AuMEGA Announces Major 2025 Exploration Program
AuMEGA Announces Major 2025 Exploration
Program
Key Highlights
EXPANSIVE EXPLORATION PROGRAM:
Major drill programs on highly prospective projects,
with focus on Bunker Hill.
FULLY FUNDED:
Well-supported financing of approximately C$16 million (before costs) raised
in late 2024.
LARGEST DRILL PROGRAM SINCE 2021:
Approximately 13,000 metres of diamond drilling
and 7,000 metres of Reverse Circulation ("RC") Bottom-of-Hole ("BOH") planned.
HIGHLY PROSPECTIVE BUNKER HILL PROJECT:
Approximately 10,000 to 12,000 metres of planned winter drilling in the first quarter of 2025.
Provision for reallocation of capital to allow for follow-up drilling in the second half of 2025.
HERMITAGE GOLD-ANTIMONY PROJECT
: Inaugural drill program with up to 3,000 metres
planned for the second half of 2025.
CAPE RAY GOLD PROJECT
: Planned 5,000 metre drill program on new targets for the second
and third quarters of 2025.
Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 21, 2025) -
AuMEGA Metals Ltd
(
ASX: AAM) (TSXV:
AUM) (OTCQB: AUMMF
) ("AuMEGA" or the "Company") is pleased to outline its fully funded 2025
exploration programs on its highly prospective projects located along the Cape Ray Shear Zone
("CRSZ") and Hermitage Flexure in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
AuMEGA Metal's Managing Director and CEO, Sam Pazuki commented:
"Following our highly successful financing in the fourth quarter of 2024, which was well-supported and
well exceeded our expectations, we have been given a mandate by major global investors to undertake
our largest exploration program since I joined the Company in May 2022.
We are excited for this
opportunity to drill our best targets that we have generated over the last three years.
The team has been
planning this program for months and we will deploy capital on what we believe are the opportunities that
have the potential to unlock significant value for shareholders and drive long-term growth.
"The program will kick off with the largest winter drill program the Company has ever undertaken. Over
the past two years, we have quietly worked up the Bunker Hill Project, which today is the Project with the
highest-grade copper, gold, and silver samples in our portfolio. We are planning to complete 10,000 to
12,000 metres of winter drilling at Bunker Hill and with a clear objective of making a major gold or
copper discovery. We expect the drill programs to commence in early February 2025 depending on
weather conditions. We expect assay results within four to six weeks from when we ship the samples to
the laboratory. Depending on the results of this drilling, we are reserving flexibility in the program to
potentially add follow-up diamond drill metres for Bunker Hill in the second half of 2025.
"In addition to the Bunker Hill program, we are allocating meaningful capital to make new discoveries
and add gold ounces at the Cape Ray Gold Project, the project hosting the Company's current mineral
resources. We will be flying an electromagnetic airborne magnetic survey in February with results to
inform specific drill targets. We expect to commence diamond drilling at Cape Ray in mid-2025.
"Finally, we are planning for inaugural drill program at the Hermitage Gold-Antimony Project located on
the Hermitage Flexure. At the end of 2024, we completed a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey on
Hermitage, the results of which are pending. Hermitage hosts the largest antimony anomaly in
Newfoundland and displays geologically similarities to major gold deposits such as Fosterville (Agnico
Eagle) and Sunday Creek (Southern Cross Gold) in Victoria, Australia.
"We have the largest land package on the largest known gold structure in Newfoundland. We have the
attention of major resource and generalist investors and major gold companies including B2Gold, who
as a strategic investor upsized their investment in the Company as part of our latest financing. Over the
course of 2024, we saw Calibre acquire neighbouring Marathon Gold and continue the construction of
the Valentine Gold Project, which is expected to go into production in the middle of this year. In late
2024, Eldorado Gold also entered the CRSZ through a joint venture over the ground between AuMEGA
and Calibre, supporting the perceived highly prospective nature of the CRSZ.
There is 180 kilometres of
strike between the Cape Ray deposits and Valentine deposits. We hold 110 kilometres of strike and
these areas are characterised by a lack of exploration historically as most of it is concealed by glacial
overburden.
"We have exploration activities nearly all year round and this program is fully funded. The AuMEGA team
is switched on and laser focused on making the next major discovery in Newfoundland."
FIGURE 1: AUMEGA PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS
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Bunker Hill Project
The Bunker Hill Project ("Bunker Hill") is the primary focus of the Company's 2025 exploration program.
The Company's exploration activities from the past two years along with historic results have highlighted
Bunker Hill as a highly prospective opportunity and the top priority in our portfolio.
The Bunker Hill area is located along a unique east-west portion of the CRSZ (Figure 1), a unique
structural orientation compared to nearly all other geological structures in Newfoundland. This structurally
oblique zone is considered potentially favourable for the creation of important dilation zones that have
the potential to allow for the ingress of mineralising fluids and deposit formation. Following the 2024
work completed, the Company confirmed the presence of two large scale anomalous intrusive units,
namely the Cape Ray Fault Gabbro and the Nitty Gritty Granite.
The exploration at Bunker Hill in 2024 involved a limited prospecting and sampling campaign over the
eastern portion of the area. This program returned samples containing high-grade copper and silver
values including 17.2% and 12.4% copper and 19.1 g/t and 16.9 g/t silver
1
. Many of the historic high-
grade copper samples collected at Bunker Hill along with these new high-grade copper samples fall
within, or adjacent to, the Nitty Gritty Granite.
Additionally, the Company completed a high-resolution airborne magnetic geophysical survey across the
full 25-kilometre strike length of Bunker Hill in 2024. The survey results revealed considerable geological
and structural complexity with results aligning well with the major bends and second and third order
structures revealed from the geophysics.
FIGURE 2: BUNKER HILL PROJECT OVERVIEW
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2025 Bunker Hill Exploration Program
Based on historic and recent results from Bunker Hill, two large priority areas of interest have been
identified and these areas are the subject of inaugural drilling in the first quarter of 2025. The drill
program will include a combination of RC BOH and diamond drilling and forms the basis for the most
expansive winter drill program ever carried out by the Company.
The Company plans to drill approximately 1,500 RC holes for an estimated meterage of approximately
7,500 metres. It plans to drill approximately 5,000 metres of diamond drilling that will be focused on
areas of historic outcrops at the Nitty Gritty Granite and Bunker Hill West and follow-up with deep drilling
in areas identified through the RC drilling. The diamond drill rig will follow the RC drill rig.
The Company is currently mobilising equipment along an existing 30-kilometre logging road and a new
15-kilometre long winter access trail to a central fly camp location. Mobilisation of the RC drill rig is
expected to be completed during the last week of January with drilling to commence shortly thereafter.
Diamond drilling is expected to commence 10 to 12 days following the start of RC drilling. The timing
and subsequent productivity of the program will be dependent on weather conditions. All work will be
completed with limited to no helicopter dependency which mitigates downtime related to inclement
weather, which was a major cost incurred during the 2024 winter program.
The results from the winter program will inform AuMEGA's future exploration activities at Bunker Hill,
including potential for additional follow-up diamond drilling in the second half of the year. The Company
will retain the flexibility to reallocate planned drill metres from other projects to Bunker Hill as
prospectivity and priorities dictate.
Cape Ray Gold Project
The second major focus of the Company's 2025 exploration program will be the advancement of new
target areas within the Cape Ray Gold Project ("Cape Ray"), that are outside of the Company's current
mineral resources.
These target areas have been identified through the Company's comprehensive data
analysis and interpretation, and limited exploration work from over the past two years.
Cape Ray hosts the most of the Company's defined mineral resources including the two largest deposits
located at Central Zone and Window Glass Hill.
Table 1 - Central Zone & Window Glass Hill Mineral Resources
2
INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
Location
Cut-Off Grade
(g/t Au)
Tonnes
(Mt)
Grade
(g/t Au)
Contained Metal
(koz Au)
Central Zone Open Pit
0.30
3.20
3.07
316
Central Zone Underground
2.00
0.27
3.50
30
Window Glass Hill
0.30
2.51
1.01
81
INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES
Central Zone Open Pit
0.30
0.96
1.97
61
Central Zone Underground
2.00
0.14
4.38
19
Window Glass Hill
0.30
2.03
0.90
59
2025 Cape Ray Exploration Program
The 2025 exploration activities at Cape Ray will be comprised of an initial Time Domain
ElectroMagnetic System ("TDEM") airborne geophysical survey to be completed in the first quarter. The
objective of this survey is to identify conductive graphitic schists within the resource corridor. Company
analysis indicates a significant coincidence of gold mineralisation associated with graphitic sedimentary
sequences of the Windsor Point Group, the host rocks for the Company's mineral resource. Additionally,
the Company will prospect and sample areas never explored previously and this work is located west
and south of the Big Pond deposit.
Figure 3: CAPE RAY GOLD PROJECT OVERVIEW
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The Company has planned for approximately 5,000 metres of diamond drilling on new Cape Ray targets
including along strike of the Central Zone deposits which has seen very little historic exploration. This
drilling is expected to commence mid-2025. The amount of drilling completed will be based on results
and can be either scaled up or down as required.
Hermitage Gold-Antimony Project
Before the end of 2024, the Company completed a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey over the
entire Hermitage Project ("Hermitage") area. The Company expects the results of this survey in the near
term with detailed interpretation and analysis to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
For 2025, the Company is planning geological mapping and prospecting activities that will be based on
the results of the geophysical survey. The Company is also expecting to deploy an inaugural diamond
drill program at Hermitage to conduct up to 3,000 metres of drilling scheduled for the second half of
2025. The amount of drilling will be based on results and can be scaled up or down and will also be
weather dependent given additional logistical support is required for such activities here.
FIGURE 4: HERMITAGE GOLD-ANTIMONY PROJECT OVERVIEW
3
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Estimated Timelines of Primary Activities
The timetable below outlines the expected timing of the activities described above. As mentioned, the
specific activities and timing of them are subject to weather conditions that may impact the Company's
ability to access specific areas, permitting and actual results of the program. The 2025 program is
expected to be dynamic with capital reallocated as necessary with an aim to maximise shareholder
value.
The Company expects exploration activities for much of 2025 and results of this program to be regular
and constant throughout the year.
Table 2 - Indicative 2025 Exploration Program Timeline
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- ENDS -
This announcement has been authorised for release by the Company's Board of Directors.
To learn more about the Company, please visit
www.aumegametals.com
, or contact:
Sam Pazuki, Managing Director & CEO
Canada Phone:
+1 780 665 4925
Australia Phone:
+61 8 6117 0478
Email:
About the Company
AuMEGA Metals Ltd (
ASX: AAM) (TSXV: AUM) (OTCQB: AUMMF
) is utilising best-in-class
exploration to explore on its district scale land package that spans 110 kilometers along the Cape Ray
Shear Zone, a significant under-explored geological feature recognised as Newfoundland, Canada's
largest identified gold structure. This zone currently hosts Calibre Mining's Valentine Gold Project, which
is the region's largest gold deposit (+5 million ounces), along with AuMEGA's expanding Mineral
Resource.
The Company is supported by a diverse shareholder registry of prominent global institutional investors,
and strategic investment from B2Gold Corp, a leading, multi-million-ounce a year gold producer.
Additionally, AuMEGA holds a 27-kilometer stretch of the highly prospective Hermitage Flexure and has
also secured an Option Agreement for the Blue Cove Copper Project in southeastern Newfoundland,
which exhibits strong potential for copper and other base metals.
AuMEGA's Cape Ray Shear Zone hosts several dozen high potential targets along with its existing
defined gold Mineral Resource of 6.1 million tonnes of ore grading an average of 2.25 g/t, totaling
450,000 ounces of Indicated Resources, and 3.4 million tonnes of ore grading an average of 1.44 g/t,
totaling 160,000 ounces in Inferred Resources
4
.
AuMEGA acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program,
Department of Industry, Energy and Technology, Provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador,
Canada.
Reference to Previous ASX Announcements
In relation to this news release, all data used to assess targets have been previously disclosed by the
Company and referenced in previous JORC Table 1 releases. Please see announcements dated:
Mineral Resource estimate announced on 30 May 2023, Bunker Hill ASX announcements dated 22 April
2022, 23 April 2024, 24 September 2024, 28 May 2024 & 15 October 2024, Malachite ASX
announcements dated 20 April 2022, 8 June 2022, 25 January 2023 & 11 October 2023 and Targeting
Workshop ASX announcement 3 July 2024.
In relation to the Mineral Resource estimate announced on 30 May 2023, the Company confirms that all
material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in that announcement
continue to apply and have not materially changed.
The Company confirms that the form and context in
which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the
original market announcement.
Competent Person's Statements
The information contained in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based upon
information reviewed by Mr. Rick Greenwood, P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration for AuMEGA
Metals. Mr. Greenwood is a Member of the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (PGO) and has
sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in
the JORC Code 2012.
Mr. Greenwood consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters
based upon the information in the form and context in which it appears.
1
News release dated 24 September 2024
2
ASX Announcement 30 May 2023
3
ASX Announcements dated 5 Sep 2024, 12 Nov 2023, 13 Sep 2023, 17 May 2023
4
ASX Announcement 30 May 2023
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