Announcement • Sep 27
SXG Extends High-Grade Mineralisation 100 Metres Down-Dip at Apollo Confirms VRIFY’s AI-Powered Exploration Targets
Mawson Gold Limited announced Southern Cross Gold Ltd. has released results from three diamond drill holes (SDDSC124, SDDSC127 and SDDSC128) from the Apollo prospect at the 100%-owned Sunday Creek Gold-Antimony Project in Victoria, Australia. All holes successfully intersected mineralisation in targets generated through VRIFY's AI-assisted mineral discovery platform. Apollo East, a target identified by both the SXG exploration team and VRIFY AI, is a new zone of potential high-grade mineralisation located approximately 200 m east of the main Apollo drill area. With these new holes, the zone has become a priority for SXG due to AI generated targets that show the possible extension of this zone approximately 400 m to the east. The successful drill results announced demonstrate how AI generated targets can complement SXG's geological targeting program at Sunday Creek through an innovative approach to mineral exploration. Additional drilling at Apollo East and at the Christina Target, both of which have been identified as high-priority targets by VRIFY AI and the Company's technical team, is either currently underway or expected to commence in the near term (Figure 3). SDDSC124 is the deepest east to west drill hole (parallel to the ladder "rails") drilled at the Apollo prospect. The hole intercepted eight high-grade vein sets across Apollo East and Apollo Deeps (Figures 1 to 3). This hole extended three vein set shapes by 95 m to 105 m down dip at Apollo Deeps and was drilled ~100 m below and parallel to SDDSC108A. The hole included three intervals of > 20 g/t Au (up to 54.4 g/t Au) and two intervals > 5% Sb (up to 23.4% Sb). SDDSC123 was abandoned at 127 m due to the hole deviating from its original plan and was successfully redrilled as SDDSC124. Eighteen holes (SDDSC129, 131-140, 143, 050W1, 050W2, 092W1, 092W2, 137W1, 137W2) are currently being processed and analysed, with five holes (SDDSC092W3, 141, 142, 144, 145) in progress. Sunday Creek is an epizonal gold-antimony deposit formed in the late Devonian (like Fosterville, Costerfield and Redcastle), 60 million years later than mesozonal gold systems formed in Victoria (for example Ballarat and Bendigo). Epizonal deposits are a form of orogenic gold deposit classified according to their depth of formation: epizonal (<6 km), mesozonal (6-12 km) and hypozonal (>12 km). Epizonal deposits in Victoria often have associated high levels of the critical metal, antimony, and Sunday Creek is no exception. China claims a 56 per cent share of global mined supplies of antimony, according to a 2023 European Union study. Antimony features highly on the critical minerals lists of many countries including Australia, the United States of America, Canada, Japan and the European Union. Australia ranks seventh for antimony production despite all production coming from a single mine at Costerfield in Victoria, located nearby to all SXG projects. Antimony alloys with lead and tin which results in improved properties for solders, munitions, bearings and batteries. Antimony is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. Adequate supplies of antimony are critical to the world's energy transition, and to the high-tech industry, especially the semi-conductor and defence sectors where it is a critical additive to primers in munitions. In August 2024, the Chinese government announced it will place export limits on antimony and antimony products. This will put pressure on Western defence supply chains and negatively affect the supply of the metal and push up pricing given China's dominance of the supply of the metal in the global markets. This is positive for SXG as we are likely to have one of the very few large and high-quality projects of antimony in the western world that can feed western demand into the future. Antimony represents approximately 20% in situ recoverable value of Sunday Creek at an AuEq of 1.88.
