Justin will be scanned with high-tech QMAG survey, a special system that can detect strength and direction of Earth's magnetic field.

Aben Minerals Ltd. June 6 announced the mobilization of crew and equipment for a planned airborne QMAG geophysical survey at the company's Justin Gold project in the Yukon.

Lying immediately southeast of Seabridge Gold's high-grade 3 Aces gold project and approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of the old Cantung Mine, Justin is a 7,400-hectare (18,286 acres) gold project equipped with an all-season road running through its claims.

Aben, which began exploring Justin in 2011, has steadfastly worked to advance this prospective gold project in southeastern Yukon.

In more recent years, Aben announced an NI 43-101 compliant technical report to find a possible investment partner to secure future exploration on the property.

After that, in early 2023, the company underwent a consolidation of its shares and changed its name from Aben Resources Ltd. to Aben Minerals Ltd.

Now, the refreshed company is undertaking a state-of-the-art geophysical survey that will cover the Lost Ace and POW targets within Justin, as well as the highly prospective area between them.

Initial exploration drilling conducted at the property's POW zone in 2011 and 2012 successfully discovered intrusion-related gold mineralization with intercepts reported ranging from trace values to highs of 1.19 grams per metric ton gold over 60 meters, 2.47 g/t gold over 21 meters, and 1.49 g/t gold over 46.4 meters.

Drilling at POW during that time also returned 60 meters averaging 1.25 g/t gold in hole JN11-009; and 12 meters averaging 2.52 g/t gold and 29.5 g/t silver in JN11-010.

In 2018, exploration work included the collection of 19 channel and 28 chip samples from five trenches, 16 rock samples, seven till samples and 240 soil samples over a six-kilometer- (3.7 miles) long area.

This program targeted specifically Lost Ace, an orogenic-style quartz-gold bearing zone previously discovered in 2017, which returned 1.44 g/t gold over five meters, 4.77 g/t gold over one meter, and a bulk soil sample that contained 1,135 visible gold grains.

Surface chip sampling also returned high-grade gold values ranging from trace to 20.8 g/t gold over 4.4 meters.

Gold mineralization at POW is hosted within and adjacent to the Justin Stock, a mid-Cretaceous intrusive body located at the southern end of the prolific Tombstone Gold Belt.

With Lost Ace being just 2,000 meters west of POW, geologic evidence and observations at Lost Ace point toward the existence of a multi-phase hydrothermal system with the potential for overprinting mineralizing systems within the POW zone.

Program and survey details

Aben Minerals Ltd.

Map of planned QMAG survey region at Justin.

Aben hired DIAS Airborne Ltd. to fly a QMAG geophysical survey from Seabridge's 3 Aces camp over the extent of Justin.

According to DIAS, the QMAG system is a helicopter-borne magnetic survey system that measures the magnetic field in a robust and detailed manner.

A relatively newer surveying technology, it is supported by something called SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) sensors that measure the complete gradient tensor (second order) of the Earth's magnetic field, otherwise known as full tensor magnetic gradiometry (FTMG), which provides magnetic field directional information not available with traditional magnetic surveys.

Simply put, SQUID sensors not only detect changes in magnetic strength but also changes in magnetic direction.

This level of detail allows for more precise mapping and analysis of magnetic variations, providing insights into subsurface geological structures and mineral deposits with greater accuracy than traditional magnetic survey methods.

Aben hopes this level of detail will provide greater insights into the Lost Ace and POW gold targets.

"The team at Aben Minerals is extremely excited to commence this survey at the Justin Gold project," said Aben Minerals President and CEO Riley Trimble. "We feel that based on prior drilling success and notable surface sample results, the two main targets can be further explored with a targeted drill campaign for which this survey will be highly useful. We also hope to prove that the area between the POW and Lost Ace zones is also highly prospective."

The QMAG system will be deployed in a custom-built airfoil beneath a helicopter. This will effectively reduce motion noise, allowing for the recovery of high-quality data. As a lightweight system, QMAG can be utilized in most operating environments.

Aben expects the survey to be completed in the coming weeks, with results roughly six weeks after demobilization.