Uvre unveils up to 18.4g/t gold in rock chips at Waitekauri

Early sampling at Waitekauri, soon to be acquired by Uvre, has returned gold grades up to 18.4g/t, laying the groundwork for the company’s first drilling campaign in New Zealand.

Uvre is well funded for upcoming drilling at the Waitekauri gold project in New Zealand, having raised $4m in a recent share placement led by Bell Potter. Pic Getty Images

• Uvre fields strong assays from reconnaissance rock chip sampling at its flagship Waitekauri gold project

• Rock chips include abundant visible gold with assays of up to 18.4g/t Au

• Waitekauri is located 8km west of OceanaGold Corporation’s Waihi gold mine (10Moz)

• An eight-hole drill program is planned to take place in the September quarter once the Otagold acquisition is complete

Special report: Rock chip sampling at the brownfields Waitekauri gold project, which Uvre is in the process of acquiring, has shown grades as high as 18.4g/t gold, clearing the way for the company’s first drilling program in New Zealand.

Waitekauri is the flagship asset currently being acquired by Uvre (ASX:UVA) as part of its transaction with Norm Seckold’s Otagold in May, which includes three exploration permits, one prospecting permit and one prospecting permit application in New Zealand’s North and South Islands.

Recent sampling work has confirmed the presence of high-grade gold mineralisation at Waitekauri, with some samples containing abundant visible gold in greyish porous blebs enclosed in massive white epithermal quartz.

Waitekauri is located 8km west of OceanaGold Corporation’s Waihi gold mine (10Moz) and sits in the centre of a mineralised corridor hosting three other +1Moz Au deposits.

South of the Scotia prospect at Waitekauri, early field mapping revealed a much broader area of post-mineral welded ignimbrite than previously recognised, something earlier explorers hadn’t fully understood.

UVA says it may cover potential southern extensions of the mineralised system, thereby preventing detection of the system in soil geochemistry surveys.

Rock chips at the Oturehua goldfield on the South Island also returned promising assays of up to 9.3g/t gold.

A map of the projects on New Zealand’s North and South islands. Pic: UVA

Drilling to start in September quarter

UVA executive chairman Brett Mitchell said the company has known from historical mining and exploration that Waitekauri hosts high-grade mineralisation.

“These rock chips assays confirm the project’s excellent potential and set us up for our first drilling program there,” Mitchell said.

“We will now assess the results and devise our maiden drilling program with the aim of drill testing our priority exploration targets at Waitekauri in the September quarter.”

Background on Waitekauri

Waitekauri sits near the historical Golden Cross and Karangahake mines, along the trend of a recent +2 Moz discovery at WKP by OceanaGold.

It displays the hallmarks of a major goldfield in a region with a compelling mineral resource endowment and a 18km mineralised corridor hosting multiple targets and historical workings, as well as three main prospects for exploration – Scotia, Sovereign and Jubilee.

Waitekauri also lies adjacent to three other gold deposits, each more than 1Moz, and has historically produced gold and silver at an average grade of 48g/t Au+Ag.

What’s next?

An eight-hole drill program has been designed to explore several of the prospects within the Waitekauri project area and test for geological and structural similarities to the 10Moz Waihi gold mine, 8km to the west.

UVA is aiming to zero in on bonanza-style gold-silver low sulphidation veins, with the goal of uncovering a multi-million-ounce resource.

The program will get underway after the acquisition goes through, which is up for approval by Uvre shareholders at today’s meeting.

This article was developed in collaboration with Uvre, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.