Mr. Peter Cashin reports
AURIGINAL MOBILIZES SECOND DRILL RIG TO ROGER AND PLANS $2.0 MILLION PHASE 2 DEFINITION DRILL PROGRAM FOR COMPLETION BY YEAR-END
Auriginal Mining Corp. has mobilized a second drill to the Roger project to fast-track its phase 1 drill program and prepare for definition drilling of the newly expanded porphyry copper-gold-mineralized system and to better define VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) mineralization intersected to date. Planning for the $2-million phase 2 program will commence upon receipt of all assay results from the current program and is anticipated to start in late summer or early fall.
Highlights:
- An additional $2-million, 6,000-metre definition drilling program has been budgeted for late summer or fall. Planning for the expanded program will commence upon completion of the phase 1 program and receipt of the remaining assay results.
- Drilling to date has shown good depth and strike continuity of the Roger porphyry copper-gold system as well as extensions to the interpreted VMS horizon.
- A second drill has been mobilized to the property to fast-track the current program and to test the southwestern continuation of the Roger porphyry copper-gold resource above the 500-metre vertical level and to test the continuity of the VMS horizon.
- Strong assays of 1.55 grams per tonne gold, 41.2 grams per tonne silver and 0.18 per cent copper over 4.2 metres and 1.64 g/t Au, 11.7 g/t Ag, 0.29 per cent Cu and 0.11 per cent zinc over 4.0 m were returned from the VMS intersections so far.
- Multiple gold intersections have so far been returned from the porphyry zone, the best of which returned 4.01 g/t Au over 2.8 m, including 5.39 g/t over 1.5 m, 32.6 g/t Au over 1.2 m and 12.2 g/t over 1.1 m.
"Drilling to date has supported our view of an expanded porphyry copper-gold resource at Roger below the deepest historical drilling on the property and has confirmed the presence of an overlying gold-rich VMS horizon," said Peter Cashin, Auriginal's chief executive officer. "Our work has shown good porphyry-style mineralization characteristic of the historical copper-goldr esource in all holes, which remains open below and to the southwest of the previous limits of Roger zone. Given success of our phase 1 drilling at Roger, an additional $2-million has been allocated to undertake definition drilling to expand the historical resource on the property to the inferred category. In addition, we intend to reassess the historical resource estimate published in 2018 in consideration of the significant increases we have seen in commodity prices. The expanded phase 2 program will start later this summer or early fall upon receipt and compilation all data from this summer's work. The Auriginal team firmly believes that the best part of the Roger story is yet to come."
Drill program rationale and results
The Roger deposit has long been viewed as a porphyry-style gold-copper system. Auriginal's reinterpretation, based on relogging, resampling, geochemistry and age dating, suggested that the historical gold-copper deposit sits below an overlying gold-rich VMS system -- an interpretation the current drill program has now confirmed. To date, drilling has also confirmed continuity of the Roger porphyry along strike to the southwest by at least 750 m and down to a vertical depth of 525 m.
A continuous, sulphide-bearing marker horizon had previously been defined for at least 1.5 kilometres, hosted in altered felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks typical of VMS environments. Geochemical and geological signatures show strong similarities to Agnico Eagle's LaRonde 20N massive sulphide deposit, reinforcing the potential for a second high-grade base metal deposit at above and to the south of the Roger copper-gold zone. Digital modelling of the Roger zone shows the historical resource to be open at depth and along strike and has, thus far, been confirmed by the drilling program.
Expanded phase 2 definition drilling program
The company intends to update the historical mineral resource estimate on the Roger zone to reflect the significantly higher commodity prices since the 2018 estimate and to incorporate the depth and strike extensions of the porphyry zone defined by 2026 drilling. At the same time, Auriginal will continue to test for further economic zones and vector toward the core of the VMS system. Once the current program is complete and all results have been compiled and integrated, the company will return to Roger later this summer or fall with a fully financed follow-up program backed by an additional $2-million in budget.
About Auriginal Mining Corp.
Auriginal is a Quebec-focused copper and gold company with one of the province's largest and most diversified exploration portfolios. Its 100-per-cent-owned flagship Roger project, located in the Chibougamau district, hosts a known gold-copper deposit with strong potential to host volcanic-hosted polymetallic massive sulphide deposits. With a diversified pipeline of greenfield projects across Quebec's best-known mining regions and backed by the Ore Group's proven exploration and capital markets team, Auriginal has a clear focus on discovery and growth for copper, zinc and gold. The company is well positioned to immediately execute an aggressive exploration and acquisition strategy and attract broader market attention.
Qualified person statement
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Andre Liboiron, Geo (No. 617), an independent consultant to Auriginal Mining and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.
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