The Mt Morgans project resource now stands at 9.2 million tonnes at 4 grams per tonne gold for 1.2Moz, including reserves of 136,000oz at an average grade of 6.2gpt gold.

The update follows a major increase the project’s Westralia deposit to 3.2Mt at 5.9gpt gold for 610,000oz due largely to recent drilling at Millionaires shoot which provided 1.3Mt at 7.6gpt gold for 326,000oz of gold.

A 2gpt gold lower cut-off grade was used.

The Westralia resource was defined over a vertical interval of 570m giving an aveage endowment of more than 1000oz of gold per vertical metre.

The company said the upgrade confirmed the potential of the deposit to support and underground mine.

“The discovery and delineation of the 326,000oz high-grade Millionaires shoot in less than 12 months demonstrates the potential of the Mt Morgans project for the discovery of further substantial, high-grade deposits with clear economic potential,” Dacian managing director Paul Payne said.

“In 2014, we will remain focused on adding further high-quality ounces at Mt Morgans as we work towards achieving our goal of building ore reserves to underpin a standalone mining operation at the project.”

The Weststralia resource was estimated using 470 face sample lines, 167 reverse circulation holes and 97 diamond holes.

The company said gold mineralisation occurred within a well-defined, steep east-dipping banded iron formation horizon from which about 900,000oz was produced up to 1998.

Previous mining at the deposit has demonstrated that the gold is free milling with good recoveries achieved from conventional carbon-in-leach processing.

All mineralisation within the open pit and underground excavations has been excluded form the reported resource and all remnant mineralisation around the main area of workings has been removed from the estimate even through some areas remain unmined.

Shares in Dacian were unchanged today at A25c.