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Murray Ward
Critical Resources has clocked a high-impact exploration update after wrapping up dual-pronged field programs at its Lammerlaw and Croesus projects in New Zealand. The company is sniffing out high-grade gold and critical minerals across both projects.
The companyโs efforts appear spot on, coinciding with a massive structural surge in the tungsten market. Prices for ammonium paratungstate have skyrocketed from US$335 per metric tonne unit (MTU) โ where one unit is equivalent to 10 kilograms – in January last year to as high as US$3200 per MTU last month.
At its Lammerlaw project in the Central Otago goldfield, Critical has completed structural mapping and geochemistry sampling across the 410-square-kilometre permit.
The project sits on the southwestern limb of the Central Otago Antiform, the same major structural feature that hosts Oceana Goldโs world-class 10-million-ounce Macraes gold operation, just 100 kilometres to the northeast. Within the project, the campaign has been focusing on two high-priority areas, the OPQ trend at Devils Creek and the Stony Creek trend.
โThe standout was Granite Creek with historical rock samples returning up to 42.6 per cent tungsten elevating Granite Creek as a priority.โ
Critical Resources managing director Tim Wither
At OPQ, the company zeroed in on a mineralised lode where historical data previously identified rock chip grades of 2.72 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and stream sediment tungsten anomalies of up to 340 parts per million (ppm).
At Stony Creek, Criticalโs field crew identified an electromagnetic geophysical signature that appears to coincide with historical antimony workings. Test shipments from the old timersโ mine shafts reported hefty grades of 47 per cent antimony.
To refine these hotspots, the company collected soil and rock chip samples alongside water geochemistry for ultra-low-level detection analysis to look for potential sulphide sources hidden at depth.
Critical Resources managing director Tim Wither said: โReceiving approval for the NZ permit transfer and having the field team at Lammerlaw within days reflects the pace we have committed to. Both first-pass programs were delivered safely and effectively despite challenging weather.โ
Further north at the companyโs Croesus project, parked in the Reefton goldfield, first-pass fieldwork has elevated the Granite Creek tungsten target to high-priority status.
There, Critical picked up strong signs of greisen alteration, a geological signature typically associated with granite-hosted tungsten mineralisation. The company says some of the historical reports at site previously recorded a staggering 42.6 per cent tungsten trioxide from scheelite-rich quartz rubble.
Additional historical float samples from the nearby Little Granite Creek prospect lit up with impressive figures of 26.6 per cent and 19.9 per cent tungsten trioxide.
Adding an extra sweetener to the Croesus play, the program also outlined a five-kilometre-long gold-antimony trend hosted within sheared Greenland group rocks.
Historical workings along this corridor, which include the Croesus, Garden Gully, Taffy and Minerva lodes, previously produced 4500 ounces of gold at stunning grades of up to 17g/t. Other historic rock chip results along the trend shone, with mouthwatering hits such as 28.9g/t gold at Blackball Creek from one sample and 10.4g/t gold and 7.4 per cent antimony at Croesus Ridge from another.
The strategic push into tungsten appears to be a savvy move, as the metal is now designated a critical mineral by major Western economies. With China currently dominating 80-85 per cent of global supply and tightening export restrictions, Criticalโs New Zealand assets could potentially offer a future, secure, western-aligned source of supply.
Supported by the New Zealand governmentโs recent โFast-Trackโ investment reforms – designed to accelerate major projects by streamlining the consenting process – Critical has been able to seize the moment and is moving at pace across its 1694-square-kilometre land holding.
The company now heads into a period of high news flow, with assay results from Lammerlaw expected by mid-May, followed by the Croesus results in early June. The results will define follow-up mapping targets at Granite Creek and Lammerlaw.
At Criticalโs Cap Burn gold project 50 kilometres northeast of Lammerlaw, planning for a drilling campaign is moving quickly, with the rods set to spin later this quarter, following up previous successful intercepts. The project sits a mere 11 kilometres along strike from the massive Macraes gold mine.
Critical is shaping a big-picture play in a high-voltage tungsten and gold market. With a flurry of assays just weeks away, if results echo those historic grades, this story could quickly catch a bid higher.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
