The Victory North property comprises a 249.7 ha elongate NW-SW block with topographical linear highs from gold-magnetite bearing Pleistocene beach strandlines known as black-sand leads. The property is adjacent to current or historical mining operations. These black-sand leads, which form part of raised beach deposits, are buttressed up against moraine outwash terraces. Gold, along with ilmenite, magnetite, garnet, zircon and other heavy minerals (Minehan, 1989), is concentrated into lenticular beach placers, or black-sand leads, of which a number are currently being exploited by mining operations along strike to the northeast and southwest.
An airborne helimag survey flown in 2008 by Southern Geoscience Consultants over the area immediately to the south and adjoining the Victory North property identified a number of shallow linear magnetic anomalies that are coincident with Quaternary-aged strandlines that can be traced visually onto and along the Victory North property. Ground truthing of these anomalies on the northern part of this adjacent area identified two distinct target types:
- Localized higher-grade embayment type strandline mineralization, where moraine terraces have created lower energy depositional regimes; and
- Large tonnage-potential exposed, longshore drift derived strandlines.
It is from the embayment areas just south of the Victory North property that a number of mineralized zones returning grades greater than 0.1 g/T Au (or greater than 200 mg/m3) were identified.
Documented historical exploration (Wood, 2003) over the property reports Bangka drilling from the 1930s intersecting significant gold intervals (grades greater than 0.1 g/T) from 3 of 9 holes drilled, to a maximum of 0.41 g/T Au over 9.1 m from the surface. More recent exploration in the 1980s (Amax Exploration NZ Ltd.) focused on the alluvial gold potential of more easterly moraine terraces.
Preliminary exploration activities will comprise ground magnetic surveys, along with reconnaissance geological mapping and sampling, where appropriate. Should results from bulk sampling from strandlines that continue into the property from the ground to the south be encouraging, the exploration process could be fast-tracked by undertaking the excavation of a number of strategic test pits in the southern part of the property.
