Ballymore’s has started a mining study on its Dittmer project near Proserpine in north Queensland.

Recent drilling and assays have led the company to believe it has the potential of leading Queensland gold projects said technical director David A-Izzeddin.

It follows the release of final stage three drill hole assays.

The company said hey returned,  ‘further ore grade intersections in very close proximity to existing workings, and broad mineralisation at depth.’

“All drill holes completed contain gold intersections, delivering a 100% strike rate out of 28 holes for 5,703m, with excellent continuity,” the company told the ASX.

“Recent interections included:

DTDD024: 11.6m @ 2.37 g/t Au, including 3.43m @ 7.16 g/t Au and 0.83m @ 27.98 g/t Au, and 
DTDD025: 3.4m @ 2.6 g/t Au, including 0.3m @ 24.9 g/t Au” 

“The gold mineralisation in holes DTDD026-028 is located within 20m of the current surface access drive and shows the potential for near term mining access to

Ballymore’s Dittmer Project contains the historic, high-grade Dittmer Mine which was discovered in 1934 and produced over 54,000 Oz of gold through to 1951.

Related: Dittmer drilling sheds light on Duffer lode location

The Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) and metallurgical test work in progress will feed into re-opening studies for the Dittmer mine, said the company.

“Ongoing regional works have continued to demonstrate that the Dittmer mine has potential to be a small part of a much larger system similar in style to the Ravenswood mine (4.8 Moz Au),” it said.

Mining study started

The recent drilling at Dittmer has continued to return exciting results, and they had commenced a mining study, said Mr A’Izzeddin.

“The identification of high-grade mineralisation within 20 metres of existing underground access is a terrific result and will greatly reduce development capital costs in any future mining operation,” he said. 

“The more information we garner from Dittmer and the surrounding prospects, the more we believe this under-explored area has the potential to develop into a Ravenswood- style gold field, which hosted over 4.8 million ounces of gold and where a series of small high-grade deposits were an indicator of a much larger system. 

“Our upcoming surface drilling program as well as our current regional geochemical sampling and geophysics programs are designed to further test this hypothesis.”

The Dittmer Mine, being the highest-grade gold mine in Australia when in operation (151.1g/t Au, 66.8g/t Ag & 2.8% Cu), had never been drilled prior to Ballymore acquiring the project in 2020, the company said.

“In 2021, historic underground mine workings at the project were refurbished by Ballymore and a drilling platform was developed on level 4 to substantially reduce drill hole depths, saving time and cost. 

“28 holes for 5,703m have been drilled at completion of the Stage 3 drill program. 

“Drilling has identified the reason for cessation of historic mining activities due to a displacement of the original mined Duffer lode with a repetition recognised within 20m of the historic workings in the Dittmer Mine.“