The market seems to have missed the implications of this...

The market seems to have missed the implications of this announcement which could be very significant.

A steep lode has been detected on the western side of the RAS resource. Management think this could be a steep lode or bounding structure. The announcement doesn't explain the implications well. I have highlighted in pink roughly where the current 2.2MOz resource sits on the cross section from announcement. The steep lode is shown with two faint orange dotted lines, easy to miss. The steep lode is potentially a major crustal structure that has channeled the fluids upward, allowing gold to be deposited in a flat lying layer in the rise and shine shear zone. The steep lode could be the feeder structure.

If the steep structure is continuous at depth, then there is potential for additional ounces on the steep structure that may extend to considerable depth. The steep structure has a 19m true width in the announced intercept which is an excellent mineable width. Just spitballing..... if this structure was 800m long, 15m wide, averaged 2g/t Au and was continuous another 300m below the base of the resource, this would add another 600kOz and several more years of UG mining.

However, the steep structure opens up the possibility of further flay lying mineralisation at depth tied to the same structure. That is, repeats of RAS.
New Zealand is extremely tectonically active and is full of shear zones. Each shear zone intercepted by the steep structure could form another ore zone. I'd be surprised if there weren't more at depth. This concept is demonstrated below.



However, it is pretty likely that the same shearing that created the potential for more ore zones, would have also offset these ore zones from their original position, which will make them much harder to find, if they exist. As below:


There's a good chance that RAS will continue to grow materially for years yet IMO.