Rupert closes in on maiden gold resource in Finland
Rupert Resources Ltd. [RUP-TSXV] on Tuesday reported new drill results from its Heina South prospect, located 1.0 kilometre to the northwest of the Ikkari discovery and part of its 100%-owned Pahtavaara project in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, northern Finland.
Highlights form drilling include hole 1211015, which intersected 162 g/t gold over 1.0 metres from 23 metres and 1.9 g/t gold over 5.0 metres from 97 metres, extending the previously defined north east trend by 160 metres.
Hole 121037 intersected 2.0 g/t gold over 18 metres from 15 metres, testing a new base of till anomaly up to 400 metres along the projected mineralized trend
Rupert shares virtually unchanged on the news, easing 0.38% or $0.02 to $5.25. The shares now trade in a 52-week range of $6.20 and $2.66
The company said results released on Tuesday from 28 holes totaling 4,928 metres, having a shallow average down hole depth of 176 metres at Heina South, extend potential strike to at least 750 metres.
Rupert also noted that Heina South has excellent satellite potential (situated to the west of Ikkari) with indications of “camp scale” mineralization in Area 1, which is situated 25 kilometres from the Pahtavaara mill. Further drilling at Heina South is to be undertaken over the winter to evaluate resource potential for preliminary economic assessment work.
Rupert is funded for the next two years of drilling with the next key catalyst being the Ikkari maiden resource, which is reportedly imminent. The mineralized strike length at Ikkari is at least 650 metres, with mineralization on all sections intersected to a depth of at least 300 to 500 metres.
The latest exploration results are being announced after Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. [AEM-NYSE] recently committed to making a strategic investment in Rupert Resources, spending $13.1 million to acquire a 9.9% stake in the junior.
Rupert’s key asset is a 100% interest in a gold mine and related properties which are adjacent to Agnico’s Kittila gold mining operation in northern Finland. The Pahtavaara gold mine and mill sits on 297 square kilometres of exploration permits and concessions in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt.
Pahtavaara previously operated between 1996 and 2014, producing almost 450,000 ounces of gold.
Rupert also owns a 100% interest in the Gold Centre property, which consists of mineral claims near Red Lake Ontario.
Since acquiring the Pahtavaara mine 2016, Rupert says it has undertaken extensive new exploration and geological modelling utilizing the significant amount of historical drill data and 35 kilometres of underground tunneling that exists for the deposit.
Rupert says this new approach demonstrated that the mineralized system at Pahtavaara is significantly larger than previously thought and typical of many other greenstone hosted belts.
A detailed ground gravity survey over 200 square kilometres of the licence, new interpretation of existing geophysical data and new drilling culminated in the discovery of new incidences of gold mineralization at Area 1, about 25 kilometres from the Pahtavaara mill in May 2019.