Dart Mining gears up to drill Victoria’s only lithium project

Dart Mining (ASX: DTM) is gearing up to drill “significant lithium drill targets” it has generated across its Dorchap lithium project, which the company says is the only project of its kind in Victoria.

The company is planning a reverse circulation drilling program to test several lithium-bearing pegmatites at the project which is located in Victoria’s northeast.

An extensive regional sampling campaign earlier this year has resulted in four high priority targets for drilling at Dorchap.

The targets comprise Eagle Dyke, Fergusson’s Dyke, Blair’s Dyke and Bluejacket Dyke and can be accessed via existing tracks and roads.

Exploring Dorchap lithium potential

Initial drilling will involve up to 15 holes for 1,500m.

Previous rock chip sampling at Eagle Dyke returned 10m at 0.95% lithium and 20m at 0.33% lithium. Sampling at Bluejacket uncovered 16m at 0.32% lithium, 530 parts per million caesium and 104pp tantalum.

Dart chairman and managing director James Chirnside said the company had recently completed a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) survey across the dyke swarm at Dorchap, which has identified further pegmatite dykes for evaluation.

“Extensive mapping and surface sampling has resumed, which has allowed us to focus on a very clear fractionation trend of lithium-enriched pegmatites for drill testing,” Mr Chirnside explained.

Dart geologists first noted the lithium potential at Dorchap in 2016 and set about securing exploration leases.

According to the company, the pegmatites at Dorchap are the first to be recorded in Victoria and are believed to arise out of the nearby Mount Wills Granite.

Progressing commodity portfolio

In addition to the lithium potential at Dorchap, Dart is actively exploring for gold, silver, copper, molybdenum, zinc, tungsten, tin and tantalum across its project portfolio in Victoria.

Copper-gold porphyry targets were announced at the end of last month from geophysical surveys across the Granite Flat project and follows drilling at the project, which is also in northeast Victoria.

Interpretation of the survey data has pinpointed multiple anomalies to drill. The chargeability anomalies span 2km and are coincident with suppressed resistivity.

Dart says this is suggestive of porphyry style disseminated sulphide mineralisation.

Highlight assays from recent drilling at the project were 138m at 0.09% copper from surface and ending in mineralisation; 111m at 0.07% copper from surface; and 1m at 6 grams per tonne gold and 6m at 0.18% copper from 16m.

Mr Chirnside said the assays from drilling at the project indicate potential for a bulk tonnage operation.

Further drilling is planned in the coming months which will focus on the newly identified targets from the surveys.