Kwekwe block 4
A four-peg block of about 1,560 ha, roughly 7.6 km east-west, sitting ~10 km north of Kwekwe block 2. The supplied corner order was self-intersecting, so the boundary shown is the polar-ordered footprint of the four pegs. This is exploration-scale ground, ~50 times the size of a standard 30 ha claim, so whole-block statistics average over very different ground and the useful output is where inside it to focus. 101 known gold mines fall within 40 km. This is a where-to-walk assessment on free satellite data, not a claim that gold is present.
The terrain arm supports the same read: the block sits at the 73rd percentile of the terrain signature of 64 known gold mines within 25 km (LOO AUC 0.935), and lineament density peaks in the north-west quadrant (70th percentile, dominant trend 030–045°), overlapping the pocket.
The best-ground spots (UTM 35S). All six fall in the same west-central pocket:
The five checks behind that
Each is scored over the block against the ground immediately around it.
| Check | This block | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Regional P(gold) | 0.238 whole-block (34th percentile); pocket spots 0.62–0.71 | background-level overall, which is expected when averaging 1,560 ha; the west-central pocket is the sole above-average patch and the only ground the model argues for |
| Terrain match | 73rd percentile | the block leans toward the terrain signature of 64 known gold mines within 25 km (LOO AUC 0.935, spatial CV at 8 km holdout 0.852) |
| Structure / lineaments | 62nd percentile; NW quadrant 70th | slightly elevated, peaking in the north-west quadrant that overlaps the pocket; dominant trend 030–045°; roads and field edges are the dominant false positive in cultivated ground (~6% of the block is vegetated/farmed) |
| Red-oxide (ferric) | 46th percentile | background; no surface oxide anomaly at block scale |
| ASTER alteration (SWIR) | Al-OH 52nd, carbonate/Mg-OH 57th, chlorite 44th percentile | archive 2004 scene, 0% cloud. Flat, and the decisive check is the 62 local mines on this scene: they carry no alteration signal beyond chance (separability +0.06 sigma), so ASTER has no discriminating power in this district |
Compared to your other ground
Same estimate, run over each site:
| Site | P(gold) median | Percentile vs local background |
|---|---|---|
| Belingwe-West | 0.394 | n/a |
| Silobela site 2 window (~1 g/t assays) | 0.359 | 71st |
| Silobela block 3 | 0.346 | 69th |
| Kwekwe block 3 | 0.285 | 36th |
| Kwekwe block 2 | 0.254 | 45th |
| Kwekwe block 4 (this), whole block | 0.238 | 34th |
| Kwekwe block 4 (this), pocket spots | 0.62–0.71 | n/a |
| Kwekwe block 1 | 0.129 | 8th |
Read together with Silobela block 3, assessed the same day: if the choice is where to spend pegging money and ground time first, Silobela block 3 is the stronger and far cheaper test (29 ha at the 69th percentile, with the top Silobela spot on it). This block's case rests on one pocket; it earns a reconnaissance visit to that pocket before any commitment to the full 1,560 ha.
Data used
- Red-oxide (ferric): Sentinel-2, scene 2025-09-27, 10 m pixels, 0% cloud cover, ~5% vegetated within the block
- Hydrothermal alteration: ASTER SWIR band ratios, 30 m, archive scene 2004-07-30 at 0% cloud (ASTER's SWIR detectors failed in April 2008; only pre-2008 archive scenes carry usable SWIR)
- Structure and terrain: Copernicus GLO-30 elevation, 30 m pixels
- Regional P(gold) estimate: AlphaEarth surface data, 10 m pixels (native)
The P(gold) grid is 10 m (~0.01 ha cells), so it pins the pocket to walk, but it reads surface geology. It tells you where to look, not where a vein is.