Hot probes for gold

Waiotapu on the Volcanic Plateau, where a company plans to explore for gold. Picture / Daily Post

Simon Henderson has a proposition for New Zealand investors but doesn't deny his venture mightn't be for the faint-hearted.

Glass Earth is one of two local gold explorers seeking to cash in on the record high gold price this year and raise capital on the share market to continue exploring.

It is preparing to list on the share market next month.

Henderson, the managing director, says Glass Earth is focussing on "middle-sized" gold deposits of more than one million ounces which could be worth up to a billion dollars.

Investors could be in for a long wait as the company uses equity to explore its permit holdings, including areas of the volcanic Central Plateau.

Henderson was talking to investors around the country last week and is "quietly confident" they can raise $5.2 million in New Zealand.

The rest of the required $10 million will come from Canadian company St Andrew Goldfields, which has a 48 per cent shareholding in Glass Earth.

Henderson describes the company as a "junior mineral exploration company focussed on greenfields gold discoveries in New Zealand".

Glass Earth hold permits in the gold mining areas of Waihi and Otago, plus the volcanic Central Plateau.

The volcanic plateau was not recognised as a gold producing area but geothermal scientists discovered gold deposits in thermal pools in the 1970s.

Glass Earth says its use of advanced exploration technology can uncover concealed gold buried beneath a blanket of ash that is not able to be discovered using conventional techniques.

Henderson said the historic areas are "ripe for another angle on how exploration should be conducted".

The offer for Glass Earth closes on October 6 and shares will be listed on the NZAX on October 13 at 25c.

Meanwhile, listed exploration company Heritage Gold announced mid-year it was planning to spin off its Waihi exploration operations and float a new company, Mid-Earth Minerals on the NZX. Details of the offer are still being finalised.