The 472.2-square-kilometre Lyell gold prospect, located approximately 40 kilometres northwest of Reefton, is considered to be the northern extension of the prolific Reefton gold field. Historic reports indicate that approximately 10 million ounces of placer gold and 2 million ounces of lode gold have been recovered from the Reefton mining camp. The Company completed a geological assessment of the Red Queen mine, Rough and Tumble Creek and Maori Creek and vicinity, the results of which were reported in the Company's news release KEX2010-07. Mineralization consists of high grade gold in veins with the most significant assay being 0.2 m at 69.4 g/t Au.
Gold
Historic mines in the Lyell claim area include the Strathconor in the Rough and Tumble Creek gold zone, in the northern area of the property, which reportedly contained a one-metre-wide quartz vein with historic reported assays up to 12 g/t gold and 342 g/t silver (10 ounces per ton), and the Red Queen, which reportedly produced approximately 3,100 ounces at an average grade of 44 g/t. Other historic mines which were established on gold-bearing occurrences in the area were the South Pacific, Mokinui, Southern Light, Lady Agnes and Guiding Star. The Bald Hill molybdenum prospect and the Ngakawau scheelite prospect were discovered in the Lyell area in the 1970s.