Dateline Resources has uncorked a set of thumping gold hits at its Colosseum project in California, pulling broad, consistent mineralisation from beneath the pit floor and inside the existing shell.
The fresh batch of assays have come from a concerted 32-hole, 4,257-metre drilling blitz, with a diamond rig and two RC rigs working in tandem to chase infill, step-outs and geotechnical data.
The company says the results have served to fine-tune the mine plan even further and have given its bankable feasibility study a serious shot of momentum.
Meanwhile, a fourth sonic rig has wrapped up tailings stability work, clearing the way for dry-stacked tailings and a future lift in resources.
A single standout reverse-circulation (RC) hole drilled below the pit floor blasted out 85.34 metres at 1.33 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, while a nearby diamond hole pulled 61.26m at 1.18 g/t gold from its upper levels.
Further assays are stacked in the queue awaiting release.
For a deposit that already hosts 27.1 million tonnes grading 1.26g/t gold for 1.1 million ounces, Dateline says the hits don’t just back its hunch of more ounces lurking at depth, they also confirm and extend the mineralised envelope exactly where the company predicted it would be.
Dateline targeted the areas carrying the most inferred tonnes, tightening drill spacings and testing continuity across zones that had previously been only lightly touched. The reward has been thick, consistent gold intervals that mirror the deposit’s average grade and confirm the robustness of the geological model.
The real kicker, though, came from the deeper RC hole. Instead of tapering off beneath the pit, the orebody appears to hold its grade profile at depth, opening the door for a deeper pit push or even a future underground step-down.
Meanwhile, the diamond hole’s early results show that lightly drilled internal areas of the pit wall are also behaving as the model predicted – another tick when it comes to planning mine design and sequencing.
Confirming consistency of the mineralisation at depth would have been music to the company’s ears. Currently, more than 67 per cent of its resources are already sitting in the measured and indicated categories.
However, to move a project from a promising prospect to a real development case, the measured ounces needed to grow – and these latest infill results appear to be doing just that.
With a bankable feasibility study in full flight, this kind of drilling is rocket fuel. More confidence in the resource translates to tighter mine schedules, improved geotechnical inputs and a sturdier set of economics.
Dateline’s numbers are already impressive with an NPV of US$550 million (A$850M) and an internal rate of return north of 60 per cent using a US$2,900 (A$4467) per ounce gold guide price. Adding more measured and indicated ounces can only push that further.
The company is also using the opportunity to unleash the drill rigs on three high-priority gold breccia pipes and a newly flagged rare earths anomaly right beside the existing Colosseum pit, which were uncovered through recent geophysical and geochemical sleuthing.
Leading the pack are gold targets 1, 5 and 6 - each are breccia pipe-style systems that bear a striking resemblance to the rich zones already underpinning the project’s 1.1-million-ounce gold resource.
The real wildcard, however, sits just north of the existing gold resource, where the company is tracking the scent of what could be a game-changing rare earths find.
A magneto-telluric (MT) geophysical survey successfully picked up several deep targets sitting near mapped fenite dykes in the area, which the company regards as highly prospective for rare earths.
On inspection, one anomaly, dubbed 2200N, lit up the screens with a target running the whole way from 1000m depth to near surface and showing strong signs of being a Mountain Pass-style carbonatite system.
Colosseum sits less than 10 kilometres north of the MP Materials-owned Mountain Pass mine and is the only operating rare earths producer in the United States.
Given Dateline’s proximity, sitting north and directly along strike from the mining behemoth, the company has been eager to delineate breccia pipes with the same potential to host rare earths.
If successful, it would be a very significant discovery allowing management to instantly bolt a second strategic commodity straight onto an already significant gold system.
For now though, the focus is squarely on feeding the gold feasibility study.
More assays are on the way, more modelling is underway and more news flow will be incoming. If the consistency keeps up, Dateline might soon be staring at a resource figure well north of its current 1.1-million-ounce foundation.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
