- Prospecting Permit PP60716 granted over the Company’s 100% owned Manorburn Project.
- Manorburn secures an area of 235.78km2 situated immediately adjacent to Santana Minerals (ASX:SMI) Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project (current Mineral Resource 643Koz of gold), some 85km west of Oceana Gold’s (ASX:OGC) World Class Macraes Gold Mine (combined production and current Mineral Resource in excess of 10Moz of gold).
- Manorburn strengthens NAE’s Central Otago Gold Project (COGP) which includes the OPQ and Lammerlaw Projects where exploration for Macraes-style orogenic gold mineralisation is already well advanced.
- Exploration and evaluation of the Manorburn Project has commenced as a high priority.
- Numerous key target areas have been identified following a review of legacy exploration data
- Field activities including mapping and surface geochemical surveys are planned
Overview
The Manorburn prospect is covered by Minerals Prospecting Permit application 60716.01 and is 221.8km2 in area. Manorburn is located 20km southeast of the Rise and Shine Shear Zone (inferred 252koz gold Mineral Resource) that forms the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project purchased by Santana Minerals (ASX: SMI). The application is also 85km northwest of Oceana Gold’s (ASX: OGC) world-class Macraes Gold Mine that has combined production and Minerals Resources in excess of 10Moz gold.
The Manorburn prospect is within the highly prospective Otago Schist Belt for orogenic gold. The Manorburn area is relatively underexplored but has adjacent gold deposits and has had some magnetic and electromagnetic surveys completed by Glass Earth in the late 2000s.
In February 2022, the Company announced that Prospecting Permit PP60716 had been granted. The Permit secures the Company’s 100% owned Manorburn Project which together with the Company’s existing OPQ and Lammerlaw Projects expands NAE’s landholding within the highly prospective Central Otago region to a total 558km2. Refer Figures 1 and 2.
Evaluation of the Manorburn Project is a high priority for the Company and a multi-disciplinary geoscientific exploration effort is now in progress. The program includes: a comprehensive desktop review of legacy geoscientific exploration data; detailed assessment of all available geophysical data; detailed geological field mapping and regional scale and detailed surface geochemistry surveys.
Drill testing of key target areas will follow upon completion of the mapping and surface geochemical surveys.
Figure 1: Location of NAE’s Central Otago Gold Project
Figure 2: Manorburn Prospecting Area
