Nov 9 2010
Aurizon Mines Ltd. has announced the discovery of a major gold-silver-copper-tungsten mineralized zone on the Rex South property in Nunavik, Northern Quebec.
Twenty (20) other significant mineralized prospects have also been identified on the property.
The main mineralized zone, which occurs in an area of significant outcrop exposure, has been recognized over a strike length of 3.3 kilometres and a width of 50 to 200 metres, and is open in all directions. This zone, named the Augossan Zone, was identified during an initial exploration program conducted on the property this summer. The program was funded by Aurizon under the terms of an option agreement with Azimut Exploration Inc. ("Azimut") announced on May 26, 2010. Grab samples returned gold grades up to 23.3 g/t Au, silver grades up to 90.0 g/t Ag, copper grades up to 2.56% Cu and tungsten grades up to 0.93% W. Significant values in bismuth (up to 0.13% Bi), molybdenum (up to 0.11% Mo) and rubidium (up to 0.18% Rb) were also obtained.
- Aurizon considers the Augossan Zone to be a very attractive exploration target. An initial drilling program is planned for 2011. - The Augossan Zone and several other significant prospects represent porphyry-type mineralization. This type of deposit is of considerable economic importance worldwide and includes many examples of world-class mines. Field observations at Rex South this summer indicate a very large exploration target, corresponding to a typical target size for this deposit type. - The identification of porphyry-type mineralization is considered to be an exploration breakthrough for this large region of Northern Quebec.
The results for 1,079 rock grab samples out of a total of 1,162 have been received and are reported below. The results take into account all the analyzed samples, including those from unmineralized or poorly mineralized areas. The same results are subdivided by prospect in the appendix. It should be noted that grab samples are selective by nature and unlikely to represent average grades on the property.
- Gold: 134 samples returned grades higher than 0.1 g/t Au, including 30 samples with grades ranging from 1.0 g/t to 23.3 g/t Au - Silver: 151 samples returned grades higher than 1.0 g/t Ag, including 39 samples with grades ranging from 10.0 g/t to 124.0 g/t Ag - Copper: 125 samples returned grades higher than 0.1 % Cu, including 37 samples with grades ranging from 0.5% to 8.25% Cu - Tungsten: 34 samples returned grades higher than 0.05 % W, including 24 samples with grades ranging from 0.1% to 0.99% W. This is the first time significant grades of tungsten have been found in Nunavik. Several areas also returned significant values for the following commodities: - Bismuth: 39 samples with values ranging from 0.01% to 0.19% Bi - Molybdenum: 30 samples with values ranging from 0.01% to 0.35% Mo - Rubidium: 61 samples with values ranging from 0.05% to 0.18% Rb
Property Summary and Outlook
The Rex South property is located approximately 145 kilometres southeast of the Hudson Bay shoreline and the community of Puvirnituq. The property is 58 kilometres long by 20 kilometres wide in a NW-SE direction. It comprises 1,822 claims covering a surface area of 794 square kilometres, including 143 claims for which registration is pending from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife of Quebec. Aurizon can acquire an initial 50% interest in the project by performing $5.0 million in exploration work over a five (5)-year period, and an additional 15% interest upon delivery of a bankable feasibility study (see press release dated May 26, 2010).
Rex South is located in the Archean Minto Subprovince. The mineralized areas on the property - the Augossan Zone, the Fluo Zone, and the Le Breuil-N, Larissa and Kumo prospects - are considered porphyry-type targets associated with granitic intrusions, dykes and their surrounding host rocks. Other target types considered for the property are sediment-hosted gold-copper and volcanogenic massive sulphides.
Results of a property-scale airborne geophysical survey and a detailed lake-bottom sediment geochemical survey are pending. Azimut and Aurizon will design a comprehensive follow-up exploration program when all pending results are received and interpreted.
Rock samples were assayed by ALS Chemex in Val-d'Or, Quebec, using an ICP method. Azimut was the operator of the program. Field work was carried out by a joint Azimut-Aurizon exploration team under the direction of François Bissonnette, Azimut's senior project geologist. This press release was prepared under the supervision of Martin Demers, P. Geo, Manager, Exploration, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, who has also verified the data disclosed including sampling, analytical and test data.