Dart gets to the point

More than four years after the Melbourne-based miner listed on the ASX, Dart yesterday published maiden resource figures for its Unicorn molybdenum project near Corryong.

The company revealed an "indicated" molybdenum resource of 29 million tonnes at solid grades, which swelled to 105 million tonnes when added to the lower-confidence "inferred" resources.

While those figures are smaller than the mineral resources boasted by Australia's biggest molybdenum play Pilbara-focused Moly Mines the directors of Dart believe their advantage lies in their Victorian location, which they hope will avoid the infrastructure and workforce challenges that have plagued many miners in Western Australia.

Molybdenum is used in the production of steel and solar panels and demand is forecast to grow at about 5 per cent a year over the coming decade, with most demand coming from China, Japan and South Korea.

The focus on the metal has increased in recent times. Resources information provider Platts this week launched a daily price index for molybdenum, in line with similar global price indices it produces for commodities like iron ore.

With a market capitalisation of $22 million, Dart has enough funding to cover the next year of scoping work and exploration.

Despite most resources stocks continuing to rally yesterday, Dart shares fell 1.5? to 12.5?. Moly Mines was unchanged at 41.5?.