Location map of the three Redcastle exploration permits (option and joint venture with Nagambie). WGS84 map projection.

The Redcastle Project is a shallow orogenic (or epizonal) Fosterville-style historic high-grade field held within a tenure area of 56.7 km².  It is located 2 km along strike from Mandalay Resources’ Costerfield mine exploration licences and 24 km east of Agnico Eagle’s Fosterville mine – two of the world’s highest grade goldmines.

Its proximity to the operating Costerfield mine gives the Redcastle Project accessibility to appropriate infrastructure to advance projects beyond should it move beyond exploration.

REDCASTLE – MINE LEASE EXTENSIONS OF COSTERFIELD

Map showing location of Southern Cross Gold’s Redcastle Project on same mineralised trend as Mandalay Resources’ Costerfield mine

The Redcastle Project is one of the most significant historic epizonal high-grade gold fields in Victoria.  First discovered in 1859, it is a uniquely Victorian opportunity where significant historically mined epizonal gold systems remain poorly explored to depth. Its extremely high gold grades with visible gold in quartz (+/- stibnite association) were mined over a 4.5 x 7 km area containing over 24 historic mining areas but it remains poorly explored to depth.

Better historic mines include the Welcome Group of mines were exploited over 2 km strike length from 1859–1865, down to a maximum depth of 125 m and extracted 20,583 oz @ 254.6 g/t gold; the Beautiful Venus Group of mines are located 2.5 km east of the Welcome Group; the reef was worked along strike for 61 m on surface and 30 m at the base of the shaft and averaged 0.6 m @ 93 g/t to 311 g/t gold. Other styles worked in this field included quartz-vein stockworks in sandstones and dyke-hosted mineralisation.

Modern exploration work undertaken prior to SXG at Redcastle began in 1985 included extensive rock chip (1,795 samples) and soil geochemical programs (1,619 soil samples); RC (169 drill holes totalling 7,950.5 m) and RAB drill programs; costean mapping programs (128 costeans totalling 6,051.6 m) and extensive geophysical surveys. Exploration within Redcastle concentrated mostly on gold, with areas of past mining and known mineralisation being the focus for most companies.

17 km of combined high-grade vein strike remains completely untested below the workings and below the water table (50 m average depth). Selected drill results from these previous shallow holes marginal to the high-grade mines include: 10 m at 2.5 g/t gold from 22 m (RRC26), 2 m at 10.7 g/t gold from 39 m (RRC41) and 2 m at 6.03 g/t gold from 26 m (PR16). None of this historic drill data have been independently verified at this time. The true thickness of the mineralised intervals is not known at this stage. No systematic geophysical surveys were undertaken.

REDCASTLE – HISTORY OF SIGNIFICANT GOLD PRODUCTION

LiDAR map with interpreted alluvial and hard rock workings, in addition to geological form lines. The diamond drill program collars placed by TSX listed Mawson Gold Ltd prior to SXG’s IPO on the ASX in May 2022 are identified in addition to historic data and prospect names.

The exploration strategy at Redcastle has focused on searching for high-grade epizonal gold at depth beneath historic mines. The approach has been to compile all historical mining and exploration data into a 3D model and apply large scale geophysical and remote sensing methods to identify mineral systems below 50 metres depth, followed by oriented diamond drilling to test targets.

16 drill holes for 2,786.9 metres across total of eight prospects at Redcastle (for an average hole depth of 174.2 metres). Thin to moderate grades and widths of gold were discovered in all drill holes, except those that hit historic mine workings. Details of drill results received at the Redcastle Project are set out in the Independent Geologist's Report in SXG's Prospectus dated 17 March 2022 and can be found here. Many targets require follow-up drilling.

Selected intersections in the Redcastle project reported using a 0.3 g/t AuEq cutoff over 2 m and including 5.0 g/t AuEq cutoffs over 1 m.

To find out details of our latest activities at Redcastle, please refer to our ASX announcements and presentations.