Below are some notes I made a long while ago. They're back in play again given today's announcement. 
The interesting parts are the potential size of Unicorn (see note 6), and targets other than Unicorn, which don't get mentioned very much at all. Also there's mention of improving grade at depth. There will not be a takeover as the top 20 hold north of 55%, and most of the rest are in for the long term. Finance wont be an issue now.
Enjoy
(1) (Dart MiningWebsite) - The Unicorn Project, which is Dart Mining’s principal project, is a molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) Climax-style porphyry that has similar geological characteristics to the world class Henderson Climax-style primary Mo porphyry mine (and largest primary producer of molybdenum in the world) in Colorado USA. There are only thirteen such mines world wide and Dart Mining has discovered the only one of it’s kind in Australia (refer AIG paper). The Unicorn Project has a number of unique characteristics. It outcrops, has an extensive high grade zone from surface, is about 20km from the National Electricity Market infrastructure (hydro generation, switchyards and transmission lines), has abundant water onsite, road access, an existing logistics chain from mine to market, no known native title, flora or fauna issues and strong Corryong community and government support.
(2) (30jun12 – Paydirt) - Not only is the project showing similarities to Henderson, but Unicorn has also been benchmarked against another major moly mine, Endako in Canada. Endako – a JV between Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (75%) and Sojitz Corporation (25%) is producing 55,000 tpa moly. However, with Unicorn also containing mineable grades of copper and silver, meaning both a moly concentrate and a copper – silver concentrate can be produced. (30jun12 - Paydirt) Dart’s managing director Lindsay Ward believes that Unicorn could surpass Endako in metals value. As at 31Dec12 Endako had a market cap of US$656.2mil, which is 100 times more than Dart’s current market cap, which equates to a share price of $3.20. (23Jun11 ASX) – Exploration target grades are superior to the operating Endako primary Molybdenum mine in Canada. Dart have discovered both rhenium and tungsten at Unicorn that could add value in the future.
(3) Dart conducted a scoping study released on17Oct12 that showed the economics of the project to be positive. Dart are in the lowest cost quartile of primary molybdenum producers due to their available infrastructure and labour on their doorstep. The molybdenum is high grade from surface and has a high grade zone that outcrops with a very low strip ratio so the mining costs are very low.
(4) Unicorn has a JORC confirmed 20 year mine life at surface (based on M1, M2 and M3 zones only, with M4, M5 and possibly M6 to be added to JORC) since discovery only a couple of years ago. The area has been sparingly drilled / tested so the upside at Unicorn is immense.
(5) (30Apr12 Curve) - Typically small companies do their metallurgy later in the exploration cycle. Possessing a JORC resource does not mean that the metal within the deposit can be economically extracted. There are a number of examples where companies have promoted their project, raised money and then found out the metallurgy is poor and as a result their share price has collapsed. Dart conducted its metallurgy earlier as it wanted swift validation of the project and an honest appraisal provided to shareholders. (30Jun12 - Paydirt) “It’s the best thing we ever did as it gives the investors and us the confidence that we can extract the metal from the ore and the recoveries are fantastic” Lindsay Ward said. - It’s worth noting that every single one of Dart Mining’s predictions regarding the geology and magnitude of the deposit including words / phrases such as “provides further evidence”, or “which may suggest”, or “this is a feature commonly observed” have been confirmed in their later announcements. The point is that Dart Mining’s announcements where they talk about potential grade, or comparisons with similar geology, or potential size of the deposit, can be “taken to the bank”, they can be trusted, which is unique for ASX listed companies.”
(6) (8May13 ASX) – To date only a single deep drill hole within a system that could be one square kilometre at depth, (the surface footprint is 350m x 300m) has tested the porphyry at depths below 700m, but results indicate that it’s consistent with a Climax-style mineralisation model. The initial success of this hole hitting high grade horizons within a body that could be one square kilometre or more in size gives confidence that the Unicorn deposit could support a long term open pit and underground operation. (19Apr12 Media) – Lindsay Ward and the Dart team are particularly excited about the style of mineralisation at Unicorn, which has similarities to the world-class, long-life Henderson molybdenum mine in Colorado. If those similarities continue, the deposit is set to get substantially larger the deeper the company drills. “With depth I think we will see more tonnes, more grade, but it is yet to be tested,” Ward said.
(7) The Red Kite Group have done their due diligence on Unicorn and have invested $10mil into the project. Red Kite have over $3.4 billion under management, with $1.7 billion dedicated exclusively to the mine finance business, and have invested in only two companies on the ASX. Certain milestones need to be met to obtain the second tranche of funding which guarantees urgency to move this project forward. Refer to Dart’s indicative pathway to production chart.
(8) Dart have an aggressive, fully funded drilling program with the aim to further increase JORC and proving up the probability of an underground mine at Unicorn. Dart are cashed up and are also investigating other targets including gold, and they’re evaluating mergers and acquisitions.
(9) The future share price estimates for Unicorn are;
- $3.20 - The comparison to Endako equates to a share price of $3.20.
- $2.72 - Dart will payback the cost of construction of the mine ($302mil) in less than 2 – 1/2 years. Extrapolate Dart’s 2 –1/2 year payback of the capital cost of the mine ($302mil) into an on-going profit discounted by 1/3rd, assuming an on-going PE of 6, and this equates to a share price of $2.72.
- $1.40 - Red Kite have injected $8.5mil to fund the pre-feasibility study and further drilling for a 3% stake which equates to a share price $1.40. Dart would have had to cut a good deal for Red Kite to ensure $10mil funding so the $1.40 can be considered conservative.
(10) (23Jul13 - The Age) - Premier Li Keqiang’s government see 7% GDP growth in China as the bottom line for tolerance of an economic slowdown.
Dart’s other information.
(30Jun12 - Paydirt) – Since the approval for the track, this has changed with Dart discovering an exposed mineralised breccia some 130m further south. – Within the structural corridors we have some other targets including Mammoth, which is mineralised but sits near the National Park so we haven’t done a lot of work and we also have other areas which we think are quite prospective.
(8Mar12 AIG report)
- A nearby 1km diameter concealed depth cluster target near the Unicorn deposit also occurs as the eastern geochemical anomaly.
- Unicorn and Mt Morgan porphyry’s occur in the intersection of the Zulu and Empress corridors.
(1Dec11 – The Unicorn) – Morgan structural corridor warranted follow up fieldwork. The anomalies defined from a review of regional geochemistry highlighted the prospective nature of the intersection of the Zulu and Unicorn – Morgan structural corridors, an area of some 400km2. The targets are in addition to the Company’s principle project the Unicorn Mo + Cu + Ag deposit as well as the previously identified Morgan porphyry project which also outcrops.
(17Nov11 - Corryong Courier) – We have also identified a mineral bearing deposit which runs from Mt Morgan, just off the Thougla Creek, to Mt Unicorn which we estimate to be about 8km long and 2km wide and we will be concentrating our testing on this seam which looks very promising.
(Quarterly 30Jun13) - Gold prospects include Mountain View Gold Prospect and Fairley’s Prospect. M&A are being investigated. (30Nov11 ASX) – Gold geochemical anomaly identified at Cattleman Creek. The gold source is unknown. Dart have also found Rhenium and Tungsten.
(20min delay)