Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) has this week confirmed there’s structurally controlled gold mineralisation at the Cap Burn gold project in New Zealand after results from first-pass reverse circulation (RC) drilling run recently.
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The program has defined a coherent mineralised footprint with a consistent gold–arsenic association across the drilled area, located ~11 kilometres along strike from OceanaGold’s 10 million-ounce gold camp at Macraes.
Key intersections included 1.0m at 1.29 grams per tonne (g/t) within 7.0m at 0.37 g/t and 16m at 0.22 g/t. And, on top of that, Critical’s managing director, Tim Wither, said the shallow drilling tested only a small portion of the 10km structural corridor, with the system remaining open in multiple directions.
“These are encouraging first-pass results that validate our Cap Burn model. Broad gold mineralisation with strong arsenic-gold association beneath the fault is exactly the geochemical signature we were targeting – and several holes were still in mineralisation when we had to stop drilling,” he said.
Groundwater constrained drilling to a maximum 60m depth, with mineralisation intersected at the end of several holes, highlighting that the down-plunge target remains untested, with some encouraging grade vectoring into a narrower search area.
“The one sq. km arsenic anomaly gives us high confidence in the scale of the system. With numerous historical high-grade alluvial workings beneath the Cap Burn fault, we know this is a fertile region,” Mr Wither said.
“This is the start of our systematic exploration program on a structurally significant corridor in a proven gold belt. The results are consistent with our exploration model with a clear follow-up path to move forward.”
The mining company is now planning for follow-up drilling and technical refinement, targeting extensions of mineralisation associated with the Cap Burn fault. That program is expected to start in Q2 CY26.
Once it does, key activities will include step-out drilling along strike and at depth of mineralised intercepts, particularly around holes where broad mineralisation and higher-grade intervals have been intersected.
Mr Wither said drilling will target structurally favourable positions, including interpreted fault intersections and zones of dilation where higher-grade shoots may develop.
A systematic, along-strike soil geochemistry program is also being planned. Those works are expected to extend and refine the existing arsenic anomaly and identify additional drill targets along the Cap Burn fault.
CRR is steady at 0.8¢. Mkt cap $25.35M.
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