The Mizobe Project lies within the Hokusatsu Region of southern Kyushu, along the western edge of the Kagoshima Graben in a similar geological setting as the Hishikari Mine, located 23 km to the north. Hishikari is one of the highest-grade Tier 1 gold mines in the world. The Hishikari Mine produced approximately 9 million ounces of gold (8.6 Moz Au past production 1985-present, 4.98 Moz Au reserves) between 1985-2024 at +30 g/t Au and is Japan’s only gold mine that is still operating today.1 Historical mining activities within Mizobe focused on antimony-rich hydrothermal breccias at the Semari and Nakazon workings, prior to 1942. In 2000, as part of government supported regional geological surveys, the Metal Mining Agency of Japan ("MMAJ") drill hole 12MAHT-2 was drilled 1 km to the southeast of the historical antimony workings, targeting a geophysical anomaly below a mineralized outcrop grading 0.3 g/t gold. Drilling intersected a mineralized interval of 43.35 m @ 0.89 g/t gold, with an included interval of 20.3 m @ 1.16 g/t gold from 307.0 m down-hole.
References: Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., LTD. Integrated Report, 2nd August 2024