- The Kamitsue property is located 10 km southeast of the Taio mine in the Northern Kyushu Epithermal Province. The Taio mine, northern Kyushu’s largest gold mine, produced approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 6.3 g/t between 1903-73 (1Garwin, 2005, 2Shikazono, 1986). Kyushu hosts two other plus million-ounce gold producers, the currently producing Hishikari mine with 6 million ounces of gold produced to date at average grades of 30-40 g/t Au (Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. website) and the Kushikino mine which produced 1.8 million ounces of gold at a grade of 6.7 g/t between 1914-74 (1Garwin, 2005, 2Shikazono, 1986) in the southern part of the island.
- At least 40 mine portals and associated workings from the pre-WWII era are noted within the property (3Watanabe, 2005), however no gold production records have been sourced to date.
- The Kamitsue Project contains a single large epithermal, advanced argillic alteration (AAA) lithocap.
- The Kamitsue lithocap may have formed above a telescoped porphyry system. Based on the mapped alteration and metal zonation patterns interpreted by Japan Gold’s consultants, the causal porphyry intrusions associated with the Kamitsue lithocap are interpreted to lie 0.5 km depth below the present-day land surface.
