Key Target 02
Wainikoro: A Confirmed and Expanding Gold-Bearing Epithermal System
Overview
- System Type
- Structurally controlled, low-sulphidation epithermal gold system along the Nubu Graben corridor
- Location
- ~5 km southwest of Aurum Prime; a 1.8 km magnetic-low corridor
Wainikoro has rapidly become one of the most compelling gold targets at Vatu Aurum. In 2026, two wide-spaced (1,027 m) reconnaissance drill holes — VA26-DH18 and VA26-DH19 — confirmed gold-bearing, fault-controlled quartz veins and demonstrated a structurally controlled epithermal gold system developed along the Nubu Graben corridor. Certified laboratory fire assays have since confirmed gold mineralisation in both surface outcrop and bedrock, with surface samples returning up to 8.78 g/t Au — validating the Company’s detectORE™ field screening and confirming that the gold-bearing surface occurrences are sourced from mineralised bedrock.
- Certified fire assays (21 July 2026): surface samples up to 8.78 g/t Au, with further assays of 4.78, 4.44, 3.41 and 2.03 g/t Au; eleven separate surface samples returned greater than 0.5 g/t Au.
- Gold confirmed in bedrock: trench selective point samples up to 2.93 g/t Au, and continuous channel sampling (TR26-011) averaging 0.28 g/t Au over 14 m, demonstrating continuity of mineralisation beneath surface exposures.
- Gold-bearing veins in drilling: VA26-DH19 returned 1.5 m @ 1.61 g/t Au (150.0–151.5 m) and 1.5 m @ 1.08 g/t Au (181.0–182.5 m) within a broad hydrothermal system; VA26-DH18 returned anomalous gold with elevated arsenic in hydrothermal breccias.
- Multiple mineralisation styles: chalcedonic quartz veins, silicified volcanic rocks and hydrothermal breccias developed along the Nubu Graben corridor.
- Classic epithermal signature: gold associated with elevated arsenic and antimony; multiple mercury anomalies identified at fault intersections (a recognised top-of-system pathfinder); low-temperature celadonite alteration indicating a preserved, high-level portion of the system.
- Evidence of a fertile system: QEMSCAN identified arsenopyrite replaced by pyrite pseudomorphs, interpreted as an early gold-related mineralising phase; bladed-carbonate textures logged in VA26-DH19 indicate boiling-stage low-sulphidation conditions.
- Strong structural control: gold-bearing veins occur on E–W, NE–SW and NW–SE orientations, strongest where these trends intersect — defining high-priority drill targets.
Gold-bearing hydrothermal activity is confirmed across the 1.8 km target and extends beyond it, pointing to the potential for multiple mineralised centres across the broader Wainikoro area. A CSAMT, induced-polarisation and gravity ground geophysical survey by Fender Geophysics Pty Ltd is scheduled to commence in late July 2026 to define the subsurface geometry of the system and prioritise future drilling.
“These certified fire assay results provide independent confirmation of the gold identified through our detectORE™ field screening and, importantly, demonstrate that mineralisation extends into bedrock beneath the surface occurrences we have been mapping.”