Aurion-B2Gold JV Intersects Further Gold Mineralization at Helmi and Identifies New Zones of Gold Mineralization to the Northwest

• New gold intercepts at the Helmi Discovery include:
• 1.46 g/t Au over 33.00 m
• 2.11 g/t Au over 21.70 m
• 1.40 g/t Au over 9.75 m
• 2.82 g/t Au over 4.80 m
• Scout drilling intersects new zones of gold mineralization west-northwest of Helmi, including 5.70 g/t Au over 2.00 m and 1.64 g/t Au over 5.20 m
• $3.5 million increase to JV Exploration budget for 2022, total budget $13.5 million
• Summer drilling program ongoing

ST. JOHN'S, NL, July 28, 2022 /CNW/ -  Aurion Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: AU) (OTCQX: AIRRF) ("Aurion" or the "Company") reports results for the final 12 holes from the winter 2022 drilling program, including 6 drilled at the Helmi Discovery and 6 scout holes testing selected regional targets on the Aurion-B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) ("B2Gold") Joint Venture ("JV"), operated by B2Gold, in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt in northern Finland.

Summary

• New gold intercepts at the Helmi Discovery include:
• 1.46 g/t Au over 33.00 m from 175.00 m and 2.11 g/t Au over 21.70 m from 216.00 m (IKK22034)
• 1.40 g/t Au over 9.75 m from 147.25 m and 2.82 g/t Au over 4.80 m from 184.35 m (IKK22033)
• Mineralization extended along strike to the west and up and down dip
• Significant gold mineralization encountered in mafic-ultramafic and sedimentary rocks across the domain boundary
• Scout drilling intersects new zones of gold mineralization
• 5.70 g/t Au over 2.00 m from 20.10 m (KUE22017)
• 1.64 g/t Au over 5.20 m from 192.80 m (KUE22013)
• New zones of gold mineralization located 950 to 1,250 m west-northwest of the Helmi Discovery
• $3.5 million increase to JV Exploration budget for 2022, total budget $13.5 million
• A total of 17,000 m of drilling (inclusive 6,552.40 m drilled) planned for 2022
• Summer drilling program ongoing

Comments

"The winter drilling program was highly successful with gold mineralization intersected in 17 out of 18 holes drilled along the Helmi structural trend and in 5 out of 11 scout holes testing regional targets. These results extended the mineralized envelopes at Helmi and identified several new zones of gold mineralization approximately 1 km west-northwest of Helmi." Commented Matti Talikka, Aurion's CEO. "In addition, recently intersected sediment hosted gold mineralization with significant width and grade may represent a new and important dimension to the already impressive discovery at Helmi. Considering the scale of the opportunity, the JV has increased the exploration budget for 2022 to CAN$13.5 million including 17,000 m of drilling. The ongoing summer drilling program will aim to further extend the mineralized footprint at Helmi as well as continue to test regional targets along the highly prospective 8 km long structural trend."

Figures associated with this release can be found at the following link: https://aurionresources.com/site/assets/files/1444/aunr22-10figures.pdf.

Winter 2022 drill program at Helmi

The Helmi Discovery is located approximately 1.3 km west of Rupert Resources' 3.95-million-ounce Ikkari Discovery, along 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, totaling 5,201.5 m, which returned a number of significant intercepts including 1.84 g/t Au over 52.40 m, 1.73 g/t Au over 44.95 m, 1.42 g/t Au over 30.70 m, 1.42 g/t Au over 30.60 m, 1.46 g/t Au over 28.70 m and 1.11 g/t Au over 45.80 m.

Mineralization at Helmi is mainly hosted by strongly deformed and altered, quartz-carbonate veined ultramafic rocks and mafic tuffs with fine grained disseminated and veinlet pyrite and local disseminated and veinlet magnetite. Gold mineralization has also been encountered in sedimentary rocks across the domain boundary.

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.

A total of 29 holes, 6,552.40 m, were drilled at Helmi and nearby target areas from February to April 2022. The program was designed to test the continuity of gold mineralization encountered in the maiden drill program as well as test additional targets to the north and northwest of the Helmi Discovery, identified by geophysics and base of till sampling. The winter drilling program returned a number of intercepts of wide and consistent gold mineralization including 2.05 g/t Au over 77.50 m, 2.44 g/t over 43.45 m, 1.46 g/t Au over 39.00 m, 1.45 g/t over 35.50 m, 2.05 g/t over 18.30m, and 1.42 g/t over 15.90 m.

This press release contains results for 6 holes (1,265.10 m) that targeted the Helmi Discovery and 6 scout holes (1,346.00 m) that tested regional targets.

At Helmi, the mineralization was extended along strike to the west and up and down dip. Scout drilling intersected new zones of gold mineralization approximately 950 to 1,250 m west-northwest of Helmi.

Table 1: Aurion-B2Gold JV Drilling Summary

Aurion-B2Gold JV Drilling Result Summary
Hole ID	Azimuth	Dip	From (m)	To (m)	Width (m)	Au (g/t)	Target Area / Notes
IKK22027	159.5	-50.0	51.00	56.00	5.00	0.59	Helmi
IKK22028	159.5	-50.0	NSV				Scout
IKK22031	159.5	-55.0	160.50	172.60	12.10	0.98	Helmi
and			203.10	216.70	13.60	0.45
IKK22032	159.5	-50.0	44.00	44.80	0.80	1.07	Helmi
and			64.30	65.25	0.95	1.50
and			69.50	73.10	3.60	1.05
and			87.80	89.00	1.20	1.10
and			104.90	109.73	4.83	1.06
and			134.10	135.55	1.45	2.87
IKK22033	159.5	-60.0	147.25	157.00	9.75	1.40	Helmi
and			176.30	176.70	0.40	3.10
and			184.35	189.15	4.80	2.82
incl.			184.35	184.80	0.45	10.60
and			194.70	197.55	2.85	1.49
IKK22034	159.5	-50.0	175.00	208.00	33.00	1.46	Helmi
incl.			195.15	208.00	12.85	3.19
incl.			206.95	208.00	1.05	23.20
and			216.00	237.70	21.70	2.11
incl.			226.00	227.65	1.65	11.49
IKK22035	159.5	-55.0	166.65	167.10	0.45	1.15	Helmi
and			174.80	177.10	2.30	0.51
KUE22013	159.5	-50.0	192.80	198.00	5.20	1.64	Scout
incl.			194.15	195.55	1.40	4.90
and			219.65	221.30	1.65	2.16
and			244.35	248.30	3.95	1.10
KUE22014	210.0	-50.0	48.35	49.25	0.90	1.35	Scout
and			139.00	139.50	0.50	2.77
and			173.40	174.50	1.10	2.03
KUE22017	159.5	-50.0	20.10	22.10	2.00	5.70	Scout
incl.			20.10	21.50	1.40	7.93
KUE22018	340.0	-50.0	NSV				Scout
KUE22019	189.5	-50.0	120.75	122.35	1.60	0.85	Scout
and			213.00	215.80	2.80	2.48
incl.			214.40	215.80	1.40	3.67
All widths are core widths.  True width is not known at this time. All assay values are uncut.
NSV - no significant values

Drill hole IKK22027 was collared at the eastern end of Helmi, 110 m to the north from IKK21014 (1.78 g/t Au over 10.85 m) and was drilled from north to south. IKK22027 intersected a mineralized interval of 0.59 g/t Au over 5.00 m from 51.00 m.

Scout drill hole IKK22028 was collared 420 m to the northwest of Helmi and was drilled from north to south. IKK22028 did not intersect significant gold mineralization.

Drill hole IKK22031 was collared 80 m to the west from IKK22025 (1.46 g/t Au over 39.00 m) and was drilled from north to south. IKK22031 intersected two wide mineralized intervals of 0.98 g/t Au over 12.10 m from 160.50 m and 0.45 g/t Au over 13.60 m from 203.10 m. These intervals are westward extensions to the previously defined Helmi mineralization.

Drill hole IKK22032 was collared 70 m to the east from IKK22025 (1.46 g/t Au over 39.00 m) and was drilled from north to south. IKK22032 intersected six mineralized intervals of ≥1 g/t Au between 44.00 and 135.55 m with a high of 1.06 g/t Au over 4.83 m from 104.90 m.

Drill hole IKK22033 was collared 170 m to the north from IKK21012 (0.45 g/t Au over 11.65 m) as a scissor hole and was drilled from north to south. Similar to IKK21012, IKK22033 intersected several mineralized intervals including 1.40 g/t Au over 9.75 m from 147.25 m and 2.82 g/t Au over 4.80 m from 184.35 m including 10.60 g/t Au over 0.45 m.

Drill hole IKK22034 was collared 60 m to the north from IKK22025 (1.46 g/t Au over 39.00 m) as an undercut hole and was drilled from north to south. IKK22034 intersected two significant mineralized intervals of 1.46 g/t Au over 33.00 m from 175.00 m including 3.19 g/t Au over 12.85 m and 2.11 g/t Au over 21.70 m from 216.00 m including 11.49 g/t Au over 1.65 m. These intervals are approximately 65 m down-dip extensions to the mineralization intersected in IKK22025. Notably, the lower mineralized zone occurs across the contact between ultramafic rocks and Kumpu Group sediments with significant mineralization hosted in the sediments.

Drill hole IKK22035 was collared 70 m to the north from IKK21013 (3.22 g/t Au over 5.00 m) as a scissor hole and was drilled from north to south. Similar to IKK21013, IKK22035 intersected two mineralized intervals including 1.15 g/t Au over 0.45 m from 166.65 m and 0.51 g/t Au over 2.30 m from 174.80 m.

Scout drill hole KUE22013 was collared approximately 1,080 m to the northwest of the Helmi Discovery and was drilled from north to south. KUE22013 intersected three mineralized intervals, 1.64 g/t Au over 5.20 m from 192.80 m including 4.90 g/t Au over 1.40 m, 2.16 g/t Au over 1.65 m from 219.65 m and 1.10 g/t Au over 3.95 m from 244.35 m.

Scout drill hole KUE22014 was collared approximately 1,130 m to the west-northwest of the Helmi Discovery and was drilled to the southwest. KUE22014 intersected three mineralized intervals, 1.35 g/t Au over 0.90 m from 48.35 m, 2.77 g/t Au over 0.50 m from 139.00 m and 2.03 g/t Au over 1.10 m from 173.40 m.

Scout drill hole KUE22017 was collared from the same site as KUE22014 and drilled from north to south. KUE22017 intersected a mineralized interval of 5.70 g/t Au over 2.00 m from 20.10 m including 7.93 g/t Au over 1.40 m.

Scout drill hole KUE22018 was collared approximately 1,220 m to the northwest of the Helmi Discovery and was drilled from south to north. KUE22018 did not intersect significant mineralization.

Scout drill hole KUE22019 was collared approximately 1,260 m to the west-northwest of the Helmi Discovery and was drilled from north to south. KUE22019 intersected two mineralized intervals, 0.85 g/t Au over 1.60 m from 120.75 m and 2.48 g/t Au over 2.80 m from 213.00 m including 3.67 g/t Au over 1.40 m.

Background

The JV (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 Au over 11.0 m), Soretiavuoma (48 g/t Au over 1.1 m), Sinermä (0.54 g/t Au over 40.2 m), Kiekerömaa (5.8 g/t Au over 5.0 m) and Kettukuusikko (4.33 g/t Au over 20.4 m).

B2Gold is the operator of the JV. The expanded budget for 2022 is approximately CAN$13.5 million (from CAN$10.0 million) and includes approximately 17,000 m 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.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

All samples were delivered to ALS preparation facility in Sodankylä, Finland where sample preparation work was completed. Analytical work for these samples was completed at ALS facilities in Loughrea, Co. Galway, Ireland and Rosia Montana, Romania. ALS is an internationally accredited lab and are ISO compliant (ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC 17025:2017). Samples were analyzed for gold using the Au-AA26 procedure (50 g fire assay with AAS finish: Lower Detection Limit ("LDL") 0.01 g/t gold; Upper Detection Limit ("UDL") – 100 g/t gold). B2Gold has an internal QA/QC program involving the insertion of certified standards and blanks into the sample stream. ALS has its own QA/QC protocol using standards, blanks and duplicates.

This news release has been reviewed by Andrew Hussey, P.Geo., GIS Geologist and Database Manager for Aurion Resources, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. For more information on these projects please visit our website at www.aurionresources.com.

About Aurion Resources Ltd.

Aurion Resources Ltd. (Aurion) is a well-funded, Canadian exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: AU) and the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX: AIRRF). Aurion's strategy is to generate or acquire early-stage precious metals exploration opportunities and advance them through direct exploration by our experienced team or by business partnerships and joint venture arrangements. Aurion's current focus is exploring on its Flagship Risti and Launi projects, as well as advancing its joint venture properties with B2Gold and Kinross in Finland.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Matti Talikka, CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 

SOURCE Aurion Resources Ltd.

Mark Santarossa, Vice President, Corporate Development, Cell: [phone], Email: [email protected]