Aurelius Minerals Drills Highest Grade Interval to Date at Aureus East Gold Project - 2 Metres at 132.4 g/t Gold, Including 1m at 264 g/t Gold and 0.5m at 21 g/t Gold Within Existing Workings

Toronto, ON - Aurelius Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: AUL) (the “Company” or “Aurelius”) is pleased to report additional assay results from underground drilling at its Aureus East Gold Project located in Nova Scotia, Canada. The reported holes were drilled from the second underground drill pad and encountered multiple high-grade gold zones from the start of the holes down to a depth of 472 metres (m) in hole AE-20-007 (see Figure 1).

Highlights from Aureus East drill program

 

Hole AE-20-007 Intersected

 

 

Mark N.J. Ashcroft, P.Eng, President and CEO of Aurelius stated, “We continue to have excellent success at Aureus East intersecting multiple discreet mineral horizons within broadly mineralized zones. Hole AE-20-007 is our most successful hole to date, but notably, all of our Phase 1 drill holes, to date, have intersected gold mineralization. That’s a tremendous achievement considering what limited information we started with, and doing it all in the middle of a travel restricting pandemic. The opportunities we continue to see at this project are significant, especially when you consider we have identified high grade material in the floor of the development drift where Pad 2 was set up, reinforcing the importance of drilling in advancing this project forward on our path to production.”

 

Holes AE-20-007 and AE-20-006 along with previously reported AE-20-004/005 are part of a series of near vertical holes designed to intersect and define the geometry of the stacked and folded gold zones at Aureus East (see Figure 2). Hole AE-20-007 started in December 2020 reaching a depth of 205.4m prior to the holiday break. It was extended in January 2021 to a final depth of 534m, which is approximately 700m below surface. AE-20-007 was drilled along the pathway of the fold axis to the gold horizons and thus intersected multiple zones at the optimal location and orientation to define the high-grade gold mineralization. Hole AE-20-006, the previous hole, was stopped at 231.5m when the hole veered off to the north and out of the favourable horizon. However, it did cut across Gold Zone 9 before doing so and intersected 4.2m grading 2.43 g/t gold including 1m grading 9.21 g/t gold despite intersecting the northern portion of the zone at a sub-optimal angle. The Company has now received all assays drilled in 2020. Our Phase 1 program at Aureus East comprised 12 underground drill holes of approximately 4,725m total drilling and nine surface holes of approximately 3,000m, for a total, combined drilling, of approximately 7,725m. There are samples from five underground holes and the nine surface holes, drilled in 2021, that are currently at the assay facilities and will be released when they become available.

 

Several important aspects of the Aureus East gold zones have been identified in the four holes on the section:

 

 

The Company is currently drilling with two rigs at the Aureus East project. One rig remains underground at Pad 2 and is exploring to the west of hole AE-20-007 targeting the extensions of the zones intersected in hole AE-20-007. The second rig is drilling from surface and targeting favourable southern legs to the gold horizons and specifically Gold Zone 9.

 

All the gold zones at Aureus East are stacked, folded, and dipping to the east. The near-surface zones have been intersected in historical drilling along the trend at least 1km to the east. Aurelius has been focused on the western portion of the system near the underground openings to enhance the interpretation of the system and improve the targeting as it steps out along the trend.

 

Figure 1: Aureus East longitudinal section showing underground development, drill locations and trend of the gold horizons.

 

 

Figure 2. Aureus East cross-section 547,900E looking east at Pad 2 drilling

 

Figure 3: Core photo showing multiple gold horizons in hole AE-20-007, from 321.0m-340.7m.

 

 

Aureus West Update

 

The Company has completed Phase One drilling at Aureus West and is awaiting further assays before initiating a second phase. Ten holes have been completed to date. Assays have been released for six holes, and the balance of samples have been delivered to the assay facilities. Results will be released as they become available.

 

About Aurelius

 

Aurelius is a well-positioned gold exploration company focused on advancing its recently acquired and renamed Aureus Gold Properties, including Aureus East and West, the Tangier Gold Project and the Forest Hill Gold Project located in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Aurelius is also focused on advancing two district-scale gold projects in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Ontario, Canada, one of the world’s most prolific mining districts; the 968-hectare Mikwam Property, in the Burntbush area on the Casa Berardi trend and the 12,425-hectare Lipton Property, on the Lower Detour Trend.

 

The Company has a management team with experience in all facets of the mineral exploration and mining industry who will be considering additional acquisitions of advanced staged opportunities in Nova Scotia, the Abitibi and other proven mining districts.