Gold
Dart Mining holds considerable tenure over a number of historic, high-grade goldfields in central and Northeast Victoria. Victoria is a world-renowned gold province that has produced over 2400 tonnes of gold, which is 32 per cent of all the gold mined in Australia and almost 2 per cent of all the gold ever mined globally. On a yield per area basis, Victoria has produced an average of 10.8 kilograms of gold per kilometre squared – which is greater than any other Australian state.
Victoria has thirteen goldfields that have each produced more than one million ounces (Moz) of gold. Many of these old goldfields contain deposits that are high-grade and offer the potential for clustered, small-footprint operations. Much of Victoria remains under-explored and offers boundless opportunities to reopen mines or find totally new deposits through modern exploration techniques.
Victoria’s gold prospectivity is significant and based on a long history of production and the presence of large, under-explored but highly prospective areas, including greenfields areas beneath shallow cover. For example, simulations by the Geological Survey of Victoria suggest that there may be up to 75 million ounces of gold still to be found in the northern parts of the Stawell, Bendigo and Melbourne zones, including multiple million-ounce occurrences. The high-grade, world-class Fosterville gold mine is a great example of the potential for new discovery in Victoria.
Most deposits in Victoria are classified as orogenic gold deposits that formed during regional deformation and metamorphism of the Lachlan Fold Belt during the Late Ordovician to Silurian or in the Late Devonian. The Lachlan Fold Belt in Victoria is divided into several structural terranes including, the main gold-producing regions from west to east: The Stawell Zone, The Bendigo Zone, The Melbourne Zone, The Tabberabbera Zone, and the Omeo Zone. Gold deposits are often concentrated close to the major dividing structures between these zones which are thought to be conduits for gold-mineralising fluids.
Dart’s gold projects are located in the Melbourne Zone, Tabberabbera Zone and the Omeo zone and are all in close proximity to major dividing structures. All of Darts gold projects contain historic, high-grade gold fields and are under-explored by modern methods. Key projects include:
· Buckland Gold Project – a 17.5km long major shear zone hosting high grade and disseminated gold in multiple structures. Located at the southern end of 6.9Moz* Rutherglen-Beechworth-Harrietville gold district.
· Rushworth – located in Central Victoria, 45km northeast of the Fosterville Gold Mine and interpreted to be epizonal quartz-vein style that is genetically similar to the Fosterville high-grade gold style. Cumulative ~14km strike of high-grade gold reefs at surface underexplored by modern methods
· Sandy Creek – The Sandy Creek and Tallandoon goldfields are known for historical production of exceptionally high-grade gold from narrow lodes (up to 3.5 kg/t). Dart sampling has identified several zones of high-grade quartz-free gold and disseminated sulphide mineralisation associated with altered granites with petrological studies identifying multiple possible mineralisation styles, including orogenic lode and intrusion-related styles. This goldfield has never been drilled.
· Granite Flat-Empress – Historic gold field with workings over 3km x 1.5km showing both high-grade gold and porphyry Au-Cu styles of mineralisation.
· Mt View (Dart Goldfield) – High grade lode-style gold with minimal modern drilling. Work by Dart has identified ~2km strike of geochemical anomalies indicating potential for multiple high-grade gold shoots at the project.
· Onslow Reefs – historic high-grade goldfield under-explored by modern methods
· Zulu / Saltpetre– historic high-grade goldfield under-explored by modern methods
· Mt Elmo– historic high-grade goldfield under-explored by modern methods
*Historic production figures from: PHILLIPS G.N., 2010. Victorian Gold Province, Australia: A Contemporary Exploration Guide. GeoScience Victoria Special Publication
