Aurion Resources (TSX-V:AU) Ltd has announced results for the first three holes from its summer-fall 2022 drilling program at the Helmi Discovery in northern Finland.
The program is part of the company’s joint venture with B2Gold Corp, which operates the program in Finland’s Central Lapland Greenstone Belt. Approximately 11,000 meters (m) of drilling have been planned for the second half of 2022.
New gold intercepts at the Helmi Discovery include 0.82 grams per ton (g/t) gold over 108.1 m from 286.30 m, including 1.55 g/t over 16 m; 1.1 g/t gold over 35.20 m from 495.1 m; and 1.29 g/t gold over 22.15 m from 258.75 m, from the three holes, respectively. A full breakdown of the results can be found here.
READ: Aurion advances regional exploration activities; starts drilling at Risti property in Finland
The mineralization extends to a depth of at least 500m from surface and remains open along strike and at depth, the company said.
"The scale of the mineralized system at Helmi is expanding favorably,” Aurion CEO Matti Talikka said in a statement. “Gold mineralization has now been intersected along a strike length of over 1.3 km and at least to 500 m depth from surface. The current 11,000 m drilling program is progressing well, with two drill rigs turning on the JV property, targeting the Helmi Discovery and regional targets identified from the geophysical and geochemical surveys."
The Helmi Discovery, found in the second half of 2021, is located approximately 1.3 kilometers west of Rupert Resources' 3.95-million-ounce Ikkari Discovery, the company said. Drilling has returned significant intercepts including 2.05 g/t gold over 77.50 m, 1.84 g/t gold over 52.40 m, 2.44 g/t gold over 43.45 m and 1.73 g/t gold over 44.95 m, among others.
The JV is a 30%/70% split, with B2Gold owning the larger portion. It covers roughly 331 square kilometers in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt and includes a number of discoveries such as Helmi (2.05 g/t gold over 77.50 m), Kutuvuoma (16.47 gold over 11 m), Soretiavuoma (48 g/t gold over 1.1 m), Sinermä (0.54 g/t gold over 40.2 m), Kiekerömaa (5.8 g/t gold over 5.0 m) and Kettukuusikko (4.33 g/t gold over 20.4 m).
The expanded budget for the JV in 2022 is about C$13.5 million. The program includes approximately 17,000 m of drilling, as well as geophysical surveys and sampling programs to generate drill targets.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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