Aurion-B2Gold JV drill 2.05 g/t gold over 77.5 metres at Helmi, Finland
Aurion Resources Ltd. [AU-TSXV; AIRRF-OTCQX] reported results for the first three holes from the winter 2022 drilling program at the Helmi discovery on the Aurion-B2Gold Corp. [BTO-TSX; BTG-NYSE American; B2G-Namibia] joint venture in the Central Lapland greenstone belt in northern Finland.
Further gold intercepts at the Helmi discovery include 2.05 g/t gold over 77.50 metres from 41.70 metres (IKK22018), including 4.18 g/t gold over 24.55 metres from 81.90 metres and 1.42 g/t gold over 15.90 metres from 175.50 metres (IKK22019), including 2.13 g/t gold over 6.35 metres from 175.50 metres.
Twenty-nine holes (6,549.70 m) were rilled at Helmi and nearby targets during the 2022 winter drilling program with assays for 26 holes pending. The drilling program targeted the extensions of the Helmi discovery along strike and at depth and selected new geophysical and geochemical targets.
“Higher grades and longer intervals returned from early drilling provide further evidence that Helmi may be a significant discovery,” commented Matti Talikka, Aurion’s CEO. “With winter conditions the JV was able to drill Helmi from preferred orientations. We look forward to the results from the remaining 26 out of 29 holes. The current winter program will be followed by summer and fall programs informed by data from this and earlier work.”
The program was designed to test the continuity of gold mineralization encountered in the maiden drill program, completed in the second half of 2021, as well as test additional targets to the north and northwest of the Helmi discovery, identified by geophysics and base of till sampling.
The Helmi discovery is located approximately 1.3 km west of the Rupert Resources 3.95-million-ounce Ikkari discovery, along the Kutuvuoma-Ikkari structural corridor, which is an approximately 8-km-long sequence of prospective geology along a domain boundary in the eastern part of the JV property extending from the Ikkari discovery to the Kutuvuoma test pit.
The Helmi discovery was made during the second half of 2021 and the maiden drilling program of 20 holes, totalling 5,201.5 metres, returned a number of significant intercepts including 1.84 g/t gold over 52.40 metres, 1.73 g/t gold over 44.95 metres, 1.42 g/t gold over 30.70 metres, 1.42 g/t gold over 30.60 metres, 1.46 g/t gold over 28.70 metres and 1.11 g/t gold over 45.80 metres. The mineralized zones at Helmi are open along strike and at depth. The Helmi area covers approximately 1.5 km strike length of the 8-km-long structural corridor of which the majority remains untested.
The joint venture (30% Aurion/70% B2Gold) covers approximately 331 km2 along the major crustal scale Sirkka shear zone in the Central Lapland greenstone belt and includes a number of discoveries such as Helmi (2.05 g/t Au over 77.50 m), Kutuvuoma (16.47 g/t gold over 11 m), Soretiavuoma (48 g/t gold over 1.1 m), Sinerma (0.54 g/t gold over 40.2 m), Kiekeromaa (5.8 g/t gold over 5 m) and Kettukuusikko (4.33 g/t gold over 20.4 m).
The preliminary budget for 2022 is approximately $10-million and includes approximately 12,000 metres of drilling. The JV will also continue to perform geophysical surveys and base of till sampling programs that have been successfully used to generate drill targets.