Mercator Gold Lodges Prospecting Permits For New Zealand

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Thursday 4 November 10:09 PM

Mercator Gold Lodges Prospecting Permits For New Zealand

DJ Mercator Gold Lodges Prospecting Permits For New Zealand

Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Mercator Gold plc said Thursday that it has lodged prospecting permits totaling approximately 2,800 sq km in the North Island of New Zealand over areas prospective for the discovery of large, high-grade gold-copper deposits.

Mercator has a 100% interest in the application areas, which were selected by the company's technical team led by Drs Susan and Julian Vearncombe, who have considerable exploration experience in New Zealand at a technical and academic level.

Exploration director Julian Vearncombe said: "Globally, mafic-hosted volcanogenic gold-copper systems have received less exploration than they deserve.

"Deposits currently being mined of this type range in tonnage from 1 to 55 million tonnes and are attractive to a growing exploration company because of the gold-copper association and high grades."

New Zealand has been identified by Mercator as a major growth area for exploration and the discovery of new economic deposits, particularly in those areas where bonanza mining took place in the late 1800s and which are being successfully re-explored with modern techniques, e.g. Macraes Flat and Waihi.

The current applications are the first steps by the company in accumulating a second significant exploration asset base to complement its large Meekatharra exploration project in Western Australia. Once granted, the company will complete a detailed data compilation and review to identify the initial exploration targets.

Mercator also announces the commencement of ground geophysical programs at Tuckanarra, Lukes Junction and Maid Marion within the 1,020 sq km Annean joint venture area at Meekatharra, Western Australia. Data from the geophysical program will add to the existing soil geochemistry, drilling and airborne geophysical database, and allow further refinement of drilling targets in these areas. Lukes Junction and Maid Marion are planned to be drilled later this year.

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