Dalradian development stope produces 35% more gold than foreseen in resource model

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and Aim-listed Dalradian Resources has produced 35% more gold from the third test stope at its Curraghinalt gold project in Northern Ireland, than predicted in the June resource estimate.

Toronto-based Dalradian explained that the third stope is located on the V-75 vein, complementing two previous test stopes in the same area. The stope was used to validate the long-hole mining method on a relatively shallow dipping (50° to 55°) portion of the vein in comparison to stopes 1 and 2, which have dips of 73° and 76° respectively.

Stope 3 attained an average width of 1.8 m, with estimated dilution to the designed stope of 64% and removal of an estimated 303 oz of gold at a grade of 9.41 g/t from 1 001 t of ore.

"I am particularly pleased with the results from the third stope. This demonstrates our ability to long-hole stope veins at the shallow end of the range that we are likely to encounter at this deposit,” stated COO Eric Tremblay.

He added that the dilution was lower than predicted by the resource model and resulted in a diluted grade of 9.41 g/t gold. Except for a single wedge failure in the footwall at the end of mining, Stope 3 remained open without support for several weeks. This indicates that the engineering team can easily manage dilution from the footwall by using simple low cost methods such as cable bracing,” Tremblay said.

Curraghinalt hosts a Canadian National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource comprising 25 000 oz of contained gold in 30 000 t grading 26.99 g/t gold in the measured category; 2.07-million ounces of contained gold in 5.58-million tonnes grading 11.53 g/t gold; and 2.31-million ounces of contained gold held in 7.13-million tonnes grading 10.06 g/t gold.

Dalradian is busy completing a feasibility study on the project, which is scheduled for imminent publication. The company and its project is one to watch as its high grades reflect a premium asset in a quality-project-scarce market. Some analysts have suggested the company could be snatched up in a similar fashion to Goldcorp's acquisition of Kaminak Gold for C$520-million earlier this year.