Aurelius Minerals increases size of mineralized system with Phase 1 drilling at its Aureus East project

Aurelius Minerals Inc (CVE:AUL) (OTCMKTS:AURQF) (FRA:1GA) has described its Phase 1 drill program at the Aureus East project in Nova Scotia as a “resounding success”, which showed the gold system is larger than previously thought.

The company began drilling at the project last August and the latest assays come from a nine-hole surface program (all holes hit gold), and the final two holes of an underground program, which confirmed high-grade mineralization.

The company was targeting the so-called limb structures at Aureus East and the work has confirmed a “significant” gold system, tripling the depth and identifying over 30 discreet gold horizons to below 900 metres (m), it told investors.

READ: Aurelius Minerals says first phase drilling at Aureus West project, Nova Scotia has “exceeded” expectations

“Our Phase 1 program, included a surface drilling campaign designed to complement the hinge-focused underground drilling by stretching the gold mineralization well to the south in near-vertical concentrated veins,” said Jeremy Niemi, Aurelius vice-president of exploration in a statement.

“Expanding the gold mineralization in the limbs offers the opportunity to increase the contained gold per vertical metre and opens-up considerable volume to develop mineral resources. The under-explored limbs are open in all directions and have been followed from surface down to a 500m depth so far.”

Highlight intercepts included 1.6 metres (m) at 16.5 grams per ton (g/t) gold starting from a depth of 101.8m in one hole. The same hole also hit 1.79 g/t of the yellow metal over 0.6m starting from 64.10m depth. Another hole intersected a length of 0.6m at a grade of 67.7 g/t gold from 163.05m to 163.65m depth.

Mark Ashcroft, Aurelius CEO commented: “The Aureus East system is larger than thought and the potential is ever more exciting, as we have tripled the depth extent and doubled the width in the core of the system in Phase 1, and the gold mineralization continues over 1.5km to the east.

“This unloved, misunderstood and underappreciated asset base, very much reminds me of the original FNX Mining model, which acquired brownfield and exhausted assets, put much needed exploration and technical work into them, and made them a significant success, eventually taking those assets back into production,” he added.

A Phase 2 drill program began in April 2021 and is ongoing, with underground work focused on defining hinge zones and the surface component drilling south limbs and specific hinge zones. In parallel with this drilling, surface mapping and sampling will seek additional new gold veins parallel to the main zone and to the north and south.

The Aureus West deposit lies around 800m south of the western limit of the gold mineralization at Aureus East and the gap between the two deposits is underexplored, the firm highlighted.

Aurelius is focused on advancing its recently acquired and renamed Aureus Gold Properties, including Aureus East and West, the Tangier gold project and the Forest Hill gold project located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It also has two district-scale gold projects in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Ontario, Canada.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors