Vancouver — Encouraging results from last year’s drilling on the Midrim and Foy properties have prompted junior
The Midrim property is 20 km northeast of Ville-Marie, Que. Previous results from the first five holes of an initial 16-hole drill program returned promising grades.
Holes 1 and 5 intercepted well-mineralized gabbroic rocks containing disseminated and massive sulphides. Intersections in hole 1 included 19.7 metres of 2.99% copper, 1.85% nickel and 0.07% cobalt, plus 0.97 gram platinum, 1.77 grams palladium and 0.48 gram gold per tonne. High-grade intersections in hole 5 included 6.3 metres of 4.74% copper, 4.94% nickel, 0.11% cobalt, 1.24 grams platinum, 4.71 grams palladium and 0.17 gram gold.
The 600-ha Midrim property, though drilled in the 1960s, was never systematically explored for platinum and palladium. The property includes the Midrim, Midrim West and Lac Croche nickel/ copper/platinum-group-metal prospects.
Mineralization at the Midrim prospect consists of disseminated-to-massive sulphides enriched in platinum group metals hosted by gabbroic sills intruded into a mainly felsic volcanic assemblage in the westernmost part of the Belleterre-Angliers greenstone belt. The main zone at Midrim extends for a strike length of 230 metres, and seven previous drill intercepts averaged 1.67% copper and 1.21% nickel over 13.6 metres.
The junior plans to drill 10,000 metres this winter, using one rig to define resources and two rigs to test regional prospects and geophysical anomalies.
Aurora can earn an initial 70% interest by spending $1.2 million on exploration, paying $200,000 in cash and issuing $200,000 worth of shares over three years.
Meanwhile, Aurora has resumed drilling at the Foy nickel-copper-platinum-palladium property, near Sudbury, Ont. A recent airborne geophysical survey identified high-priority anomalies, which prompted the junior to expand its drilling to 8,000 metres, compared with the originally budgeted 5,000 metres. The program is testing a 500-metre strike length of anomalous mineralization associated with a radial feature known as the Foy Offset Dyke. Three holes are to be drilled to the 800-metre mark and surveyed using down-hole electromagnetic geophysics to identify the possibility of a more deeply seated deposit.
Prior to the year-end break, hole 1 and part of hole 2 were completed. These holes reportedly intersected disseminated and massive sulphides. Mineralization consists of chalcopyrite, pentlandite and pyrrhotite hosted in a breccia containing clasts of norite and quartz diorite. Assays are still pending. Aurora plans to mobilize a second rig to test airborne geophysical anomalies outlined last year.
At the nearby Falconbridge Township Footwall project, the junior intends to launch a ground geophysical program over newly identified airborne anomalies. The drilling of high-priority targets is expected to begin in February.
The junior is earning a 60% stake in both the Foy and Footwall projects from
At the company’s wholly owned Lansdowne House project, in Ontario, an airborne geophysical survey is slated to begin in late January. The Lansdowne House area is associated with a mafic-to-ultramafic layered complex that extends for about 20 km in strike length. Outcrop in the area is poor; however, limited rock-sampling by the company indicates that the complex contains anomalous amounts of platinum group metals. The airborne survey will be flown at tightly spaced 100-metre lines and is intended to define electromagnetic conductors, as well as delineate the basal portion of the complex. Aurora believes the property has the potential to contain “Stillwater-type” platinum group mineralization.
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