QMines Ltd (ASX:QML) has further encouraging results in for exploration at its flagship Mt Chalmers Copper-Gold Project, 17 kilometres northeast of Rockhampton, Queensland.
In September, the company wrapped up an 11-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Woods Shaft exploration target and four additional holes at Mt Chalmers across a total of 1,455 metres.
Highlights
Results are now in for the four remaining holes at Woods Shaft and from one last hole at Mt Chalmers and they include further broad high-grade intersections, including:
- 25 metres at 1.04% copper equivalent from 30 metres;
- 19 metres at 1.18% copper equivalent from 4 metres; and
- 11 metres at1.37% copper equivalent from 79 metres.
These latest drill results extend the mineralisation towards the north where it remains open.
Historical data confirmed
The Woods Shaft drill program has delivered significant broad and high-grade intersections from within areas where minimal drilling was undertaken by previous explorers. The recent drilling will enable the delivery of the maiden JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate (MRE) for this part of the Mt Chalmers Copper Project.
Woods Shaft prospect is less than a kilometre to the southwest of the Mt Chalmers main deposit. Past drilling has defined it to be more than 250 metres in strike length and up to 40 metres wide.
Mineralisation is from surface to a depth of 90 metres in places and contains gold and base metal mineralisation.
The geology of the deposit appears similar to the Mt Chalmers main lode and is dominated by a sulphide stringer zone.
Historical resource estimates were compiled by past explorers for this prospect but were not reported in accordance with the JORC 2012 code.
QMines’ own previous drilling results from the Woods Shaft prospect have delivered several broad intersections with exceptional copper equivalent grades up to 8.26% copper equivalent and 6.21% copper equivalent in hole QMWSRC001 and 5.26% copper equivalent in hole QMWSRC007.
Developmental potential
“We are extremely pleased with the recent results from Woods Shaft which demonstrate the quality of the Mt Chalmers project and its development potential,” QMines executive chairman Andrew Sparke said.
“The company has already delivered two resources since listing in May 2022 and has a further two planned in the coming months, with the Mt Chalmers resource upgrade expected imminently.”
What’s next?
From here, the company plans to continue its drilling operations at Mt Chalmers for around 30,000 metres of RC and diamond drilling.
It will conduct a regional airborne electromagnetic survey over the Mt Chalmers project to improve drill targeting for future drilling campaigns and progress further surface exploration and mapping at Tracker 3, one of four large copper and zinc soil anomalies located in the region, where gossans were found in a recent reconnaissance.
Surface gossans visible at Tracker 3 prospect.
Critically, QMines will target delivery of a third mineral resource estimate for Mt Chalmers in the fourth quarter of the year and a fourth mineral resource estimate for Woods Shaft in the first quarter of 2023.