Overview
Aurion Resources Ltd. (Aurion) began operating in Finland in early 2014 and currently holds, or has interests in, mineral tenements that cover approximately 75,000 hectares (ha) of the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt (CLGB) of the Fennoscandian Shield.
Finland opened its border to foreign mining investment in mid-1990s. Prior to this, all exploration and mining activities were conducted by state entities. The country is pro-business and provides extensive public domain mineral exploration data on websites and web-based maps.
Finland consistantly ranks in the top 10 most attractive jurisdictions for mining investment in the world according to the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of mining companies1. With its abundant mineral potential, transparent regulatory guidelines, favourable regime, and well-educated labour market, Finland is an ideal jurisdiction to operate.
The CLGB is considered to be underexplored despite hosting world class gold, magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits and numerous other metal prospects.
Significant CLGB deposits include:
- Kittilä Underground Gold Mine owned by Agnico-Eagle with gold reserves of 4.1 million ounces, with 2021 production guidance 250,000 oz gold at USD$760/oz gold cash cost and 13-year mine life (source: Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.)
- Ikkari Gold deposit owned by Rupert Resources with indicated resources of 46.4 million tonnes grading 2.5 g/t gold for 3.68 million ounces and inferred resources of 11.8 million tonnes grading 1.9 g/t gold for 0.71 million ounces. A recent Preliminary Economic Study shows the project generating an after-tax net present value (NPV) at 5% discount of USD$1.6 billion and after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 46% assuming a USD$1,650/oz gold price. (source: Rupert Resources Ltd.)
- Sakatti Ni-Cu-PGE deposit owned by Anglo American Plc with resources of 44.4 million tonnes grading 1.9% Cu, 0.96% Ni, 0.04% Co, 0.64 g/t Pt, 0.49 g/t Pd and 0.33 g/t Au (source: Anglo American Plc, FEM Mining Conference presentation Nov 3 ,2011).
- Kevitsa Ni-Cu-PGM mine owned by Boliden Mineral AB with Mineral Resources of 157.8 million tonnes grading 0.23% Ni, 0.33% Cu and 0.30 g/t combined Au-Pt-Pd, (source: Boliden Mineral AB).
Aurion’s premier asset is the wholly owned Risti and Launi West Projects, which covers some 25,000 ha of the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt along the Sirkka Shear Zone,a major (> 125 km long) tectono-stratigraphic boundary, hosting many gold prospects and occurrences. Aurion’s tenements span an approximately 80 km stretch of the 125 km Sirkka Shear Zone.
Aurion has made multiple gold discoveries at its Risti Project since 2015 that have been subject to mapping, geophysics, trenching and core drilling. Significant gold discoveries include: Aamurusko, Aamurusko NW (NoNiin), YNOT, Notches, A2 and Risti NW. The Kaaresselkä gold prospect discovered by GTK in the 1980’s also occurs on the Risti Property.
Recently, Aurion announced an option agreement with Kinross for its Launi East Project, which straddles the Sirkka Shear for approximately 5.5 km.
Additionally, a Joint Venture (JV) agreement is in place with B2Gold Corporation (approximately 39,000 ha), as well as owning shares of Strategic Resources Inc., a company that earned-into a 100%-interest on a property prospective for vanadium called Silasselkä.
Paved highways and forestry roads provide excellent access to all Aurion properties. Regional airports at Rovaniemi and Kittilä provide easy access to Helsinki, Finland which connects to major airports worldwide.
(Notes: 1. The Fraser Institute is an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank.)