Dalaroo Metals has come out punching in West Africa, jagging what looks to be a spectacular new gold discovery with only the second hole of its maiden drilling campaign at the Bondoukou Gold Ridge project in Côte d’Ivoire. The standout hit delivered in spades, returning a thumping 18 metres at 7.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 63m.
Judging by the market's reaction, the punters appear firmly in its corner, sending the company's shares rocketing 106 per cent higher to close at 15.5 cents on its biggest turnover in almost a year.
Adding to the discovery, the first hole of a reverse circulation (RC) campaign returned a solid 23m running 2.14g/t of gold from surface, representing a hefty 49 gram-metres, notably all in the oxide profile of the mineralisation. Gram-metres combine thickness and richness into a single economic indicator of contained metal per metre of drilling.
The impressive 18-metre high-grade hit, in the second hole, included a richer 12-metre core grading 8.66g/t gold, while a second zone deeper down delivered another solid 16m assaying 1.46g/t gold from 113m, equivalent to a whopping 132 gram-metres. The company says the true widths and continuity between the intersections in the two holes are still unknown.
The results came from the first two orientation holes at the company's Wilfred target at Bondoukou and mark the first-ever systematic drilling across the project’s identified 7-kilometre-long gold anomalous corridor. The holes were drilled from opposing directions in a scissor-style pattern, giving Dalaroo its first look at how the mineralised structures may sit beneath the surface and reducing the risk of drilling parallel to them.
The geology behind the headline hit adds another layer of intrigue. Dalaroo says the 18-metre high-grade zone sits in strongly silicified volcaniclastic rocks cut by quartz-sulphide veins and pyrite, giving its geos a potentially valuable fingerprint to chase as drilling fans out across the broader Gold Ridge corridor.
Better still, the drill bit appears to have vindicated a trail of geological breadcrumbs that management has been following from day one. The company was initially drawn to Bondoukou by a prominent magnetic feature that lined up with extensive historical and active artisanal gold workings. Under the terms of its joint venture agreement, it can earn up to an 80 per cent interest in the project.
Subsequent geological mapping, soil sampling and auger drilling then confirmed the potential, defining a coherent 7km-long gold-in-soil anomaly with a stunning peak assay of 23.26g/t gold at surface. Now, the company seems to have put the drill bit in the right place on the very first attempt.
Dalaroo Metals chief executive officer John Morgan said: "This is the start we were hoping for. Our very first drill holes at Wilfred have delivered 18 metres at 7.31 grams per tonne gold, including 12 metres at 8.66 grams per tonne, with a second 16-metre zone deeper in the same hole and 23 metres of gold from surface."
The current drilling is just the initial phase of a much larger campaign. These first results come from only two holes of an initial 24-hole, 4200-metre orientation program, which itself is part of a larger 102-hole, 12,000-metre RC program targeting the Wilfred, Mag and Ali prospects at Bondoukou.
With nine holes for 1750m now completed and the rig operating on day and night shifts, Dalaroo expects a steady flow of news. Samples from the next two holes are already at the lab, with those results slated to arrive in early November.
The Bondoukou project sits in a rapidly emerging gold district in north-eastern Côte d'Ivoire, a mere 35km from Endeavour Mining's giant five-million-ounce Tanda-Iguela gold project. The broader Birimian greenstone belt is already home to a string of multi-million-ounce gold deposits, including fellow ASX-listed Aurum Resources' 3.22- million-ounce Boundiali deposit and Resolute Mining's monster 11.5-million-ounce Syama project, making the belt one of the most productive gold regions in Africa.
Meanwhile in Greenland, Dalaroo has completed a comprehensive mapping program at its Blue Lagoon project. The program was designed to define the principal structural architecture controlling rare earths mineralisation in the area. The company says the results have considerably strengthened its source-to-sink model, which describes where the rare earths originate and how they enter the lagoon basin. Dalaroo has also collected more than 200 rock-chip, stream sediment and surface sediment samples, which have been dispatched for multi-element analysis.
Closer to home, the company has been busy firming up a series of compelling drill targets at its Watheroo copper-nickel-platinum project in WA's mid-north wheatbelt, where an induced polarisation survey lit up several anomalies that coincided with existing exploration indicators.
After a period of board renewal and recapitalisation in late 2025, which saw seasoned geologist John Morgan land the CEO role, Dalaroo appears to be shifting its focus to West Africa with stunning effect. Hitting high-grade, near-surface gold on the first pass of a maiden drill program is a result few explorers can boast.
With the drill rods turning 24/7 on a 7km-long gold corridor that has never seen a modern drill hole before these, the market will likely be watching with interest as the assays start to land and whether Dalaroo can build on this impressive opening stanza.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
