Vior’s Maiden Drill Program Confirms High-Grade Gold Veins On The Historic Belleterre Mine Trend
Montreal, Canada, April 6, 2022 – Vior Inc. (“Vior” or the “Corporation”), (TSX-V: VIO, OTC: VIORF and FRANKFURT: VL51) is pleased to announce the results of its Phase I (December 2021) drill program at its district-scale Belleterre gold (“Au”) project (“Belleterre” or “Project”) in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec (Figure 1). The objective of the Phase I program was to test the continuity of multiple gold-bearing veins at depth and better define the geological framework of the historic Belleterre mine trend, which has seen limited historic drilling below 200 metres (“m”) vertical depths. Drilling successfully intersected the down-dip projections of multiple historically mineralized vein structures including a highlight intercept of 55.2 grams per tonne (“g/t”) Au over 0.5 m in drill hole BV21-001. Drilling also intersected other previously unrecognized gold-bearing quartz veins and structures with additional details of the program highlighted below.
The Corporation’s 4,000 m Phase II drill program is currently in-progress (see March 3, 2022 press release HERE) and comprises a mix of confirmation and step-out drilling along the projected extensions of multiple past producing gold bearing vein structures of the historic Belleterre gold mine.
Mark Fedosiewich, Vior’s President and CEO commented, “Five core holes were drilled in Vior’s Phase I maiden drill program, four of them returned gold intercepts including two narrow high-grade gold and three thick intercepts of lower-grade gold-bearing quartz veins. Our team is very encouraged by the strength of the gold system, which not only shows exceptional continuity over 350 meters down-dip of the historic Aubelle Mineralized Zone (AMZ) and the Conway vein, but also suggests these zones are increasing in thickness with depth. This initial drill program was a big step towards de-risking the Belleterre gold project, and the structural data obtained from this program will be critical in helping our team vector towards higher-grade vein shoots.”
Mr. Fedosiewich continues, “In addition, we are very encouraged by the progress of our ongoing Phase II drill program, where we are focused on validating high-grade gold feeder structures surrounding the historic Belleterre gold mine. Several veins on the 12W horizon have been intersected with select samples being rushed for assay. We look forward to these results in the coming weeks and months.”
Phase I Highlights:
- Bonanza grade intercept of 55.2 g/t Au over 0.5 m (BV 21-001, Figure 2)
- Two principal styles of vein mineralisation have been recognised:
- Strongly schistose basalt, altered in chlorite, biotite, carbonate and quartz, locally brecciated and intruded by lamprophyre & quartz (QZ) veining containing 3-20% pyrite (“PY”)-pyrrhotite(“PO”) with trace sphalerite(“SP”) chalchopyrite (“CP”) and;
- QZ vein injected in a chloritized gabbro, mineralized by stringer and blebs of PY (3-5%), CP (3%), SP (1%) and galena (“GN”) (1%)
- Drilling validated gold continuity at depth on two of the main structures hosting the AMZ and the Conway vein, with thickness of mineralized envelopes appearing to increase with depth (Figure 2 & 3). The intersection of these ore shoots remains open in all directions.
- Identification of new mineralized structures including a parallel vein system located between the AMZ and Conway zone which returned low-grade gold over 12.5 m including 1.16 g/t Au over 3 m. (Figure 2 & 3)
This news release comprises the results of five (5) holes completed in the Phase I drill program totalling over 3,857 m (Figure 1 and Table 1 & 2). Phase I results were very encouraging with evidence of high-grade gold grading up to 55.2 g/t Au over 0.5 m, as well as wider, lower-grade intercepts ranging from 8.0 to 18.5 m at an average vertical depth of 500 m. Vior’s technical team is especially encouraged by the wider mineralized intercepts, which suggest the gold-bearing structures may be getting thicker at depth. Vein-hosted gold deposits of the Abitibi greenstone belt typically exhibit exceptional vertical continuity with many deposits extending over 1,000+ m down-dip. Meanwhile, the Belleterre district is highly underexplored with historical drilling typically restricted to 100-300 m from surface, which highlights the untapped exploration potential at depth across the district.
Figure 1: Plan view map showing the Belleterre project as well as Phase I drill holes and highlight assay results.
Figure 2: Isometric cross-section A-A’ of the Aubelle Mineralized Zone (AMZ) and the Conway vein showing high-grade gold intercepts in BV 21-001.
Figure 3: Schematic cross-section B-B’ of the AMZ & Conway vein system.
Figure 4: Drill core photo’s showing mineralization and gold distribution in drill hole BV21-002.
New Technical Advisor
Vior is pleased to announce that Chad Peters, P.Geo., B.Sc.in Geology and Earth Sciences, has joined Vior as a Technical Advisor and will assist Vior’s highly experienced technical and management teams in advancing the Corporation’s portfolio of projects, with the priority being on the flagship Belleterre project. Mr. Peters has significant exploration and underground mining experience in orogenic vein-hosted deposits in Archean Greenstone belts, similar to the geology at Belleterre. Prior to co-founding Ridgeline Minerals in 2018, Mr. Peters was a managing member of the Premier Gold Mines Ltd. exploration team, responsible for the discovery of 10+ Moz of gold, including two large deposits in Canada, with the largest being the 8+ Moz Hardrock Project discovery (now the Greenstone Project) owned by Equinox Gold Corp. Mark Fedosiewich, President & CEO of Vior welcomes Chad to the team in Vior’s pursuit of the next significant gold discovery in Quebec.
The Belleterre Project
The property is located near the town of Belleterre in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, 95 km south of Rouyn-Noranda, QC. The property consists of 551 claims over 30,258 hectares (302.6 sq km), forming a district-scale exploration package that extends over a strike length of 37 km. The Project includes the option to acquire the former high-grade Belleterre Gold Mine that produced over 750,000 oz. gold at 10.73 grams per tonne and 95,000 oz silver (Ag) at 1.73 g/t between 1936 and 1959 (Source: Sigeom MERN). The property has been under-explored for the past 60 years and has never been the subject of such significant consolidation until now. More on Belleterre can be found HERE.