Critical data dive uncovers three NZ gold-antimony targets

Critical Resources has defined three new priority gold and antimony targets at its Silver Peaks project in New Zealand after a deep dive into historical exploration data. The review has zeroed in on the Lamb Hill-Three O’Clock, Stone Burn South and Northern Soil Anomaly targets, all lying within the company’s 497.69-square-kilometre prospecting permit in the prolific Otago region.

Critical’s Silver Peaks project, which forms part of the company’s 1694-square-kilometre NZ footprint, sits immediately south of the Hyde-Macraes Shear Zone, a geological beast that hosts OceanaGold’s Macraes gold camp, New Zealand’s largest active gold operation with a resource of more than 10 million ounces.

The company’s review sifted through more than 1250 historical soil and stream-sediment records, identifying three distinct areas where historical mineral occurrences, anomalous geochemistry and favourable structures appear to coincide. Notably, the review found no evidence of any historical drilling at the three new target areas, leaving them untested by modern methods.

The highest-priority target, Lamb Hill-Three O’Clock, combines a six-sample gold-arsenic stream anomaly with two historical antimony lode occurrences. Regional interpretation suggests these features sit within a broader northwest-trending structural corridor that could extend for up to 10km.

‘The historical review has resolved a large permit-scale dataset into three clear areas that can now be tested.’Critical Resources managing director Tim Wither

Historical stream sampling at the target returned up to 13 parts per billion (ppb) gold and 34 parts per million (ppm) arsenic, while the two historical antimony lodes were described as being about 1.5 metres thick. The combination of structure, stream geochemistry and known mineralisation makes it a potentially compelling walk-up target.

The Stone Burn South target has been bolstered by two generations of historical geochemistry. Old BHP stream-sediment sampling from the late 1980’s returned solid results of 45.2 and 39.3ppb gold from separate catchments. More recent soil sampling then identified a supporting arsenic-antimony response, with results up to 68ppm arsenic and 17ppm antimony.

The third target, the Northern Soil anomaly, is defined by a cluster of gold-arsenic soil results, including a composite sample grading 16ppb gold with 34ppm arsenic. A separate historical soil site in the same area also returned impressive results of 57.5 and 58.5ppb gold from coarse and fine fractions.

Critical Resources managing director Tim Wither said: “The historical review has resolved a large permit-scale dataset into three clear areas that can now be tested efficiently in the field. At the Northern Soil Anomaly, gold and arsenic occur together across several composite samples, while Stone Burn South combines earlier gold-in-stream results with later arsenic and antimony pathfinder geochemistry. At Lamb Hill-Three O’Clock, the historical geochemistry and antimony occurrences lie within a broader northwest-trending structural setting that provides a clear focus for field mapping and systematic sampling.”

The new findings look well timed, with gold holding above A$6000 and antimony now firmly established as a strategic critical mineral, attracting significant geopolitical and market interest. New Zealand’s gold-antimony belt has also been enjoying something of a renaissance, drawing fresh attention from investors and developers.

Further to the northwest, Critical is progressing a suite of gold projects. At its Cap Burn and Rock and Pillar projects, first-pass reverse circulation (RC) drilling has already confirmed structurally controlled gold mineralisation, with a follow-up drill program now in planning. Meanwhile, the company is conducting desktop reviews for drill targeting at its Tokomairiro gold project in the country’s south.

Alongside sharpening its focus on gold and antimony in New Zealand, the company continues to advance its flagship Mavis Lake lithium project in Canada, which hosts a JORC-compliant resource of eight million tonnes (Mt) grading 1.07 per cent lithium oxide.

Notably, the company has also defined a much bigger JORC-compliant exploration target at the project of between 18 and 29Mt at a grade of 0.8 to 1.2 per cent lithium oxide, pointing to significant growth potential across the company’s recently increased 400-square-kilometre landholding.

Additionally, to help optimise and scale up its novel Dry Supersonic Deposition battery manufacturing technology, Critical has brought in the heavy hitters, launching a collaborative research project with Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, demonstrating a multi-pronged approach to the critical minerals space.

The company is now planning a more detailed field program at Silver Peaks to verify and rank the three targets. The work will involve geological mapping and modern surface geochemistry using a gold-antimony-arsenic-tungsten analytical suite. Any progression to geophysics or drilling would depend on the results and require a separate minerals exploration permit.

With gold prices once again showing significant form after a brief respite from all-time highs earlier this year and antimony’s strategic importance growing, dusting off old data in a well-endowed mineral field may be a shrewd move.

For Critical Resources, this trip down memory lane next door to a 10-million-ounce gold camp might just have pointed the way to some new discoveries.

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