Mining Lease Approval Pending as Ballymore’s Dittmer Project Strikes High-Grade Gold
Ballymore Resources has reported exceptional high-grade gold intersections at its Dittmer Project, alongside government grants to accelerate exploration and a key mining lease approval recommendation.
- Stage 5 drilling at Dittmer yields up to 221g/t gold intersection
- Queensland Government awards $400k to advance porphyry copper-gold targets
- Land Court recommends approval of new mining lease and environmental authority
- Fieldwork doubles strike length of Dittmer gold corridor to 4km
- Strong metallurgical test results support high metal recoveries
Dittmer Project Delivers High-Grade Gold Results
Ballymore Resources has made significant strides at its flagship Dittmer Project in Queensland, reporting the highest-grade drill intersection to date of 6.6 metres at 13.67 grams per tonne gold, including a remarkable 0.4 metres at 221.3 g/t gold. This comes from the recently completed Stage 5 underground drilling program targeting the fault extension of the historic Duffer Lode, a previously untested zone that Ballymore has successfully identified as a continuation of the high-grade orebody mined in the mid-20th century.
The drilling results reinforce Ballymore’s interpretation of a robust and continuous lode system with high-grade shoots plunging moderately southwards, underpinning the company’s plans to estimate an initial Mineral Resource and advance preliminary mining studies. The Dittmer Mine, historically noted for its exceptional gold grades, is now poised for potential reopening with modern exploration and development techniques.
Government Funding Accelerates Porphyry Copper-Gold Exploration
In a strong endorsement of Ballymore’s exploration strategy, the Queensland Government has awarded $400,000 in Collaborative Exploration Initiative grants. This funding supports a deep diamond drill hole testing a major magnetic anomaly beneath the Dittmer Mine, interpreted as a porphyry copper-gold deposit analogous to significant regional mines such as Northparkes and Ridgeway. Additional funding will facilitate an induced polarization survey over the historic Andromache porphyry copper mine area, aiming to delineate copper mineralisation below surface anomalies.
Expanding the Gold Corridor and Metallurgical Advances
Fieldwork during the quarter has potentially doubled the strike length of the Dittmer gold corridor to approximately 4 kilometres, with visible gold observed in multiple stream sediment samples and rock chips returning assays up to 39 g/t gold. This extension opens new exploration frontiers in a region where only a fraction of the mineralised corridor has been systematically drilled.
Complementing the exploration success, metallurgical test work conducted by Core Resources and EnviroMetal Technologies has yielded excellent recoveries – up to 96.5% for gold, 80.2% for silver, and 87.8% for copper via flotation, alongside strong cyanide and non-cyanide leach results. These findings enhance confidence in processing options and support discussions with third-party processors.
Regulatory Progress and Broader Project Portfolio
The Land Court of Queensland has recommended approval of Ballymore’s new mining lease application and the associated Environmental Authority for the Dittmer Project, a critical step towards project development. The final decision now rests with Queensland state ministers, expected imminently.
Beyond Dittmer, Ballymore continues to advance exploration at its Ruddygore, Ravenswood, and Mount Molloy projects, leveraging modern geophysical surveys and geochemical sampling to identify polymetallic targets with potential for base and critical metals. The company maintains a cash position of $2.3 million, having spent $1.36 million on exploration during the quarter, with plans to moderate expenditure as it evaluates recent results.
Bottom Line?
Ballymore’s breakthrough drilling and government backing set the stage for a pivotal phase in unlocking Dittmer’s full potential.
Questions in the middle?
- Will Ballymore’s upcoming assay results confirm further high-grade zones at Dittmer?
- How will the final mining lease approval impact project timelines and financing options?
- What scale of copper-gold porphyry mineralisation might the deep drill hole reveal beneath Dittmer?