Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) has kicked off its maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at the Amoco Gold-Antimony Project in New South Wales’ Armidale region, targeting a promising corridor of gold and antimony mineralisation.
The program will initially test 12 holes for about 1,000 metres across a 400-metre strike length, focused on a high-priority geophysical and geochemical anomaly. The area is defined by more than 2 kilometres of gold-in-soil anomalies, supported by surface rock samples grading up to 17.9 g/t gold and 0.7% antimony.
Read more: Critical Resources defines 2km gold–antimony corridor at Amoco ahead of maiden drilling
Following encouraging soil survey results in September, the company has also designed an additional 13 holes to further probe several newly identified structural targets. These have been submitted to the NSW Resources Regulator for approval and could be drilled while the rig remains onsite.
Amoco maiden RC drill program with rock samples and major/minor interpreted fault structures (black dashed lines), gold-in-soil contours green (0.5-1 ppb Au) orange (1-2 ppb Au) red (2-3.5 ppb Au) and pink (3.5-21 ppb Au).
Early-stage exploration in a proven district
Amoco sits within the mineral-rich New England Fold Belt, about 19 kilometres southeast of Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove antimony-gold operations and 14 kilometres east of Koonenberry Gold’s Enmore project. Mineralisation in this region is typically controlled by southwest–northeast trending fault structures that can extend over significant distances, providing a strong geological model for discovery.
Location Plan of Critical Resources - Halls Peak tenure and regionally significant Hillgrove and Enmore with regional structures.
The company said the maiden program is designed to systematically test these structures, build a better understanding of the anomaly and guide future drill campaigns.
“It is exciting to commence the maiden gold-antimony drill program at Amoco, and we look forward to acquiring a significant amount of geological understanding into the potential at Amoco, given the early-staged exploration phase,” Critical Resources CEO Tim Wither said.
“Amoco represents a compelling drill target within the Armidale region’s rich antimony-gold production history, and recent exploration success at Koonenberry Gold’s Enmore Project highlights the discovery potential,” he added. “We are eager to see what this maiden drill program delivers and look forward to updating shareholders as we continue to systematically test quality targets across our diverse gold and antimony portfolio.”
Next steps and funding support
Drilling at Amoco is expected to wrap up during October, with assay results due from mid-November. The results will guide follow-up drilling plans and broader exploration activity across Critical Resources’ NSW assets.
Meanwhile, the company is also progressing approvals at its Mayview Antimony-Gold Project, where it intends to conduct low-impact soil sampling over historic workings.
In support of this accelerated exploration push, Critical Resources recently secured A$1.8 million in funding to fast-track gold and antimony drilling. The capital injection strengthens the company’s ability to move quickly on geophysical and geochemical targets at both Amoco and Mayview.
Read more: Critical Resources secures A$1.8M to accelerate gold-antimony drilling
Part of a broader NSW and global portfolio
These prospects form part of the Halls Peak gold-antimony and base metals projects in NSW, which host a maiden inferred resource of 884,000 tonnes at 3.7% zinc, 1.5% lead, 0.4% copper, 30 g/t silver and 0.1 g/t gold.
Project Location map showing Halls Peak project area proximity to significant Antimony-Gold projects in the Armidale region, NSW, Australia.
Beyond NSW, Critical Resources also holds gold-antimony projects in New Zealand and the Mavis Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada, where it has defined an inferred resource of 8 million tonnes at 1.07% Li₂O.
With the drill rig turning at Amoco, and funding support in place, the company is well-positioned to deliver geological insights and potential high-impact results from its gold, antimony and lithium portfolio.