Aurion raising $5 million for Finland gold exploration
Aurion Resources Ltd. [AU-TSXV, AIRRF-OTCQX] said it has struck a deal with a syndicate of agents in connection with a private placement that is expected to raise $5 million with proceeds earmarked for the company’s projects in Finland, including the Risti and Launi projects.
The company said the private placement, which will consist of 9.09 million common shares priced at 55 cents each, is expected to close by April 12, 2023.
Aurion shares moved lower on the news, easing 1.6% or $0.01 to 62 cents in light trading volume. The shares currently trade in a 52-week range of $1.06 and 37.5 cents.
Aurion is focused on gold exploration in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (CLGB) of northern Finland, where its land holdings cover 70,000 hectares. Aurion’s initial acquisition was the Kutuvuoma and Silasselka projects from Dragon Mining Oy in May, 2014. It has subsequently acquired additional mineral tenements throughout the CLGB.
The company said its current focus is exploring on its Risti and Launi projects as well as advancing its joint venture projects with B2Gold Corp. [BTO-TSX] and Kinross Gold Corp. (K-TSX, KGC-NYSE).
Risti and Launi combined cover 30,626 hectares of the CLGB and span an 80 kilometre stretch of the Sirkka Shear Zone (125 kilometres).
The Launi East property lies approximately 8.0 to 10 kilometres south of Aurion’s 100%-owned Risti Project, where the company has made multiple gold discoveries since 2015.
The Risti Project is located to the southeast and is contiguous with Aurion’s Kutuvuoma gold project, which in turn is located 35 kilometres southeast of Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.’s (AEM-TSX, AEM-NYSE) Kittila gold deposit.
Aurion recently announced further results from a scout drilling program in the Kaares area at the Risti project, where it said the geological setting and mineralization style resembles Rupert Resources Ltd.’s [RUP-TSXV] Ikkari gold discoveries and Aurion’s Helmi joint venture with B2Gold.
“The extended mineralized interval of 2.41 g/t gold over 56.55 metres in drill hole KS22027 and other new gold intercepts provide favourable indications on the potential scale of the mineralized system in the Kaares area,’’ said Aurion CEO Matti Talikka.
“In addition, the elevated levels of critical minerals encountered, such as copper, cobalt, platinum and palladium, highlight the overall prospectivity of Aurion’s vast properties in a greenstone belt with growing gold and base metal inventories,’’ he said.
The company said three holes, totalling 557.60 metres, were drilled into the Vanha area of the Kaaresslka Prospect and seven scout holes, totalling 1,081.60 metres, were completed in the greater Kaares area in the southern part of the Risti property.
The Vanha holes were drilled to test the potential for extensions and new mineralized zones, as well as to support the interpretations of historic exploration data.