St-Georges Eco-Mining (CSE:SX) partner Aurania Resources (TSX-V:ARU) has completed its 2026 drill program at the Thormódsdalur Gold-Silver Project in Iceland.
The program consisted of eight diamond drill holes totalling 780.7m.
The core recovery is at or close to 100% in most cases, a significant improvement on historical drilling, according to Aurania.
“Previous drilling programs reported core recoveries of approximately 50% or less, with fine material lost during drilling, particularly in the mineralised zones,” Aurania CEO Keith Barron says.
Initial observations by Aurania’s team show that the mineralised textures in every hole are consistent with an epithermal gold-silver system.
Much of the vein material has been fragmented by later fault movement, making improved core recovery particularly relevant to obtaining representative samples, Aurania says, adding that most holes were drilled to twin historical ones.
The gold and silver grades remain subject to assay results, which the company expects in November 2026.
Aurania is currently advancing Thormódsdalur under an option agreement announced in April 2026.
Under the agreement, both Aurania and St-Georges would collaborate on phased exploration aimed at advancing the project toward an initial modern mineral resource.
Aurania can earn an initial 70% interest in the project by spending US$5 million ($7.16 million) on exploration over four years.
After that, St-Georges can choose between maintaining a 30% interest through a joint venture or selling its interest to retain a net smelter return royalty of up to 3%. The latter requires Aurania to spend another US$2 million on exploration to obtain full ownership.
St-Georges Eco-Mining develops new technologies and holds a diversified portfolio of assets and patent-pending intellectual property within multiple subsidiaries.
Write to Jackson Chen at Mining.com.au
Main Image: Aurania Resources
