The 1,440-ha property consists of 36 claims, 15 of which are under option by Aurora. The remainder are wholly owned by the junior. According to an option agreement signed in June with a numbered Quebec company, Aurora stands to earn a 75% interest in the property in return for: $200,000 in cash over a three year period; $200,000 in work commitments during the first year; and $200,000 worth of shares over three years.
The drilling will test the Main Midrim, Midrim West and Lac Croche sulphide zones. Nickel, copper, and platinum-group metals are hosted in several sub-parallel gabbro sills, as well as in shear zones in felsic volcanics that are confined in an east-west-trending structural corridor.
Outcrop at the Midrim area is described as poor, and the limits of mineralization are still unknown.
Based on previous drilling and recent stripping, the Main, West and Lac Croche zones have a combined strike length of 450 metres. Mineralization is open along strike and has apparently been displaced by north-south faults.
Stripping has uncovered several new zones of mineralization. Grab sample assay results yielded values ranging from 0.14% to 6.28% nickel, 0.14-4.56% copper, 0.17-2.8 grams palladium and 0.10-0.78 gram platinum per tonne. Trenching and sampling were recently completed, results from which are pending. Copper-nickel and PGM mineralization is hosted in medium-to-fine-grained gabbros, and ranges from disseminated to massive in texture. The main sulphides include chalcopyrite, millerite, pyrrhotite, pentlandite and pyrite.
In the 1960s, drilling beside the property intersected nickel-copper mineralization; it was only selectively analyzed for PGMs.
Drill intersections reported by the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources included:
– 15 metres grading 1.49% nickel, 2.09% copper, 1.68 grams palladium and 0.72 gram platinum; and
– 21.64 metres grading 1.5% nickel and 1.78% copper (not analyzed for PGMs).
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