First the number, now Dateline could have a date lined up for a Colosseum resource update

Dateline’s diamond drilling program at the Colosseum Mine in California continues to deliver with the second hole returning a thick 81.35m interval grading 2.57g/t gold from 81.01m.

Like the first hole (CM23-08), which returned an astonishing assay of 63.2m at 10.28g/t gold from a down-hole depth of 91.15m, the result from hole CM23-11a has an average grade that is significantly higher than the overall 1.2g/t gold grade of the existing resource.

And just like the first hole, it also sports a higher-grade zone of 36m grading 3.97g/t gold.

This is hugely significant for Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) as while a single good drill intercept might be an anomaly, two is an indicator that the current resource of 20.9Mt at 1.2g/t gold, or 813,000oz of contained gold, is due for a rather substantial upgrade.

And CM23-11a is technically the third such intercept, given that the current eight hole program targeting areas of high grade sedimentary breccia within the mineral resource model was drilled as a follow-up to drilling in 2022 that yielded a 100.6m intercept grading 4.16g/t gold from 79.24m in hole CM22-05.

The hits keep on coming

“The current drilling program continues to deliver. We now have results from two holes and are drilling the third hole, CM23-09 which has reached a length that is beyond the original design, and is still in the breccia pipe. This indicates that the actual breccia pipe is wider than was previously known,” managing director Stephen Baghdadi noted.

“It is very encouraging to see mineralisation that is wider than we expected, with excellent consistency. Our last three holes have had intersections of 100, 75 and 81 metres of a gold bearing zone comprising several rock types within the breccia pipe.

“All three holes intersect gold grades that are greater than the current average mineral resource grade.”

He added that on conclusion of the eight-hole program, the company expects to know a lot more about the shape of the high grade zone within the breccia pipe, which will enable it to better target ongoing drilling.

Diamond drilling to add resources

The eight hole drill program targets an area with low drill density and lies within and extends below the Resource model.

As such, it is more than likely that it will add significant tonnage and ounces to the existing resource, given the drill results returned to date.

Dateline noted that hole CM23-11a was drilled to a total depth of 260.2m and intersected the sedimentary breccia as planned and also returned a 12.2m intersection grading 1.6g/t gold at the end of the hole near the breccia and granite contact.

Meanwhile, hole CM23-09, is in progress with approximately 306m completed to date. This hole is still within the target breccia pipe, demonstrating that it is bigger than previously modelled – a great thing to have if it also returns strong assay results.

Rare earths could be the icing on the cake

In addition to the gold resources and potential at Colosseum, the project is also highly prospective for rare earth mineralisation, within the same geology as MP Materials’ producing Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine, located less than 10km away.

Dateline has developed a rare earths drilling program based on advice from its REE advisors in 2022, with plans to start drilling the rare earth targets later in the September quarter.

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.