5,600 per ounce has unsettled some retail holders of junior miners. The market is now separating juniors that can fund their next step from those that cannot. Christie said some companies cannot raise capital, while Banyan has already raised its money.

The Yukon is the second theme. Banyan’s deck describes the Tombstone Gold Belt as a district of more than 30 Moz. Snowline Gold is preparing a new PFS, and Talamore Mining bought the Coffee project from Newmont. Boroo plans to invest more than C$1.5 billion at Eagle if its acquisition closes. The territorial government reported in September that decision-document timelines are down more than 50% compared with 2025. More projects now compete for permitting staff and consultants, and Christie sees the PEA as Banyan’s place in that queue.

Christie said the territory needs to plan for the projects now coming: 

“I think Yukon needs to start thinking about where we are going to get our revenue from to build the hospitals and the schools. And importantly, they need to understand how many projects are coming so that they can staff up in their permitting departments themselves and understand that there are companies coming into the queue that are real.”

A mine that Christie expects could run for more than 25 years would give the territory a tax and employment base to plan around. She said long life is also what larger producers want when they enter a district.

TL;DR: 

Banyan Gold holds about C$100 million, enough to fund its Yukon programs through 2028. Its AurMac project hosts 3.64 million ounces (Moz) Indicated and 4.98 Moz Inferred, and a maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. That study uses only drilling to the end of 2025, so a 1.5 kilometer gap between the Airstrip and Powerline deposits counts as waste. An earlier hole in the gap returned 13.03 grams per tonne gold over 14.2 meters. Chief Executive Officer Tara Christie said the gap could become a new starter pit and expects the next resource update to exceed 10 Moz.

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