Amaroq Minerals drills 116 g/t gold over 0.62 metres at Nalunaq, Greenland
Amaroq Minerals Ltd. [AMRQ-TSXV] has provided the results of its 2022 exploration program at the Nalunaq project, Greenland.
Highlights include completion of 46 diamond core drillholes, on time and on budget. The holes infilled and extended the Valley Block, hitting the Main Vein in 42 holes, a success rate of 92% confirming the targeting ability of the Corporation’s geological model.
Main Vein intersections graded up to 116 g/t gold over 0.62 metres, the highest grade intersection drilled by the corporation. Surface channel samples taken near existing underground infrastructure in the Mountain Block confirm thick, high-grade intersections of up to 98.6 g/t gold.
Results indicate Valley Block has the potential to be as large as the Target Block which produced ~250 koz gold historically. Results illustrate that the Mountain Block may provide the lowest cost access to mineralization through subsequent mine development.
Significant progress was made in defining and sampling a series of hanging wall veins both in the Valley and Mountain Blocks with grades received of up to 10.8 g/t gold in these newly identified veinsThe main component of the 2023 exploration program will be a large bulk sample, as a key step towards a maiden Mineral Reserve estimate. This program has the potential to clearly demonstrate the revenue potential of the resource and be the first step toward full production.
Eldur Olafsson, CEO, commented: “Expanding the footprint of the Valley Block up to twice the size, with even higher grades sampled (116 g/t Au) makes for exciting times at Amaroq Minerals. The 2022 Nalunaq exploration results, the most successful drilling campaign to date, build further on our understanding of the Valley Block. The results also provide additional evidence for the mining potential in Mountain Block. Significantly, the Corporation has two potential near term production areas ahead of commencing the 2023 Bulk Sample.”
The 2022 program consisted of 9,119 metres of diamond core drilling across 46 drillholes. The objectives of the drill program were to infill the existing resource and test an up-dip extension of the Valley Block ore-shoot. Of these drillholes, 42 or 92% intersected the Main Vein, a testament to the improved exploration efficiency from the Corporation’s robust geological modelling of the last 24 months. Three of the remaining five drillholes, did not reach the depth of the Main Vein due to poor ground conditions and Amaroq will review if these will be redrilled during the 2023 exploration program.
The drill program was designed using the Corporation’s new structural model, the ‘Dolerite Dyke Model’ which was validated through the 2021 exploration results. Highlights of this program include: The intersection of 9 visible gold intervals confirming the existence of extensive free gold. Hole AEX2237 intersected 0.62 metres of 116 g/t gold, the highest grade drill intersect by Amaroq at Nalunaq, located on the extension to the Valley Block. Hole AEX2209 intersected 0.56 metres at 26.2 g/t gold.
These results further confirm the existence of this high-grade zone and provided further data on the geometry of the Valley Block. Importantly, the drill results extend the high-grade core of Valley Block ore-shoot up-dip around 300 metres, making this recently discovered and previously unrecognized, high-grade plunge a similar scale to the Target Block, the most productive part of the mine having produced around 250 koz historically.
In 2022, following the results of the Mineral Resource Estimate, which highlighted the significant potential for resource expansion in the Mountain Block area, Amaroq recognized the potential to increase the sampling density above 775 metres elevation by exposing a new section of Main Vein between 820 and 830 metres elevation. Ten metres of Main Vein was exposed and sampled using a diamond-blade rock saw. Channels were cut to represent the true thickness of mineralization.
These channel samples returned very high-grade gold, up to 1.05 metres of 98.6 g/t gold, confirming grade continuity in this part of Mountain Block. Grades are similar to those of samples collected in 1992 from 830-840 metres elevation, which range from 44.8 to 235.3 g/t gold over true vein thicknesses of approximately 1 metre.
Following a successful 2022 field season, Amaroq is planning the next development phase. The corporation intends to proceed with the extraction of a large bulk sample within one of the resource areas with the aim to upgrade the Mineral Resource, a further step towards a maiden Mineral Reserve estimate.
Amaroq will also conduct a program of surface drilling into the Mountain Block to further extend the Inferred Resources in this extremely high-grade zone of the project.
The corporation’s principal asset is a 100% interest in the Nalunaq Project, an advanced exploration stage property with an exploitation license including the previously operating Nalunaq gold mine.