Canadian company Japan Gold has acquired five new gold projects in the Southern and Middle Kyushu Epithermal Gold Provinces.
The acquired gold projects cover significant current and past producing gold mines, including the Hishikari, Yamagano, Kushikino, Bajo and Okuchi mines. They collectively comprise 21,058ha.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has granted authorisation to Japan Gold to commence surface exploration at these areas.
With the acquisition of these five projects, Japan Gold now has 24 separate gold projects in its portfolio lying within the epithermal gold provinces of Japan.
Japan Gold chairman and CEO John Proust said: “The acquisition of this coherent ground package in such a prospective address is a remarkable accomplishment.
“These new projects continue to provide outstanding exploration opportunities within the portfolio and the potential to create significant value for Japan Gold going forward.”
Among the five projects, three are located adjacent to the Sumitomo Metal Mining, Hishikari Mine property.
The Southern Kyushu Epithermal Gold province has yielded more than 11Moz of gold from low-sulphidation epithermal deposits, while the Middle Kyushu Epithermal Gold province yielded some 1.7Moz of gold from epithermal gold mines.
Isa, Gumyo and Kurino are the three new projects within the Southern Kyushu Epithermal Gold Province and comprise an additional 14,742ha, covering prospects of Pliocene and Pleistocene geological sequences adjacent to the Hishikari, Yamagano and Okuchi gold mines.
The remaining two new projects lying within the Middle Kyushu Epithermal province are the Bajo and Usa projects. They cover extensions to the Bajo gold mine and a series of old gold workings in the Usa area for a combined total area of 6,315ha.
In October 2017, Japan Gold added two projects in the Southern Kyushu province, expanding its epithermal gold exploration portfolio in Japan.
