Japan Gold said the 24 new applications total 7,711 hectares and cover prospective tertiary geology along the eastern side of Sanru while Irving Resources’s Omu project is located to the north.

With these additions, the Sanru Project now comprises 31,822 hectares and is one of the projects included in the Barrick Alliance to be covered by regional exploration programs in the next 12 months.

“This new acquisition continues our ongoing evaluation of the prospective geology in Japan,” John Proust, Japan Gold’s chairman and CEO, said in the media brief. “The decision to further extend the Sanru project was based upon the favourable structural controls on mineralization, host rock geology and the proximity of the Omui mine close by to the north.”

Sanru is located in the Kitami Region of northern Hokkaido and covers a total of five known mine workings that are inferred to be fault-controlled with potential to host similar mineralization as exploited in the Sanru mine, the second-largest historical gold producer in the area with 225,000 ounces of gold averaging 7.4 g/t and 1.4 million ounces of silver produced between 1925 and 1974.