• New gold intercepts at the Helmi Discovery include:
  • 0.82 g/t Au over 108.10 m
  • 1.10 g/t Au over 35.20 m
  • 1.29 g/t Au over 22.15 m
• Gold mineralization extended to at least 500 m depth from surface
• 11,000 m drilling program ongoing

Aurion Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: AU) (OTCQX: AIRRF) reports results for the first three holes from the summer-fall 2022 drilling program at the Helmi Discovery on the Aurion-B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO) Joint Venture, operated by B2Gold, in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt in northern Finland.

Summary

• New gold intercepts at the Helmi Discovery include:
  • 0.82 g/t Au over 108.10 m from 286.30 m, including 1.55 g/t Au over 16.00 m (IKK22038)
  • 1.10 g/t Au over 35.20 m from 495.10 m (IKK22038)
  • 1.29 g/t Au over 22.15 m from 258.75 m (IKK22036)
• Mineralization extends to at least 500 m depth from surface
  • The mineralization remains open along strike and at depth
• 11,000 m drilling program ongoing
  • Approximately 11,000 m of drilling planned for second half of 2022
  • Drilling ongoing with two rigs; one focusing on the Helmi area and one testing regional targets

Comments

“The scale of the mineralized system at Helmi is expanding favorably. Gold mineralization has now been intersected along a strike length of over 1.3 km and at least to 500 m depth from surface.” Commented Aurion’s CEO, Matti Talikka. “The current 11,000 m drilling program is progressing well, with two drill rigs turning on the JV property, targeting the Helmi Discovery and regional targets identified from the geophysical and geochemical surveys.”

Figures associated with this release can be found at the following link:

https://aurionresources.com/site/assets/files/1452/nr22-13figures.pdf

Helmi Discovery

The Helmi Discovery is located approximately 1.3 km west of Rupert Resources’ 3.95-million-ounce Ikkari Discovery. The Helmi area covers approximately 1.5 km strike length of the 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 drilling has returned a number of significant intercepts including 2.05 g/t Au over 77.50 m, 1.84 g/t Au over 52.40 m, 2.44 g/t Au over 43.45 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 39.00 m, 1.46 g/t Au over 28.70 m , 1.45 g/t Au over 35.50 m, 1.11 g/t Au over 45.80 m and 2.05 g/t Au over 18.30 m. Gold mineralization at Helmi has been intersected over 1 km strike length and the mineralized zones remain open along strike and at depth.

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

Summer-fall 2022 drill program

The summer-fall drill program is a follow-up to the successful winter-spring drill program at Helmi. The approximately 11,000 m program, commenced in June, is designed to further test the strike and depth extensions of the mineralized zones at Helmi and regional targets identified from the geophysical and geochemical surveys.

This press release contains results for three holes (1,460.30 m) that targeted the Helmi Discovery. The drill results returned the widest interval of gold mineralization to date at Helmi and extended the mineralized envelope to at least 500 m depth from surface.

Table 1: Aurion-B2Gold JV Drilling Summary

Drill hole IKK22036 was collared in the eastern part of Helmi, 90 m to the north from IKK21005 (1.33 g/t Au over 9.15 m) and was drilled from north to south. IKK22036 intersected four mineralized intervals, 1.29 g/t Au over 22.15 m from 258.75 m, 1.09 g/t Au over 3.50 m from 288.20 m, 0.74 g/t Au over 9.65 m from 317.90 m and 3.95 g/t Au over 2.15 m from 337.40 m.

Drill hole IKK22037 was collared from the same site as IKK22036 and was drilled from north to south as an undercut hole to IKK22036. IKK22037 did not intersect significant mineralization.

Drill hole IKK22038 was collared in the eastern part of Helmi, 90 m to the north from IKK22032 (1.06 g/t Au over 4.83 m) and was drilled from north to south. IKK22038 intersected numerous mineralized intervals with the widest interval returning 0.82 g/t Au over 108.10 m from 286.30 m including 1.55 g/t Au over 16.00 m from 344.60 m. The second widest interval returned 1.10 g/t Au over 35.20 m from 495.10 m including 2.00 g/t Au over 6.85 m from 505.70 m and 3.03 g/t Au over 2.55 m from 518.30 m. Gold mineralization is hosted by mafic-ultramafic and sedimentary rocks. Notably, the bulk of the mineralization lies within a broader zone which assays 0.63 g/t Au over 264.60 m from 286.30 m. The interpretation of the geological information suggests that the drill hole has intersected the periphery of a steeply south-dipping mineralized lens with true width ranging from 30 to 55 m. This hole extended the mineralization to a depth of at least 500 m from surface and 600 m down plunge along an interpreted mineralized envelope.

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. is a well-funded, Canadian exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the OTCQX Best Market. 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.