Dateline upgrades Colosseum resource by 35% to 1.1Moz of contained gold
Resource gains certainty with 67%, or 736,000oz, now in the measured and indicated categories
Company has started mining studies to determine best way to develop Colosseum
Further drilling being reviewed for most cost effective way to grow resources further
Special Report: Dateline Resources has cleared the exclusive million ounce mark with an updated resource estimate increasing resources at its Colosseum project in California by 35% to 1.1Moz of contained gold.
While it is possible to develop projects with less, hitting 1Moz is seen as an important milestone as it is often the point where banks and other financiers start taking a project seriously.
The company has also gained a great deal of resource certainty with fully two-thirds, or 736,000oz of gold, now parked in the higher confidence measured and indicated categories that allow for mine planning.
This significant increase in both resource ounces and grade reflects all the work that Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) has carried out on the project since acquiring it in 2021 with the previous estimate of 20.9Mt at 1.2g/t gold for 813,000oz of contained gold based entirely on historical drilling by previous explorers.
It does not include recent RC drilling results such as 25.9m at 1.91 g/t gold from 57.91m, including 3.05m at 3.05 g/t gold from 57m and 74.7m @ 4.27g/t gold from 77.72m, including 27.4m @ 7.82g/t gold from 88.39m.
With Colosseum sitting just down the road in southern California’s Walker Lane Trend from multiple substantial discoveries including Equinox Gold’s 5.5Moz Castle Mountain gold mine, this is likely to deliver further resource growth later this year.
Gold block grade distribution for Colosseum. Pic: Dateline Resources
Greater resource confidence
The upgraded resource of 27.1Mt grading 1.26g/t gold includes the 17 diamond holes that DTR drilled between April 2022 and April 2024 along existing haul roads within the South Pit.
Most of these holes were drilled to confirm mineralisation grades at depth and to better define the deposit’s lateral margins.
This work also increased the volume of measured resources – the highest confidence resource category outside of an ore reserve – by 77% to 9.6Mt and increased the grade from 1.2g/t to 1.47g/t gold, giving the company a meaty contained resource of 455,000oz of gold.
“These results are extremely encouraging and demonstrate that our drilling has added higher grade tonnes, particularly to the measured mineral resource,” managing director Stephen Baghdadi said.
“As 736,000 ounces out of the total mineral resource estimate of 1.1 million ounces of gold are measured and indicated, the company will now commence mining studies to determine what material can be mined in the most suitable and economically viable way and review the drill program to determine how best to expand the known resource further.”
Mining studies and further drilling
The updated resource estimate will be used by DTR to determine the best mining and development option for Colosseum with Australian Mine Design and Development retained to advise and manage the study.
This study will consider three options
Open pit both breccia pipes;
Sub level cave the South breccia pipe and open pit the North breccia pipe; and
Bulk mine both breccia pipes by expanding the two existing pits into a single large pit.
DTR is also reviewing options for its drilling program to ascertain the most cost-effective way to determine the depth extent of the gold mineralisation and expand resources further.
This article was developed in collaboration with Dateline Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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