Aurion Resources (TSX-V:AU) Ltd has reported encouraging winter drill results from the Helmi discovery on its joint venture (JV) with B2Gold in Finland, which, the company said, suggests it may be a "significant" find.
Aurion said 29 holes, for 6,549.7 metres (m) were drilled at Helmi and nearby target areas from February to April this year and the latest assays hail from the first three holes.
"Higher grades and longer intervals returned from early drilling provide further evidence that Helmi may be a significant discovery," said Matti Talikka, Aurion's CEO in a statement.
"With winter conditions the JV was able to drill Helmi from preferred orientations. We look forward to the results from the remaining 26 out of 29 holes. The current winter program will be followed by summer and fall programs informed by data from this and earlier work," he added.
READ: Aurion Resources announces start of winter drill program at Finland joint venture
Results included 2.05 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over an intercept of 77.50m starting from 41.7m depth in one hole. That included 4.18 g/t gold over 24.55m from 81.90m depth.
The joint venture, in which Aurion has a 30% stake, with operator B2Gold owning 70%, covers around 331 square kilometers (sq km) along the Sirkka Shear Zone in the Central Lapland greenstone belt and includes a number of discoveries such as Helmi, Kutuvuoma, Soretiavuoma and Kettukuusikko.
Helmi, discovered in 2021, sits around 1.3 km west of Rupert Resources' 3.95 million ounce Ikkari discovery, along the Kutuvuoma-Ikkari structural corridor.
The winter drill program was designed to test the continuity of gold mineralization found in the maiden program, as well as additional targets to the north and northwest of the Helmi Discovery, identified by geophysics and base of till sampling.
The preliminary budget for 2022 is around C$10 million and includes about 12,000m of drilling. The JV will also continue to perform geophysical surveys and base of till sampling programs that have been successfully used to generate drill targets.
Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com