Dundee Precious Metals drills 50.57 g/t gold over 81 metres at Coka, Serbia

Dundee Precious Metals Inc. [TSX-DPM] reported new assay results from its continuing infill drilling program at Coka Rakita in eastern Serbia, where it recently announced an inferred mineral resource estimate of 1.8 million ounces of gold. The company also released results from the scout drilling program at the Dumitru Potok and Frasen prospects, located on the Coka Rakita licence and are approximately one to 1.5 km north of the Coka Rakita deposit.

Highlights: Strong high-grade intercepts from infill drilling at Coka Rakita, that continue to confirm and extend the high-grade core, including RIDD052A – 81 metres at 50.57 g/t Au and 0.15% Cu from 122 metres; RIDD052 – 85 metres at 8.80 g/t Au and 0.13% Cu from 411 metres; RIDD50A – 45 metres at 10.08 g/t Au from 219 metres; RIDD049 – 45 metres at 4.77 g/t Au from 604 metres; RIDT030A – 53 metres at 2.36 g/t Au and 0.25% Cu from 162 metres; RIDT029 – 40 metres at 4.50 g/t Au and 0.1% Cu from 450 metres; RIDT027 – 54 metres at 27.99 g/t Au from 427 metres; and RIDT017 – 26 metres at 5.61 g/t Au from 504 metres.

New results from scout drilling on Coka Rakita exploration licence: Confirms camp-wide upside potential for high grade, manto-like skarn gold-copper mineralization, as well as additional potential for sandstone hosted skarn mineralization and porphyry type mineralization. Recently returned intercepts include DPDD012 – 26 metres at 3.54% Cu and 3.03 g/t Au from 1,155 metres; 30 metres at 1.36% Cu and 1.11 g/t Au from 1,214 metres; DPDD013A – 9 metres at 0.64% Cu and 0.55 g/t Au from 84 metres; BIDD222 – 8 metres at 2.36% Cu and 1.26 g/t Au from 706 metres; BIDD223 – 14 metres at 1.52 % Cu and 1.23 g/t Au from 657 metres; BIDD224 – 45 metres at 0.26% Cu and 0.80 g/t Au from 327 metres.

DPM is on track to complete a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Coka Rakita in the second quarter of 2024 and continues to advance activities aimed at accelerating the project, including geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling, the next phase of the metallurgical testwork program, the evaluation of locations for potential site infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement activities.

The company is also pursuing additional potential skarn targets through its scout drilling campaigns within the Coka Rakita licence, on the new Potaj Cuka and Pester Jug licences, and on the Umka licence. In 2024, DPM has budgeted between $20 million and $22 million for exploration activities in Serbia.

“We are excited to announce these strong results from our ongoing drilling program, which continue to demonstrate the significant exploration potential of Coka Rakita and the surrounding licences beyond the current Coka Rakita deposit,” said David Rae, President and CEO of Dundee Precious Metals.

“We are on track to complete the preliminary economic assessment in the second quarter of 2024, and we are planning continued aggressive exploration at Coka Rakita and on the surrounding licences to generate new discoveries.”

Infill drilling at Coka Rakita continues, with an additional 9,200 metres drilled comprising of 19 completed drill holes and a further seven ongoing drill holes, since the company’s previous update on November 15, 2023.

Results from the infill drilling program continues to deliver high-grade intercepts, including the project’s best intercept reported to date from drill hole RIDD052A. This intercept returned a wide interval of high-grade gold mineralization, with visible gold observed over an approximate 20-metre section of the hole related to strong skarn altered sandstone with intermittent brecciated intervals. Fire assay results returned an 81-metre interval grading at 50.57 g/t Au and 0.15% Cu from 122 metres, including a single 1-metre interval of 3,025 g/t Au from 173m to 174m.

Infill drilling continues to demonstrate a coherent concentration of high-grade mineralization within the core of the deposit.

The company is continuing its scout drilling program on the Coka Rakita exploration licence, drilling over 7,800 metres since the previous update on November 15, 2023, with seven drill holes completed and six drill holes in progress. The objective of this phase of drilling is to test for the continuation of skarn hosted gold mineralization within sandstones as well as conglomerate and marble hosted copper-gold mineralization based on the presence of favourable stratigraphy and fertile intrusives. The current drill plan builds upon previous intercepts of these mineralization types, found to the north of Coka Rakita. Examples include the previously disclosed drill hole RADD044, which included 42 metres at 0.72% Cu and 0.5 g/t Au hosted within skarn altered marbles, and drillhole BIDD221, which reported 5 metres at 1.45% Cu and 0.64 g/t Au on manto-like skarn mineralization.

So far, the scout holes drilled north of Coka Rakita have confirmed the conceptual targeting model and consistently show the presence of skarn alteration and mineralization within more reactive lithological units. Mineralization is interpreted as a manto-like skarn, developed at the limit of conglomerates / sandstone and marbles, in close proximity of fertile diorite porphyries that often display potassic alteration and exhibiting weak to moderate copper-gold mineralization.

At the Dumitru Potok prospect, located approximately 1.5 kilometres northeast of Coka Rakita, several long holes were drilled to test for the extension of a higher grade manto target at depth. Drill hole DPDD012, collared on the eastern flank of the Dumitru Potok prospect, reported two, deep (~ 900 metres below surface), but consistent intercepts of high-grade copper-gold manto-like skarn mineralization including 26 metres at 3.54% Cu and 3.03 g/t Au from 1,155 metres downhole and 30 metres at 1.36% Cu and 1.11 g/t Au from 1,214 metres. These intercepts are located along the conglomerate – marble contact, as well as on the upper contact of monzonites and associated diorites. A follow-up daughter hole (DPDD012A) is underway to test the continuation of this target.

At the Frasen prospect, located approximately 1 km north-west of Coka Rakita, drill holes BIDD222 and BIDD223, collared east of the aforementioned BIDD221, intercepted well developed manto-like skarn mineralization.

Scout drilling on the southern flank of the Coka Rakita deposit returned a promising intercept from drill hole RADD045, which returned 9 metres at 2.04 g/t Au and 10 metres at 1.0 g/t Au, developed on the upper epiclastic cover sequence that possesses irregular levels of skarn alteration related with sub-vertical structures.

DPM is on track to complete a PEA for Coka Rakita in Q2 2024. The company is continuing to advance activities aimed at accelerating the project, including geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling, the next phase of the metallurgical test-work program, evaluation of locations for potential site infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement activities. In 2024, the company has budgeted approximately $10 and $13 million for the PEA.

In 2024, the company’s exploration program in Serbia includes 35,000 metres of infill and geotechnical drilling as well as approximatively 55,000 metres of scout drilling.

The company has budgeted between $20 million and $22 million for exploration activities in Serbia in 2024. Dundee Precious Metals has operations in Bulgaria, Namibia, Serbia and Ecuador.