Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) confirms gold-antimony system at Croesus, New Zealand

Critical Resources has reported the results of first-pass reconnaissance sampling at its Croesus Project, located on the southwestern flank of the Reefton Goldfield in New Zealand.

The company’s announcement details high-grade gold-antimony mineralisation associated with historical workings, along with in-situ bedrock anomalism, which provides vectors for systematic follow-up along the Croesus-Minerva trend.

Highlights

• Reconnaissance sampling returned gold grades up to 13.3 g/t and antimony concentrations up to 6,990 ppm in historic ore-spillage material.
• In-situ bedrock quartz-carbonate stockwork yielded 1.58 g/t Au and 21 ppm Sb.
• The results support a structurally controlled gold-antimony system within Greenland Group metasedimentary rocks.
• Follow-up work will include detailed geological mapping, systematic in-situ sampling, integration of Au-Sb-As pathfinder geochemistry, and target ranking for potential trenching or drilling.

The reconnaissance programme comprised 21 samples, including rock, float, and historic ore-spillage material, and targeted quartz veining, sulphides, iron staining, altered Greenland Group rocks, and historically disturbed mineralised material around former workings.

The highest-grade gold result of 13.3 g/t Au and 2,240 ppm Sb was recorded from a historic ore-spillage sample (A1479), while in-situ bedrock sampling from quartz-carbonate stockwork (A1483) returned 1.58 g/t Au and 21 ppm Sb.

These results provide evidence of bedrock-hosted gold anomalism in addition to high-grade historic material, confirming the company’s exploration model for a structurally controlled lode system along the Croesus-Minerva trend.

The Croesus Project lies within the Reefton Goldfield, which has historically produced approximately two million ounces of gold from orogenic quartz-vein systems hosted in Greenland Group rocks.

The region also hosts Rua Gold Inc’s Reefton Project and Endura Mining’s Snowy River Project, located approximately 20 km from Croesus and currently under construction.

Critical Resources notes that the highest-grade historic ore-spillage samples are not representative of in-situ grade or width but provide vectors for follow-up exploration and source structure targeting.

Critical Resources Managing Director Tim Wither said :

“These results confirm the presence of a gold-antimony system at Croesus and, importantly, demonstrate that mineralisation is present in bedrock as well as historical mine material. Antimony is a designated critical mineral in Australia, the United States and the European Union, and the gold-antimony association we are seeing at Croesus sits squarely within the focus the New Zealand Government has placed on the Reefton Goldfield. That gives the project relevance beyond gold alone,”

The company will advance the Croesus gold-antimony target through detailed geological and structural mapping, systematic in-situ rock-chip and channel sampling where safe, mapping around historical workings and interpreted haulage routes, integration of Au-Sb-As pathfinder geochemistry, and ranking targets for potential trenching or drilling subject to access, permitting, and environmental approvals.

Tungsten assays from the Granite Creek target are pending and will be reported separately, while Critical Resources’ broader New Zealand portfolio also includes Cap Burn, Rock and Pillar, and Silver Peaks/Tokomairiro projects, where exploration and follow-up fieldwork are ongoing.

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