QMInes Ltd has revealed “strong growth potential” in recent diamond and reverse circulation (RC) drilling programs at its flagship Mt Chalmers Copper and Gold Project, 17 kilometres northeast of Rockhampton in Queensland.
Notably, the company’s infill and extensional drill holes in and around the Mt Chalmers resource have returned several impressive, mineralised zones with wide intersections demonstrating the potential for a significant resource upgrade, including:
- 61 metres at 3.83% copper equivalent from 6.2 metres;
- 67 metres at 1.51% copper equivalent from 39.5 metres; and
- 69 metres at 2.03% copper equivalent from 137 metres.
To accelerate RC drilling operations, the QMines acquired an RC drill rig with support vehicles and equipment.
Moving forward, RC drilling is scheduled to continue with 1,800-2,000 metres expected to be delivered each month.
“High-quality copper and gold asset”
QMines executive chairman Andrew Sparke said: “The summary of our results to date clearly shows Mt Chalmers is a high-quality copper and gold asset with strong growth potential.
“With over 10,000 metres drilled since listing we are now starting to see the upside potential of this asset.
“The recent acquisition of the company’s RC drill rig is set to deliver significantly more metres drilled per month.
“We expect to deliver an additional 10,000 metres of RC results by November 2022 leading to our third resource upgrade and consistent new flow over this period."
Drill program
Diamond and RC drilling has been ongoing at Mt Chalmers since drilling operations started in March 2021.
To date, the company has completed about 5,900 metres of diamond and 4,300 metres of RC drilling.
Recent analysis has shown that some of the historical drilling was not analysed for precious metals or zinc.
All drilling by QMines has been analysed for a broad suite of economic minerals including copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc.
The infill drilling will not only improve confidence categories in the planned mineral resource estimate but also allow for better estimation of gold and silver.
Forward plan
QMines is working on an improved geological and exploration model which will help guide future drill campaigns and resource estimates.
The additional drilling together with the work completed by Dr Brett Davis is providing QMines with a more robust structural and geological model.
The Mt Chalmers drilling program will continue with the company planning to deliver a further 20,000 metres of RC drilling in line with the project's planned 30,000 metres of drilling.
QMines is set to kick off at the Woods Shaft prospect, the first of three exploration targets.
Preparations are underway to drill Tracker 3, the first of four large copper and zinc soil anomalies.
The company is also conducting a planned 1,800-line kilometre Heli-EM survey to identify further drill targets.
Furthermore, QMines will also release its third resource upgrade this year.