Dacian Gold Limited (ASX: DCN) has announced high-grade RC drilling results including 12m @ 1.41g/t Au from 23m, and 3m @ 6.42g/t Au from 1m from its initial drilling program along strike from the Mt Marven open pit at its Mt Morgans Gold Operation (MMGO) in Western Australia.
The company said that a strongly mineralised trend was encountered in first-pass RC drilling along strike from the currently producing Mt Marven open pit.
Significant results include 12m @ 1.41g/t Au from 23m; 2m @ 4.05g/t Au from 79m; 3m @ 3.13g/t Au from 13m; 2m @ 5.97g/t Au from 58m; and 3m @ 6.42g/t Au from 1m.
DCN said that this newly defined continuation of high-grade mineralisation is currently delineated over a length of approximately 800m beyond the limit of the current open pit design for Mt Marven, and remains open at depth and along strike.
The company said that the infill drilling to 40m x 40m spacing to assess the continuity of the structure will commence immediately, and the Mineral Resource estimate work would follow.
Dacian said that the exploration emphasis on establishing supplementary ore sources at MMGO to bolster annual production and extend mine life set to continue during FY2021 with multiple targets identified and planned to be drilled.
Mt Morgans project
Dacian’s 100%-owned Mt Morgans Gold Operation (MMGO) is located near Laverton in Western Australia. The MMGO is primarily comprised of the Jupiter open pit mine that includes the Heffernans and Doublejay sub-pits, and the Westralia underground mine that includes the Beresford and Allanson deposits.
MMGO also has a processing plant and associated infrastructure within a 608km2 tenement package encompassing predominantly granted mining leases.
The Mineral Resources as at 31 December 2019 are noted below.
Mt Marven is a satellite pit located approximately 3km west of the Jupiter processing plant. It is situated in the Mt Margaret dome area and is currently in production. The Mt Marven deposit consists of a series of lode structures within basalt flows and felsic rock intrusions, generally striking north to north-west and dipping approximately 60-750. Mineralisation is associated with basalt hosted shearing and sheared intrusive contacts
RC drilling at Mt Morgans
The company had carried out surface Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling over Marven Shear Zone south of the Mt Marven open pit gold mine. The program was aimed at testing future open pit potential in the vicinity of an existing Ore Reserve.
As part of a first-pass assessment into the prospectivity of the Mt Marven Shear Zone (MMSZ) south of the active Mt Marven open pit, a total of 44 Reverse Circulation (RC) holes were completed on an approximately 80m x 120m drill spacing.
The company has now announced the drilling results from its initial drilling program along strike from the Mt Marven open pit.
High-grade results
The company announced that high-grade assays were reported from the RC drilling along strike from the Mt Marven open pit.
Significant intercepts from the initial RC program include 12m @ 1.41g/t Au from 23m in 20MVRC0014; 4m @ 1.49g/t Au from 39m in 20MVRC0014; 2m @ 3.96g/t Au from 112m in 20MVRC0015; 4m @ 1.43g/t Au from 18m in 20MVRC0019; 3m @ 21.79g/t Au from 27m in 20MVRC0019; 2m @ 3.64g/t Au from 89m in 20MVRC0020; 2m @ 4.05g/t Au from 79m in 20MVRC0021; 3m @ 3.13g/t Au from 13m in 20MVRC0031; 2m @ 5.97g/t Au from 58m in 20MVRC0031; and 3m @ 6.42g/t Au from 1m in 20MVRC0039.
Drilling identifies strongly mineralised trend
Dacian said that the drilling has highlighted a strong mineralised trend coinciding with the strike length of the MMSZ and linking with the active open pit.
The company said that this newly defined continuation of high-grade mineralisation is currently delineated over a length of approximately 800m beyond the limit of the current open pit design for Mt Marven.
DCN said that the mineralisation is associated with increased sulphidation in sheared mafic rocks both in the weathered and fresh profile, and the tenor of grade is increased near the contacts of intrusive units and remains open at depth and along strike.
The company said that the orientation of the anomalism has been interpreted to correlate with the ore lodes seen in the Mt Marven open pit. DCN noted that the highest-grade intersections lie within a moderate to steeply dipping lode structure with a south-south-east strike. Also coincident with the anomaly is a line of historic workings south of Mt Marven.
Next steps
The company reported that it plans to immediately commence drilling this target extension south of Mt Marven to infill to 40m x 40m of the existing broad spaced lines to assess the continuity of the high-grade mineralisation along strike of the new anomaly and down-dip to an initial depth of 120m; investigate the presence of any potential parallel lodes to the existing Mt Marven open pit; and commence work towards an updated Mineral Resource estimate.