Au Gold samples 54.20 g/t gold from the Shaw’s Main mine dump and adds two additional drill targets at Havelock Gold-Antimony Project – Richard Mills

Au Gold Corp (TSXV:AUGC) is actively exploring the Havelock Gold-Antimony Project located within the world-class Victorian Goldfields of Australia.

The company has successfully built a historical database and completed surface testing. They have narrowed their primary efforts down to two high-priority drill targets along the Shaw-McFarlane Trend: McFarlane’s and Shaw’s No. 1 North.

At the McFarlane’s site, historical mining went as deep as 107 meters. Records from the 1880’s show they pulled out incredibly rich ore averaging close to 23 grams of gold per tonne.

The drill program is searching for the continuation of gold and antimony — a valuable metal used in technology and energy storage — that extends deep below the old mine workings.

Tungsten and antimony: mission critical exploration — Richard Mills

The McFarlane’s target is the primary reason Au Gold initially acquired the Havelock Gold-Antimony Project. It is a high-grade historical mine site that has never been tested with modern drilling tools.

The Shaw’s No.1 North target is located in the central portion of the 9-kilometer-long Shaw-McFarlane Trend. Like McFarlane’s, it represents an old 1880’s gold-mining site that has sat untouched by modern exploration.

Under the Spotlight — Marc Blythie, CEO Au Gold TSXV:AUGC

On Sept. 21 Au Gold announced two additional targets at Havelock: Shaw’s Main and Rob Roy.

Shaw’s Main is the untested, unmined continuation of the strongest gold mineralization interpreted from reconstructed historical mine records. Select grab samples from the mine waste dump returned 54.20, 25.10 and 16.70 grams per tonne gold, respectively.

Rob Roy is the down-plunge continuation of ultra-high-grade shoots and two parallel reefs associated with a doubly plunging structural architecture where mineralization is documented up to 0.9 meters wide containing visible gold.

“The Shaw’s Main and Rob Roy past-producing mines are quality drill targets with the potential for shallow high-grade gold discoveries beneath the historical workings,” said Marc Blythe, Au Gold’s founder and CEO. “While the Rob Roy mine reported specimens ‘amongst the richest seen in the Maryborough district’, Shaw’s Main had the highest historical production of all the mines within the Shaw-McFarlane Trend (SMT) and sampling by AUGC confirms the tenor of this mineralization. Au Gold is building an inventory of drill targets with additional work ongoing as we prepare for drilling to commence.”

Shaw’s Main target

The Shaw’s Main mine is situated along the southern portion of the series of mines defining the 9-km-long SMT. The workings exploit 360 meters of northerly trending mineralization to a depth of 152m. This is the deepest gold mineralization documented along the SMT. Figure 1 illustrates the plan view location and historical long section reconstruction of the mine, with the primary focus on the lowest level of the workings.

The gold-bearing reef at Shaw’s Main is interpreted as subvertical with a slight tendency to dip steeply eastward between some of the mine levels. At the lowest level (152m) south of the main engine shaft, the mine manager’s records describe an 80-m section of continuous reef mineralization with descriptions including: “Nice reef and can see gold”, “Stone making bigger and showing more gold”, “Gold freely seen throughout” and “18 inches and gold showing freely”. No mine exploration was carried out below this level.

The mine closure was due to insufficient pumping ability of ground water inflow. Additionally, the reef was reported to be narrowing in the northern portion of the mine prior to the closure; however, pinch and swell characteristics are commonly noted throughout the workings.

In June 2026 AUGC personnel accessed the main dump north of the Shaw’s Reef Co. Engine Shaft, roughly in the central part of the workings. Four composite samples of varying degrees of laminated quartz vein/reef material were collected from the top of and around the periphery of the mine dump. This material is believed to represent the deepest levels of the mine. Results for all four samples are contained in Table 1, with the strongest laminated quartz material returning 54.20 g/t gold from a 1.88-kg sample. 

AUGC’s diamond drill program will initially target the 80-m section directly beneath the 152-m level where the mine manager’s records have documented gold-bearing reef mineralization. 

Rob Roy target

The Rob Roy mine is the southernmost of the significant historical mines on the SMT. It has documented some of the richest material in the Maryborough district, yet it was only mined to a depth of 61m and along trend collectively from three levels for approximately 145m. 

The Rob Roy reef mineralization is situated approximately 150m west of the main Shaw’s line of workings. It is not known if this reef is structurally offset or if it represents a parallel mineralized system to the SMT.

The general long section position, plan view and detailed long section attributes are shown in Figure 2.

The western development of the mine produced the majority of the 293 ounces of gold reported at an average grade of 52 g/t. One section of the mine south of the main shaft between the 44-m and 50-m drive levels encountered an ultra-high-grade shoot. Mineralization was described as ‘Stone literally studded with large pieces of flakey gold and quartz is only held together by the precious metal’. The steep westerly dipping reef was calculated to have a southerly plunge of approximately 30 degrees in this part of the mine. 

Continued development at the 61-m level encountered reef mineralization with visible gold up to 0.9m wide. Heavy ground water flow impeded operations, coupled with narrowing of the reef mineralization in this part of the mine. Development was limited to an 80-m strike length.

Following the closure of the western development, a late eastern cross-cut from the main shaft at the 44-m level discovered a parallel reef roughly 10m to the east, with similar thicknesses and gold-bearing description as the reef documented in the western drive at the same level. It is uncertain why the western drive was not developed further north as one of the last mine manager’s reports described the reef to be 36 inches wide and “gold can be seen”. The parallel reef in the eastern cut is noted to be “30 inches full of mineral and gold bearing – 24 inches highly mineralized plus gold”. The mine manager also concluded this portion of the reef system to be northerly plunging, which indicates potential for structural thickening proximal to the hinge.

AUGC plans to initiate drill testing in the vicinity of the hinge line directly beneath the 44- and 60-meter levels where gold-bearing mineralization was last documented in the mine manager’s records. Additional drilling will also be conducted at the southern end of the development to trace the continuation of the ultra-high-grade mineralized zone down plunge.

Next steps

AUGC continues to prepare for diamond drilling on the Shaw – McFarlane Trend and other peripheral targets.

The drill targets identified in the Sept. 21 news release are planned to be drilled from sites located on Crown land. The proximity of the drill sites to Four Mile Creek requires additional preparatory work which has commenced.

The company continues to engage with private landowners within areas of interest on the project.

Historical Information

AUGC cautions that the historical mine reconstruction work has relied on records which pre-date the introduction of NI 43-101. The reconstruction involved collating public records, comprising public company disclosures and newspaper articles, primarily from the late 1800’s and sorting them chronologically. Some of these records are online while others are only available on microfilm. AUGC reminds readers that no mineral resources exist on the project and there is no certainty that exploration will result in the definition of mineral resources, despite the reported historical production.

A visual representation of each individual mine of significance has been rendered from these records. Readers are cautioned that the information may contain inaccuracies and may be incomplete in areas. Laboratory analyses were not carried out during this era. Comments on the quality of material mined are therefore subjective and based on visual inspection. The language used reflects the era in which the work took place. Tonnages of material mined and treated are detailed in the historical records, along with the number of ounces of gold produced, which were generally disclosed on a quarterly basis.

The widths of gold-bearing quartz veins encountered in these historic mines has often been recorded and ranges from 3” to 3’6” (0.075-1.07m).  AUGC has relied upon these historic disclosures and reconstructions to interpret its high-priority phase 1 drill targets. It should be noted that even with potential deficiencies in the historical documentation, the level of detail is considered invaluable.

Au Gold Corp
TSXV:AUGC
2026.09.22 Share Price: Cdn$0.27
Shares Outstanding: 58.5m
Market Cap: Cdn$15.8m
AUGC website

Richard (Rick) Mills
aheadoftheherd.com

Subscribe to AOTH’s free newsletter

Richard owns shares of (Au Gold TSXV:AUGC). AUGC is a paid advertiser on his site aheadoftheherd.com

This article is issued on behalf of AUGC.