Siren picks up multiple outcrops within 12km NZ shear
Siren Gold CEO Zane Padman said: “The scale and continuity of mineralization in the Endeavor Cutting Zone reinforces the strategic importance of the Queen Charlotte Project in Siren’s portfolio.”
Maria Reef at the western footwall edge of the Endeavor shear zone appears particularly well mineralized. In 2015, a channel sample at the foot of a hill along the Maria Reef returned 5.4 metres, yielding 5.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
From there, rock fragments were collected up the hill over a 1.2km zone ranging from 1.5g/t to 4g/t gold.
Its actual thickness varies from two meters to an impressive six meters and consists of a mixture of quartz veins, quartz breccia and cut schist.
Siren was able to locate and channel six rocks on Maria Reef. Skyline Reef, a hanging wall vein, was also located and sampled. This reef contains a 0.5 m thick visible vein of stibnite, also with mineralized shale in the footwall.
The Endeavor East mine, located three kilometers further south, was also successfully identified and sampled. The presence of quartz containing massive stibnite and arsenopyrite in the Mallock heaps confirms that the style of mineralization is similar to the Endeavor Inlet mine, extending the proven mineralization direction here to approximately five kilometres.
Metallurgical test work on antimony in 1977 showed that antimony could produce a stibnite concentrate with a 63 percent antimony grade and an overall recovery of 90 percent, providing a solid foundation for future development, Siren said.
While Queen Charlotte is in good shape for Siren, its real currency is the developed Sams Creek deposit to the west.
Sams Creek is a large-scale intrusive gold system with an existing and growing resource of 824,000 ounces currently trending at a very respectable 2.8 g/t gold with additional resource drilling ongoing.
Previous intersections of 20 m at 6 g/t gold and 48 m at 1.6 g/t gold were intersected through a 50 m wide porphyry embankment that remained open for at least 1 km downstream. High-grade rock fragment sampling by Siren shows that there are many more to be found from additional porphyry dams along the 7 km strike.
Another feature of Siren’s bow is the cutting-related system involving gold and antimony, also known in New Zealand as the Langdon project. This project has several consistent gold and antimony soil anomalies indicating undiscovered mineralized structures.
With gold and antimony trading at record levels, Siren appears well positioned to benefit from the current market sentiment for both minerals.
The company is well-financed for expansion drilling at Sams Creek, which will likely provide a steady stream of news.
A solid contributor to its economy, New Zealand’s mining industry is undergoing significant change, evidenced by the government’s Minerals Strategy, which refocuses on critical minerals such as antimony and gold.
The sands appear to be shifting in New Zealand, a country rich in mineral wealth but embracing these riches with caution.
Siren now looks like it has a real shot at getting a mining license at Sam’s Creek, and if the early numbers at Queen Charlotte stack up, it could be seeking two mining licenses when the rotary real seer eventually does its thing there.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
