North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM), an Australian mineral exploration company focused on gold discoveries in the Stawell Corridor of Victoria, has announced significant findings from its recent surface geochemistry program at the high-priority Caledonia Prospect. The 412-sample multi-element program provided additional insights into the company’s North Stawell Project. This initiative reinforces the belief in high-grade gold potential along the eastern margin of the basalt within the 3.6-kilometre Darlington-Caledonia trend, a key exploration focus for NSM into 2026. This trend is centred on the northern continuation of the basalt controlling the multi-million ounce Stawell gold deposit, eight kilometres to the south.
The geochemistry program successfully identified two possible target extensions. These include a fault-offset, northwest-trending continuation of known mineralisation along a deeper basalt margin, and a potential north-trending target marked by strong arsenic anomalism. Furthermore, a 400-metre bismuth, with associated tungsten and gold, anomaly was detected which has not yet been drill-tested. Tungsten-bismuth is sometimes associated with gold mineralisation, as seen at NSM’s Darlington West Prospect. Previous drilling at Caledonia, an NSM discovery, has already outlined a 600-metre trend with assays exceeding one gram per tonne gold, including an intercept of one metre at 12 grams per tonne gold.
Executive Director Bill Reid commented that Caledonia is a highly attractive target for NSM. He noted prior work identified high-grade gold in sediment-hosted veining above a deeper basalt, analogous to the historic Mariners’ Reef at Stawell, which produced significant gold. Mr. Reid also highlighted that Caledonia’s shallow cover preserves considerable potential for shallow gold mineralisation, which remains open along strike and down-dip. The latest geochemistry results will inform future work aimed at expanding Caledonia and advancing understanding of the gold potential across the Darlington-Caledonia trend, an area repeatedly demonstrating high-grade gold potential.
