Dalaroo Metals appears to be onto something big at its Bondoukou gold project in Côte d’Ivoire. Logging from a new drillhole 1.25 kilometres from its recent high-grade gold discovery has revealed a 34-metre-wide zone of alteration and quartz veining from just 62m downhole.
The company says the geology in the new hole is visually similar to the earlier discovery hole that returned a stellar 18m at 7.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold. The interval includes sections of stronger quartz-sulphide veining and visually estimated pyrite of up to an impressive 0.8 per cent.
The new visual results build on a spectacular maiden drilling campaign that recently delivered the headline hit of 18m at 7.31g/t gold from 63m in just the second hole drilled. Notably, that discovery hole also included a second, deeper zone of 16m grading 1.46g/t gold from 113m, along with an initial hole that landed a solid 23-metre intercept running 2.14g/t gold right from surface.
Samples from the new hole are in transit and have been prioritised for a fast turnaround, with results expected before the end of this month. Assays for the previous holes drilled in the campaign are also at the laboratory, with results anticipated from early November.
The ongoing work forms part of Dalaroo's maiden 24-hole, 4200-metre orientation program, the opening salvo in a much bigger 12,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) program targeting the Wilfred, Mag and Ali prospects at Bondoukou. So far, the company has completed 10 RC holes, totalling 2252m, across its Wilfred prospect.
Dalaroo Metals chief executive officer John Morgan said: “Our first reported high-grade gold intersections at Wilfred established an exciting starting point for exploration at Gold Ridge. We are encouraged that hole has now encountered alteration, quartz-sulphide veining and a rock sequence comparable to that seen in the discovery hole. The immediate priority is to establish, through laboratory assays and follow-up drilling, whether these geological features are associated with further gold mineralisation and how the system is oriented.”
The new hole was drilled north-west of the company’s original discovery holes along the interpreted 7km-long Gold Ridge corridor. Both holes intersected a similar package of rocks at broadly similar depths, despite being drilled more than a kilometre apart and in opposite directions. Dalaroo believes this apparent geological link-up could strongly indicate the scale of the mineralising system it has on its hands.
The company is certainly not standing still, with the RC rig now setting up for a scissor hole, designed to intersect the new 34-metre alteration zone at depth and at a different angle to help define its orientation. After completing work at Wilfred, the rig will move on to test the nearby Ali and Mag prospects.
In parallel, a diamond drill rig is scheduled to mobilise to the project in mid-to-late October to begin follow-up work around the original high-grade discovery. The company is also finalising plans for an induced polarisation geophysics survey along the entire 7km-long Gold Ridge corridor to help prioritise additional drill targets.
The Bondoukou project lies in the prolific Birimian greenstone belt, a rapidly emerging gold district just 35 kilometres from Endeavour Mining’s giant five-million-ounce Tanda-Iguela gold project. The belt also hosts a string of other multi-million-ounce gold deposits, making it one of Africa’s most well-endowed gold regions.
While West Africa is the clear focus, Dalaroo is also advancing other projects in its portfolio. At its Blue Lagoon project in Greenland, the company is chasing rare earths, while closer to home, an induced-polarisation survey has firmed up several compelling drill targets at its Watheroo copper-nickel-PGE project in WA.
After making a high-grade discovery with some of its earliest drill holes at Bondoukou, Dalaroo now has visual evidence that the system could extend for some distance. With a bevvy of assays due in the coming weeks and a suite of exploration activities kicking off, the market will likely be watching closely to see just how big this West African gold play could be.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Murray Ward
