Dart readies drill rig following Victorian copper-gold sniffs

Dart Mining believes analysis of rock chip and grab samples bagged in a recent exploration campaign at its Granite Flat project in north-east Victoria suggest it could have significant copper and gold anomalies at the site. Some of the better chip results went 6 grams per tonne gold, whilst one of the more noteworthy grab specimens went 27.9 g/t gold and 2.83 per cent copper.

Other notable chip samples include 2.0 g/t gold, 2.4 g/t gold and 1.0 g/t gold.

Peak rock chips results include 22.3 g/t gold with 0.74 per cent copper, 9.1 g/t gold with 6.65 per cent copper and 16.1 g/t gold with a 3.12 per cent copper inclusion.

Intriguingly, the company says over 70 per cent of the 98 samples scooped up in the earlier exploration drive contained anomalous hits of silver, zinc and lead.

The results of regional rock chip sampling provide strong support to the sizable soil Copper and Gold anomalies identified in the recent soil sampling program, and provide further encouragement for our ongoing exploration efforts at the Granite Flat project.

Management believes the combination of significant copper-gold and lead-zinc-focused anomalies has delivered a wealth of drill targets that are set to be tested in a summer campaign.

Dart’s Granite Flat operation forms an integral part of its vast Mitta Mitta project, that stretches across the historic Rutherglen-Harrietville Goldfields.

The region boasts a rich history of gold production and stretches south from the New South Wales border into the Victorian high-country along more than 100km of strike.

The grounds takes in a number of smaller fields, including the Chiltern, Beechworth and Bright goldfields, which collectively are responsible for over 7 million ounces – cementing the zone as a tier-one goldfield.

Mitta Mitta also houses southern extensions of the revered Lachlan Fold Belt, a zone notorious for its strong historical production of gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver and tin.

Several prominent operations have been established in the Lachlan Fold Belt including Newcrest Mining’s massive Cadia-Ridgeway complex near Orange in NSW. The asset is one of the country’s top producing copper-gold plays and pumps out about 843,000 ounces of gold and 96,000 tonnes of copper annually.

With Dart now set to drill test a suite of targets at Granite Flat, the company could be set to lift the lid on a significant copper-gold discovery in a metal hungry market.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au