AEX Gold applies for new licence in Greenland's south

Greenland-focussed AEX Gold has applied for a new exploration licence in the Kobberminebugt region of south Greenland, it announced on Thursday, covering an area of about 266 square kilometres.

The AIM-traded firm said the area hosts a number of copper-gold showings, including the small past-producing Josva copper mine, which was last worked in 1914 with reported grades up to 5% copper, 1.5 grams of gold per tonne, and 250 grams of silver per tonne.

Copper mineralisation discovered to date was found within volcanic and sedimentary sequences as disseminated stratabound sulphides, and locally enriched into layers due to strong folding or in quartz veins and breccias.

Sulphide concentrations varied from 1% to 50% volume, depending on the style of mineralisation.

Some showings could be followed for several hundred metres along strike, the company said, with widths of up to several metres.

Mineralisation was interpreted as iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) style by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).

The new licence was located about 100 kilometres west of AEX's Sava exploration project, which was targeting granite-hosted IOCG mineralisation in the Julianehåb granitic batholith.

AEX said it believed the region was underexplored for IOCG deposits, and showed a number of geological similarities to the IOCG province of northern Sweden, which hosts several operating mines.

Additionally, the company updated the market on Nalunaq, reporting that construction of the expanded temporary camp and new exploration camp to support activities was progressing.

The exploration team had also started the drilling programme at Valley Block, the results of which would be announced to the market in the coming months.

In addition, AEX said the authorities in Greenland were still reviewing drafts of the environmental impact and social impact assessments covering the Nalunaq project.

The company said it still had a “constructive dialogue” open with the government, as it worked towards finalising the reports ahead of public consultation later in the year.

“I am very pleased to announce that we have applied for this new exploration licence in south Greenland, which if granted, will further expand our footprint in this exciting and wholly underexplored area,” said chief executive officer Eldur Olafsson.

“In addition to growing our land package, the licence would continue to grow our holding of assets with attractive strategic metal potential, in this case copper.

“Historical mining can be good evidence for a significant mineral system, which also adds to the attractiveness of this application.”