Rua Gold (WKN A40QYC / TSX RUA) is pressing ahead at full speed with exploration at the Auld Creek Gold Antimony Project in the Reefton Goldfield on New Zealand’s South Island. New drill results, some of which are extremely high-grade, indicate that the known mineralized system continues both along strike and at depth!
According to the company, the latest results support an extension of the gold-antimony resource over more than 1,000 meters in length and more than 500 meters in depth. At the same time, several drill holes returned high-grade gold intervals, indicating additional potential within orogenic quartz veins.
The company, led by CEO Robert Eckford, is currently systematically advancing the development of Auld Creek through a fully funded 19,000-meter drilling program. Four diamond drill rigs are already in operation, with a fifth rig scheduled to join the program in April. The focus is on both extension and confirmation drilling in the area of the known Fraternal Zone as well as initial tests outside the current resource footprint. The ongoing work also forms the basis for a Preliminary Economic Assessment, which is being prepared as part of a fast-track application for a mining permit. As things stand, the application is scheduled to be submitted by the end of the year.
Rua Gold expands Auld Creek along strike
The new results show that Rua Gold is not only better defining the known mineralization at Auld Creek within the existing resource area but is also extending it beyond that area. Of particular importance is drill hole ACDDH064, which encountered a strongly mineralized zone approximately 400 meters north of the current resource. Although the assay results for this are still pending, the drilling observations alone support the extension of the system to now over 1,000 meters.
Additional indications of further potential come from surface geochemistry. According to Rua Gold, its signature extends over a total of 2,500 meters, reaching approximately 1,500 meters beyond the current resource boundary. This underscores that Auld Creek is unlikely to be confined to a narrowly defined area but could be part of a larger mineralized trend.
All drill holes from the most recent campaign have also successfully intersected the Fraternal structure. For Rua Gold, this is an important indication that it is a continuous structural element of district-scale significance. The next steps therefore include further extension and infill drilling, supplemented by geological modeling and geochemical fingerprinting of the veins as well as the surrounding host rock consisting of greywacke and argillites.
High-grade intercepts sharpen the picture of the Fraternal Zone
In the northern part of the Fraternal resource area, Rua Gold reports several high-grade gold intervals from drill hole ACDDH058. These include 0.5 meters at 20.5 g/t gold, 0.2 meters at 83.4 g/t gold, and 0.7 meters at 12.6 g/t gold and 3.3% antimony. The estimated true thickness ( ) of this section is 7.3 meters. According to the company, this represents the highest single gold grade measured to date in the Auld Creek deposit. At the same time, the result helps to better define the orientation and continuity of high-grade mineralized zones.
About 65 meters down-dip from ACDDH058, another interval was intersected by ACDDH060: 2.8 meters grading 2.5 g/t gold and 0.6% antimony with an estimated true thickness of 10.8 meters. According to Rua Gold, this drill hole confirms the structural continuity and supports the interpretation that the high-grade mineralized zone dips moderately to the south.
Drill holes ACDDH059 and ACDDH062 also provide additional data for the central part of the Fraternal Zone. ACDDH059 returned 1.2 meters grading 7.6 g/t gold and 3.07% antimony, including 0.55 meters grading 14.1 g/t gold and 3.3% antimony. The estimated true thickness here is 2.6 meters. ACDDH062 intersected 8.5 meters grading 1.73 g/t gold, including 0.2 meters grading 11.8 g/t gold and 0.3 meters grading 5.8 g/t gold. The true thickness is reported as 5.0 meters.
Rua Gold is advancing resource expansion at depth
In addition to the extension along strike, the depth extension of the system is becoming particularly important for Rua. Drill holes ACDDH063 and ACDDH065 are considered clear evidence that the Fraternal Zone in the northern and southern sections continues at greater depths. The results of the analyses are still pending, but according to the company, this will extend the resource framework to as deep as 540 meters below the surface.
This is a key point for the Auld Creek gold-antimony project because it further solidifies the geological interpretation of the system. Rua now sees clearer vectors for targeting subsequent drilling at higher-grade mineralization along the dip direction to the north and at greater depths. Additionally, scout drilling is planned on northern extensions of the Fraternal and Bonanza veins.
The ongoing development program is closely linked to economic planning. Rua is simultaneously working on a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) while preparing the technical basis for a fast-track application for a mining permit.
Reefton Goldfield remains Rua Gold’s core area in New Zealand
Auld Creek is part of Rua’s broader strategy in New Zealand. However, the company also describes itself as the dominant landowner in the Reefton Goldfield on the South Island, where it controls more than 120,000 hectares of mining concessions. Historically, the district has produced more than 2 million ounces of gold, with grades ranging from 9 to 50 g/t gold.
With the fifth drill rig, scheduled to begin operations in April as a mobile unit, Rua aims not only to further develop Auld Creek itself but also to test other promising gold targets in the Reefton Goldfield. In the long term, the strategy aims to demonstrate the potential of several mines that could feed a central processing plant in Auld Creek. And the latest results from the Fraternal Zone provide one additional key benefit: a significantly improved geological basis for the next drill phases at this exciting gold antimony project!
