Ballymore’s (ASX:BMR) final batch confirms high-grade gold extension

Ballymore Resources’ last batch of assays have confirmed that high-grade mineralisation continues both down dip and along strike at its Dittmer gold-copper project in central Queensland.

Results to the tune of 15 metres at 3 grams per tonne gold and 7m @ 1.46g/t build on previous stage 4 drilling intercepts of up to 8m @ 8.36g/t, with Ballymore’s deepest hole to date striking one of its broadest intersections.

The deep strike notably intersected a quartz-carbonate-sulphide vein zone from 288m to 305m, backing up a thesis that an open along-strike and down-dip Duffer Lode structure gets wider at depth.

Ballymore Managing Director David A-Izzeddin said the results further reinforced the company’s belief it was just scratching the surface at the copper-gold-silver, base metals and critical minerals project.

“Dittmer has the potential to be a significant standalone gold and copper system, and we’ve just drilled two of the broadest intersections reported to date,” he said.

“We are enormously encouraged by the continuity and the apparent increase in size of the ore zone. Further drilling will be planned to target this newly discovered extension to the historic Duffer Lode.”

A-Izzeddin noted that following on from the underground drilling campaign, the company has begun an initial surface drill program to test for extensions.

“Field work has highlighted a major geochemical anomaly that coincides with an area of extensive gold-bearing lodes and historic workings,” he said.

“We have already demonstrated significant gold mineralisation associated with the Duffer Lode and this drilling program is looking to confirm that this forms part of a major gold and copper deposit.”

Ballymore noted the anomaly coincides with the numerous shallow, high-grade pits running over more than two kilometres of strike at the project and may represent an extension of the known copper-gold zone.

The Brisbane-based company has also begun an airborne survey across the full 513 square kilometre project area, funded with $300,000 through Queensland’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative.

The company noted there are a good number of historic mines and prospects for porphyry-related copper deposits and vein and stockwork-hosted gold-copper epithermal and mesothermal deposits across Dittmer, and the survey could potentially spot up new systems as it refines the anomaly.

The project’s namesake mine produced more than 54,000 ounces of high-grade gold up until 1951, and Ballymore will continue its investigation for a near-term restart.