Aurion Resources Ltd. [AU-TSXV; AIRRF-OTC] said Wednesday June 26 that it has intersected a wide zone of gold mineralization at the Aamurusko Northwest prospect on its 100%-owned Risti Project in northern Finland.
The company said the zone was intersected by the first two drill holes of a recently initiated 2019 drilling program, consisting of 10 holes and designed to test high-grade gold mineralization at surface.
Drilling highlights include 13.31 g/t gold over 19.54 metres, including 22.58 g/t gold over 8.18 metres in drill hole AM19095, starting at 69.86 metres downhole and approximately 70 metres vertically below surface. Aurion said the zone has five intervals assaying between 48.40 and 230.00 g/t gold. It said this hole is being deepened.
On Wednesday, Aurion shares rallied on the news, rising 9.45% or 12 cents to $1.39. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 74 cents and $2.15.
The 14,000-hectare Risti Project is located to the southeast and is contiguous with Aurion’s Kutuvuoma gold project, which in turn, is located 35 km southeast of Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.’s [AEM-TSX, NYSE] Kittila gold deposit.
Kutuvuoma hosts a high-grade, shear zone-hosted gold deposit that was discovered in the mid-1990s by Outokumpu Oy, while that company was exploring for base metals.
Aurion said the geological setting of the Risti Project has many similarities to prolific gold-rich orogenic gold belts globally, including the Timmins camp of the Abitibi province of Northern Ontario. It also said the Aamurusko Zone appears to be underlain by young unconformable clastic rocks (sandstones and conglomerates) of the Kumpu group.
These Kumpu group conglomerates resemble Timiskaming conglomerates of the Timmins and Kirkland Lake area of the Abitibi province and occur in a similar geo-tectonic setting, the company said.
Prior to the launch of the current program, Aurion said 87 drill holes had been completed over a distance of approximately 1.7 km at Aamurusko. The drill holes were widely spaced from 25 to 350 metres apart. Of the 87 holes drilled, 64 intersected gold mineralization over the entire 1.7-km distance from near surface to vertical depths of 180 metres.
Aurizon said it was planning to complete 10,000 metres in the current program, utilizing a heli-portable drill rig. It said drilling will continue until late October when decreasing daylight hours will prohibit helicopter use.
Two years ago, Kinross Gold Corp. [K-TSX; KGC-NYSE] participated in a private placement of 6.85 million Aurion shares, priced at $2.32 per share. The private placement raised $15.9 million, leaving Kinross with a 9.98% stake in Aurion.
At the time, Aurion said this significant investment by Kinross validated the junior’s exploration model in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, and provided the necessary capital to rapidly advance Aurion’s exploration plans, with the primary focus being on the Aamurusko prospect.
“We look forward to having access to Kinross’s technical expertise via the formation of a joint technical committee as Aurion’s programs move forward,” Aurion President and CEO Mike Basha said at the time.