KO Gold said in a statement yesterday it was finalising plans to drill at four of its exploration permit sites in Otago, including securing a drilling contractor, settling private landowner and Department of Conservation access agreements and consulting with iwi.
Company president and chief executive Greg Isenor said the area had been "under-explored and has all the indicators pointing to major gold discoveries".
"Our exploration team has been successful in assembling a large land position with both drill-ready targets and grassroots exploration potential.
"At present, we have four drill-ready target areas.
"We see the ‘Otago Gold Belt’ of New Zealand now, as to where the Birimian Gold Belt of West Africa was 30 years ago, as having exceptional potential, hosting many gold deposit indicators and with very little detailed exploration.
"Now the Birimian is an extremely prolific gold producer.
"The Otago Gold Belt has the same potential.
Mr Isenor said the Carrick goldfield, in particular, was "exciting".
Planned drilling at the company’s Smylers, Hyde and Glenpark sites would allow it to look for extensions of the Macraes deposit, he said.
The junior exploration company has eight prospecting and exploration permits covering a total of 740sq km in Otago.
The company said the Carrick site still holds promise as a "significant gold deposit" near Santana Minerals' Bendigo-Ophir site.
KO Gold had spent more than $C3 million ($NZ3.6m) in exploration and drilling in Otago over the past five years, it said.
The Birimian Gold Belt includes Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and the Mali-Senegal border.
West Africa reportedly produced more than 10% of the world’s total gold production last year.
