Minerals Exploration Limited (ASX: MEX, NZX: MEX), a company focused on gold exploration in New Zealand, has announced significant high-grade rock chip assay results from its Invincible Gold Project. The project covers the historic Invincible Gold Mine and Glenorchy Tungsten Mine. Assays revealed grades of up to 49.7g/t Au from surface dump samples at the historic mine, with visible gold observed in several samples.
The Invincible Gold Project, covering 164.3 square kilometres, shares geological similarities with other major gold deposits in the Otago Goldfields, including OceanaGold’s Macraes Gold Mine and Santana Minerals’ Bendigo-Ophir deposit. Historical production at the Invincible Gold Mine in the late 1800s to early 1900s graded up to approximately 30g/t Au. Prior mapping identified a large mineralised shear zone at Invincible, though the area has not been subject to modern drilling programs.
In light of these promising results, Minerals Exploration plans to initiate new field programs, including stream and soil sampling, to define targets for a maiden drilling program. The company’s technical team believes that the Invincible Gold Mine could be hosted in similar structural settings as Macraes and Bendigo-Ophir, potentially indicating a bulk tonnage nature with discrete high-grade gold and tungsten zones.
The company aims to replicate the footwall feeder and mineralised shear models observed at those projects. The initial work will expand upon previous studies to define the extent and continuity of the mineralised shear zone concepts at Invincible and later at the Glenorchy Au-W field. The company considers the Invincible Gold Project prospective for orogenic gold and tungsten mineralisation, both of which are on New Zealand’s critical minerals list.
