• Golden Cross Resources (TSXV: AUX / OTCQB: ZCRMF) is exploring the Reedy Creek Gold project within Victoria’s prolific Lachlan Fold Belt
• early results deliver a clear signal: every drill hole completed to date has intersected gold, reinforcing the view that Golden Cross is operating within a large, continuous orogenic gold system
• with 4,000 metres drilled across 15 diamond holes, another 8,000 metres funded, and maiden drilling now underway at Aurora, the company is executing a disciplined, data-driven exploration strategy aimed at vectoring toward thicker, higher-grade mineralization at depth

A gold legacy that built a bank

When Louis Ah Mouy put down his carpenter’s tools and walked into the valleys of Australia’s Victoria goldfields in 1851, he carried little more than a mining pick and resolve. Eight years later, at Welcome Reef, he struck the discovery that would define his life.

First mined in 1859 as part of the Ti Tree Creek Goldfield, Welcome Reef became one of the region’s most productive hard-rock gold sites. Historical records show more than 9,000 ounces of gold were extracted from the Ah Mouy Mine between 1874 and 1891. The fortune Ah Mouy built from these workings later helped finance what would become Westpac Bank — one of Australia’s largest financial institutions.

Now, 170 years later, the story has come full circle. 

More than 170 years later, that same ground is once again being drilled, not by a lone prospector this time, but by Golden Cross Resources (TSXV: AUX / OTCQB: ZCRMF), a modern exploration team applying structural geology, geochemistry, LiDAR, and 3D modelling to reopen one of Australia’s most storied gold provinces.

Modern drills meet historic ground

Golden Cross’s projects sit along the Lachlan Fold Belt, the same geological province that also hosts Australia’s highest-grade operating gold mines, Fosterville and Costerfield.

At Reedy Creek, initial drilling confirmed high-grade mineralization with intercepts such as 0.5 m @ 24.4 g/t Au and 23 m @ 3.01 g/t Au. Those results not only validate the target model but also reveal continuous gold zones and “nuggety” high-grade gold mineralization veins typical of Victoria’s orogenic systems.

More importantly, the results are consistent. All 15 drill holes completed so far have intersected gold, and those intercepts sit within well-developed arsenic halos — a proven pathfinder signature in major Victorian gold systems.

The company’s geological work has mapped ladder-style quartz veins, arsenic halos, and laminated structures, classic hallmarks of Fosterville-style mineralization. Golden Cross has used these geochemical and structural vectors to develop a de-risked exploration model, focusing each dollar of drilling where it counts most.

“When the LiDAR data came in, all the historic workings lit up across the terrain. It effectively handed us a geological roadmap” — Matthew Roma, CEO and Director, Golden Cross Resources

And the Golden Cross Resources team combines the discovery, capital markets, and exploration experience, an crucial factor when navigating technical risk, permitting, capital raises, and deal-making; including Matthew Roma, CEO and Director, a seasoned resource finance executive with over 13 years of experience, playing a key role in raising over $200 million in equity capital for corporations, and Alan Till, VP Exploration, a geologist with over 17 years of experience contributing to multiple mineral discoverie, in particula, the lead geologist behind the discovery of the Mahenge Graphite Deposits in Tanzania for Black Rock Mining.

Why arsenic matters

In Victorian orogenic systems, arsenic halos are not noise, they are directional tools.

At Reedy Creek, arsenic is consistently present alongside gold, helping define the orientation and continuity of mineralized structures. Lower-grade gold connecting nearby veins further supports the interpretation of a linked system, not isolated pods.

Early signs of depth-related sulphide zonation, a hallmark of the Fosterville system, are also emerging. Historic soil data and new drilling both confirm antimony enrichment in predicted zones, increasing confidence that the geological model is correctly vectoring toward stronger mineralization at depth .

This is where Golden Cross’s approach stands out.

“Every hole drilled to date has intersected gold with well-developed arsenic halos, indicating we’re positioned in the upper levels of a larger orogenic gold system. The grades we’re seeing near surface, coupled with our structural data, are now pointing us toward where the system gets stronger at depth” — Matthew Roma, CEO and Director, Golden Cross Resources

Aurora emerges as a high-priority target

Golden Cross has now secured access to Aurora, marking the first modern drilling ever conducted in one of the most historically significant parts of the goldfield.

Aurora hosts the highest concentration of historic underground workings across the entire project area, yet has never been drill-tested using modern methods. Its favourable structural position suggests it may host broader and more continuous gold zones than nearby prospects .

Surface rock chips returning up to 5.22 g/t Au, supported by strong arsenic, reinforce Aurora as a compelling near-term drill target with room to intensify at depth .

Results from earlier have further refined the geological model and directed the Company’s focus toward Aurora, where establishing continuity between historic gold mineralization and potential mineralization at depth represents a key objective of the current drill program. 

This prospect is now a central focus of Golden Cross’s exploration strategy.

Strategic advantage: efficient, de-risked exploration

Golden Cross benefits from its low-cost, year-round exploration capability in Victoria, with drilling possible for 12 months of the year, at approx CAD$250 per meter, including assays This gives Golden Cross an exploration advantage over more remote or seasonally constrained jurisdictions.  

By leveraging detailed structural mapping and modern multi-element geochemistry, the company has reduced blind drilling risk and is effectively using “old data in new ways.” This data-driven targeting gives Golden Cross an edge over smaller explorers still reliant on grid-based drilling or legacy interpretations.

• 10,000m Phase 2 drill program funded and underway
• pending assays from ~1,900 m will guide next targets
• historic core resampling confirmed prior gold hits

Why the market is watching

Assays from Welcome Reef and Empress Reef are still pending, providing additional near-term catalysts. Each new dataset feeds back into the evolving geological model, further tightening targeting and reducing exploration risk.

With a fully funded 10,000-metre Phase 2 program, and newly opened ground at Aurora, Golden Cross is entering a pivotal stage where disciplined technical work meets expanding opportunity.

Golden Cross’s land package — roughly 750 km² across Victoria — sits less than 10 kilometres northeast of Southern Cross Gold’s Sunday Creek discovery, which has been one of the region’s standout exploration stories. Yet Golden Cross Resources trades at a fraction of the valuation of its peers, offering asymmetric upside if results continue to build momentum.

The macro backdrop supports that potential: gold prices have hit US$4000 in October 2025 amid sustained central-bank buying and geopolitical risk.

With high-grade confirmation, de-risked modeling, and ample funding runway, Golden Cross Resources is advancing beyond early-stage exploration toward defining a new camp-scale system.

Conclusion

Victoria’s goldfields once financed national institutions like Westpac and built the infrastructure of Australia. Today, they are again feeding a new cycle of resource development, capital investment, and regional employment but, this time, underpinned by data science, precision geology, and environmental accountability.

Golden Cross Resources is emblematic of that shift: a modern explorer leveraging AI-assisted geological modeling, historic data digitization, and low-impact exploration in pursuit of scalable, high-margin ounces.

As Aurora enters its first modern drill program, Golden Cross is no longer just exploring history, it is methodically working toward the next discovery.