Waikato Police have launched a homicide investigation as a result of the findings of a post-mortem this morning.

Police were called to a rural property north of Ngaruawahia at around 11am Sunday morning due to the death of a 44-year-old Ngaruawahia man.

As a result of initial investigations a 38-year-old Hamilton man was charged with assault and appeared in Hamilton District Court today.

Police are continuing to speak with a number of people who were at the property at the time of the incident in order to determine what has taken place.