Mineralisation was identified at Gladstone Hill as far
back as the late 1870's - early 1880's, shortly after the initial discovery of
Martha Hill. Indeed, early recovery problems from the Martha Hill mineralisation
led to the preferred development of are bodies within what is now the Union Hill
Joint Venture tenement; ore bodies such as Silverton, Amaranth, Union to name a
few.
Work at Gladstone Hill is carried under the Union Hill
Joint Venture, a 50:50 joint venture between Auag Resources Ltd - manager (a
fully owned subsidiary of Otter Gold Mines Ltd) and Welcome Gold Mines Ltd (a
fully owned subsidiary of the Normandy Group). The joint venture participants
also operate the adjacent Martha Hill operation.
Mineralisation of Gladstone Hill, as with mineralisation
at the adjacent Martha Hill, has been interpreted as a low sulphidation
epithermal Ag-Au system hosted within hydrothermally altered andesites of the
lower Coromandel Group.
Drilling in recent years has successfully identified
extensive mineralisation associated with the Gladstone vein set and the more recently
identified high grade Moonlight Lode. Veining ranges in character from thin
stock works to broader lode-style banded chalcedonic to cherty quartz. Visible
gold is rare, with mineralisation generally associated with very fine-grained
pyrite, arsenopyrite and minor electrum.
The potential for the Gladstone Hill area is yet to be
clearly defined as drilling to date has yet to close off mineralisation both
along strike and down dip. If further drilling is successful, the joint venture
partners believe Gladstone Hill could contribute significantly to the economic
future of current operations.