The Canadian mining company, Aya Gold & Silver, has made a significant advancement in its exploration endeavors by acquiring a collection of three mining licenses and eighteen exploration permits, encompassing approximately 259 square kilometers in Morocco. This announcement was made on August 6th from Montreal, where the company is listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the ticker AYA. This strategic acquisition underscores Aya Gold & Silver's commitment to expanding its footprint in the Moroccan mining sector.
The newly acquired properties are divided among three distinct projects, according to the company’s documentation. The first project, located in Zagora, spans 158.6 square kilometers and includes eleven exploration permits, with promising potential for nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc, silver, and gold. The second project, Agadir-Melloul, covers 68.5 square kilometers and consists of three mining licenses along with five permits, targeting copper, silver, gold, and rare earth elements. Lastly, the Goulmim project encompasses 32 square kilometers with two adjoining permits, showing potential for lead, silver, copper, and gold deposits.
The transaction was finalized for a total consideration of 10 million dirhams, which was paid in cash as well as through the assumption of debt. The company has indicated that the sellers will also receive milestone payments tied to future resource development and a 2% net smelter return royalty in the event of commercial production. This royalty can be partially or fully repurchased by the buyer under certain predetermined conditions. Additional administrative procedures post-closing are currently ongoing in Morocco.
Geological Insights and Future Plans
The Zagora permit block is situated 40 kilometers south of the Bou-Azzer structure and encompasses sedimentary rocks from the lower and upper Ordovician, which are separated by an east-west to northeast contact and intersected by a Triassic dolerite dyke. The geological setting presents a promising landscape for nickel, cobalt, lead, zinc, silver, and gold, supported by field observations indicating the presence of pentlandite, galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, as well as a historical cobalt occurrence known in the district, according to the technical description provided by the company.
The Agadir-Melloul property is divided into two blocks. The first block features Adoudounian dolomites topped by the Taliwine formation, which is overlain by sedimentary rocks and lower Cambrian limestones; the Adoudounian formation hosts significant copper-silver mineralization across the Anti-Atlas region, notably the Tizert deposit. The second block consists of Paleoproterozoic felsic intrusions surrounded by schists and gneisses, intersected by mafic dykes; these intrusions are part of an alumino-potassic magmatic suite known as Tazenakht, which is the host rock for the gold mineralization at Açdif in the Zenaga structure.
The Goulmim project, located to the east of the lower Drâa structure, is based on a lower Ordovician sedimentary sequence bordered by mid-Cambrian volcanosedimentary rocks. The contact between these units is considered by the company’s geologists to be comparable to the geological setting of the Elios target within the Boumadine project, leading to hypotheses regarding lead, silver, copper, and gold mineralization.
Strategic Growth and Exploration Initiatives
This acquisition reinforces the company's position as a first mover in Morocco and supports its strategy to develop one of the largest exploration portfolios in the country, as emphasized by Benoît La Salle, the President and CEO of Aya Gold & Silver. The company's mining area has increased from approximately 732 square kilometers at the beginning of 2026 to over 991 square kilometers, marking a notable growth of 35.4%, with management continuing to secure early-stage positions across the district.
A greenfield exploration program is planned over the next eighteen to twenty-four months, which will include sediment geochemistry, high-resolution hyperspectral studies, mapping, and prospecting; the results from this initial phase will help determine the feasibility of geophysical work and drilling, as stated in the company’s announcement.
Aya Gold & Silver, a producer of gold-silver at Zgounder—one of the few mono-silver mines globally—is also conducting feasibility studies for the polymetallic Boumadine project. The company’s stock closed at CAD 35.08 on Thursday, reflecting a 27.38% increase with a trading volume of 1,925,476 shares and a market capitalization of CAD 5.03 billion.
As reported by barlamane.com.
