RUA GOLD Expands High-Grade Intercepts at Depth at Auld Creek: 5.9g/t AuEq over 9m and 48.3g/t AuEq over 1.25m
RUA GOLD Expands High-Grade Intercepts at
Depth at Auld Creek: 5.9g/t AuEq over 9m and
48.3g/t AuEq over 1.25m
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 16, 2025) - Rua Gold Inc. (TSXV: RUA) (OTCQB:
NZAUF) (WKN: A40QYC) ("
RUA GOLD
" or the "
Company
") is pleased to provide an update on its
gold-antimony exploration at the Auld Creek project in the Reefton Goldfield on the South Island of New
Zealand, reporting improved gold grades from current drilling in diamond drillholes ACDDH026,
ACDDH027, ACDDH028.
Highlights:
Following up on the last high grade results from the Company, the next holes intersected broader
zones of gold in hole ACDDH027 and narrow but strong gold-stibnite (antimony sulphide)
mineralization in ACDDH028.
Assay results show:
ACDDH026: 2.1m @ 1.25g/t Au
from 175m depth
ACDDH027: 9m @ 5.9g/t AuEq
1
(5.2g/t Au & 0.16% Sb) from 159m depth
ACDDH028: 1.25m @ 48.3g/t AuEq
1
(13.3g/t Au & 8.1% Sb) from 210m depth
ACDD024,025 confirmed higher grade antimony mineralisation on the Fraternal shoot, the recent
drilling ACDDH27,28 indicates an improvement in gold grade with depth.
The gold grades on the Fraternal shoot plunge to the south, current drilling is testing 80-100m
below the current resource envelope, before pivoting to testing the northerly extensions of the
Fraternal ore body.
Auld Creek has an inferred resource hosted by two ore shoots, Bonanza and Fraternal. This
resource outcrops at surface and is continuous to 160m vertically and open at depth.
Surface soil geochemistry strongly endorses extensions to the Fraternal north prospect and
Bonanza northeast prospect, confirming the system is traceable over a 2.5km length.
Robert Eckford, CEO of RUA GOLD commented: "
It is encouraging to see an improvement in gold
grades with depth on the Fraternal lode, and the continuation of high-grade antimony accompanying
the gold in narrow plunging shoots.
Drilling to date on Auld Creek antimony-gold prospect has increased confidence in the existing gold-
antimony resource and highlighted higher-grade plunging shoots that remain open to the south. We
are focused on expanding the Auld Creek resource both north and south, with intensified surface
exploration showing early promise in identifying additional mineralization over its 2.5km length."
Figure 1: Overview of the Reefton Goldfield.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Figure 2:
Fraternal and Bonanza ore shoots at Auld Creek
.
Note that AuEq amounts have been calculated using recent spot prices of gold and antimony and applying a ~30% discount. The gold equivalent
formula is based on AuEq = Au g/t + 4.3 x Sb% using a Au price of US$2065/oz, Sb price of US$34,300 per tonne and 85% recovery.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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GLOBAL SUPPLY AND VALUE OF ANTIMONY
Antimony is a critical metalloid primarily sourced from the mineral, stibnite.
It is highly valuable and
increasing in demand due to its versatility and has essential applications across renewable energy,
liquid battery metals, defence and technological sectors.
Due to its limited supply, predominantly controlled by China, Russia & Tajikistan, antimony is considered
a strategic material essential for supply chain security, particularly during periods of geopolitical
instability. This was heightened in August 2024, when China announced export controls on processed
antimony products. In response to these controls, nations have accelerated their efforts to secure
alternative sources of antimony to mitigate the risk of significant supply chain vulnerabilities.
The US, EU, UK, Japan, Canada and Australia all designate antimony as a critical mineral. On January
31, 2025, New Zealand also announced their Critical Mineral List which included antimony.
Reflecting heightened demand, the price of antimony has reached new highs, currently trading over
US$50,000 per tonne, a significant increase from US$11,350 per tonne at the start of 2024. This market
shift has intensified interest in the strategic antimony potential held by RUA GOLD.
EXPLORATION POTENTIAL
RUA GOLD commenced drilling at Auld Creek in December 2024. It has a targeted program to drill four
mineralised shoots identified from historical surface exploration work interpreted by the RUA GOLD
team over the past 3 months.
Auld Creek is situated between two past producing mines, Globe Progress mine, and the Crushington
Group of mines which collectively produced 933,000oz at 14.0g/t Au (Barry 1993). Auld Creek has three
historic adits but no commercial production from the reefs.
RUA GOLD has an inferred resource at Auld Creek indicating 700,000 tonnes at 3.1g/t Au and 1.1% Sb
for 67,000oz of gold and 8,000 tonnes of antimony
2
(AuEq 110,000oz
3
). The resource is restricted to
two of the four known shoots. Soil geochemistry indicates the potential for discovery of additional
mineralised shoots over a strike length of 2.5km.
Four of the eight holes completed to date intersected 4-5m of strong visible stibnite (antimony sulfide)
mineralization in the Fraternal-Bonanza structure.
Results from ACDDH024, ACDDH025 confirm the approximate average gold grades, but report higher
antimony grades than the current resource estimate. Results from ACDDH027, ACDDH028 highlight
above average gold grades with narrow but high-grade antimony in ACDDH028.
Ongoing drilling is targeting the southern plunging Fraternal gold-antimony shoot which remains open
along strike and at depth.
Intensified surface exploration is showing very encouraging strong trends both north and north-west
confirming additional targets on the Fraternal North and Bonanza north-west extensions.
Figure 3: Arsenic soil geochemistry over Auld Creek area.
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ABOUT RUA GOLD
RUA GOLD is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of
expertise, our team has successfully taken major discoveries into producing world-class mines across
multiple continents. The team is now focused on maximizing the asset potential of RUA GOLD's two
highly prospective high-grade gold projects.
The Company controls the Reefton Gold District as the dominant landholder in the Reefton Goldfield on
New Zealand's South Island with over 120,000 hectares of tenements, in a district that historically
produced over 2Moz of gold grading between 9 and 50g/t.
The Company's Glamorgan Project solidifies RUA GOLD's position as a leading high-grade gold
explorer on New Zealand's North Island. This highly prospective project is located within the North
Islands' Hauraki district, a region that has produced an impressive 15Moz of gold and 60Moz of silver.
Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corporation's biggest gold mining project, Wharekirauponga.
For further information, please refer to the Company's disclosure record on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Simon Henderson CP, AUSIMM, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101
Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects
and Chief Operating Officer and a director of RUA GOLD, has reviewed
and approved the technical disclosure contained herein. Mr. Henderson has participated in the
geochemical sampling, and mapping programs to verify that they have been conducted in accordance
with standard operating procedures. Mr. Henderson has verified the data disclosed by running checks
on the location, analytical, and test data underlying the information in the technical disclosure herein.
QA/QC Drill Core
Rock samples were sent to SGS Laboratories, Westport for sample preparation. Samples were crushed
and pulverized to 85% passing 75 µm. The pulverized rock-chips were split into two samples: a ~50 g
sent for laboratory analysis, and the reject returned to RGL for pXRF analysis and storage. Pulverized
rock-chip samples were analyzed for gold (Au) by 50-g fire assay with AAS finish at SGS Waihi (SGS
Code FAA505); and for antimony (Sb) by Sodium Peroxide Fusion Analysis by ICP-MS at SGS Waihi.
QA/QC Soil Samples
Pre-planned soil sampling points on a 20 m x 100 m grid were loaded onto a handheld GPS for
guidance. A spade was used to acquire a ~1.0 kg sample from the C horizon, which was put in a wet-
strength paper sample bag with wire ties. Sample information was logged in a notebook in the field,
including sample ID, depth, color, horizon, slope, sample description, sampler, basement, and
comments. Each sample was photographed in the field alongside the GPS with coordinates visible and
each sample site marked in the field with biodegradable flagging tape. Samples were taken back to
RUA GOLD's Reefton facility for preparation. The sample information was entered on.csv files and
uploaded to an SQL database.
Samples were dried in a customized incubator, set at 38°C, for a minimum of two days. Once the
samples were fully dried, they were sieved to <180µm in size. A sub-sample of 30-50g was scooped
from the <180 µm size fraction for analysis. The remaining material was retained and stored in Reefton.
The fine-sieved (<180µm) soil sub-sample was first analyzed in RUA GOLD's Reefton facility using a
Olympus Vanta
pXRF analyzer; and then on to ALS Brisbane, Australia, for low-level gold analysis using
Au-TL43; trace level Au by aqua regia extraction with ICP-MS finish. Detection limit 1 ppb Au.
Field duplicates were collected every 20th sample and underwent the same sample collection and
preparation process outlined above. Duplicates were checked and validated by RUA GOLD's Isogonal
data validation system to ensure compliance.
RUA GOLD Contact
Robert Eckford
Chief Executive Officer
Email:
Website:
www.RUAGOLD.com
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All
statements in this new release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or
developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking
statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the
words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and
similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur and
specifically include statements regarding: the Company's strategies, expectations, planned operations
or future actions, including but not limited to exploration programs at its Reefton and Glamorgan projects
and the results thereof. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-
looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.
Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the
forward-looking statements. A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are
beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its
business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated
events or results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties
and factors include: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; risks
related to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war; risks related to climate change; operational risks in
exploration, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration projects or capital expenditures; the
actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project
parameters as plans continue to be refined; changes in labour costs and other costs and expenses or
equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the
mining industry, including but not limited to environmental hazards, flooding or unfavorable operating
conditions and losses, insurrection or war, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing, and
commodity prices. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-
looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's short form base shelf
prospectus dated July 11, 2024, and the documents incorporated by reference therein, filed under its
SEDAR+ profile at
www.sedarplus.ca
for a description of additional risk factors.
Forward-Looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's
management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws,
the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that
management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
Table 1: Location of Auld Creek drill holes from RUA 2024-2025 program
Hole ID
Easting
Northing
rL
Total
Depth
Site _ID
Dip
Azimuth
(true)
Year
ACDDH022
1507212
5333199
508
108.5
Pad 10
-54
193
2024
ACDDH023
1507212
5333199
508
51.5
Pad 10
-60
85
2024
ACDDH024
1507290
5333146
539
150
Old 13
-37
220
2025
ACDDH025
1507290
5333146
539
180.9
Old 13
-54
248
2025
ACDDH026
1507290
5333146
539
200
Old 13
-59
231
2025
ACDDH027
1507290
5333146
539
193.4
Old 13
-45
212
2025
ACDDH028
1507079
5332952
607
243.5
Pad 18
-50
104
2025
ACDDH029
1507079
5332952
607
256
Pad 18
-50
120
2025
ACDDH030
1507079
5332952
607
268.5
Pad 18
-53
85
2025
Table 2: Significant drilling intercepts at Auld Creek, full mineralized zone composites (1.5g/t Au cut-
off)
Sample No
From
To
Interval
Au (g/t)
Sb (%)
ACDDH026
175
175.9
0.9
0.96
ACDDH026
175.9
177.1
1.2
1.55
ACDDH027
152
153
1
2.52
ACDDH027
153
154
1
1.88
ACDDH027
154
155
1
3.44
ACDDH027
155
156
1
2.25
ACDDH027
156
157
1
1.84
ACDDH027
157
158
1
0.37
ACDDH027
158
159
1
0.15
ACDDH027
159
160
1
2.38
0.013%
ACDDH027
160
161
1
2.39
0.802%
ACDDH027
161
162
1
4.75
0.008%
ACDDH027
162
163
1
2.84
0.016%
ACDDH027
163
164
1
8.42
0.010%
ACDDH027
164
165
1
4.7
0.010%
ACDDH027
165
166
1
3.77
0.009%
ACDDH027
166
167
1
15
0.178%
ACDDH027
167
168
1
3.11
0.428%
ACDDH028
209.5
210.15
0.65
0.92
ACDDH028
210.15
210.6
0.45
18.4
11.600%
ACDDH028
210.6
211.4
0.8
8.28
4.680%
ACDDH028
211.4
212
0.6
1.68
1.Using recent spot prices of gold and antimony, and applying a ~30% discount, the gold equivalent formula is based on AuEq = Au g/t + 4.3 x Sb%
using a Au price of US$2065/oz, Sb price of US$34,300 per tonne and 85% recovery.
2.Please see the Company’s technical report entitled, “Technical Report on Reefton Project, New Zealand”, dated October 30, 2024.
3.Based on gold equivalent formula of AuEq = Au g/t + 1.9 x Sb% using a Au price of US$2025/oz, Sb price of US$15,000 per tonne and 85%
recovery.
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