QMines delivers ‘outstanding’ results in final assays from maiden drilling at Mt Chalmers
QMines expects to provide an update to the existing inferred resource of 3.9Mt at 1.15% copper, 0.81g/t gold and 8.4g/t silver in the “near future”, with the upgrade to include zinc and lead.
QMines (ASX: QML) is the latest ASX debutant to reveal positive results from a maiden drilling program, with work at the Mt Chalmers copper project unearthing more high-grade copper, gold, silver, zinc and lead.
The company has received results from the final four unassayed holes of the maiden 11-hole drilling program for 1,587m.
One hole returned 7.5m at 0.75 grams per tonne gold, 23g/t silver, 0.24% copper, 3.5% lead and 7.4% zinc from 70.5m.
Within this was a 2.2m interval comprising bonanza grades of 16.8% zinc, 8.3% lead and 41g/t silver, along with 0.85g/t gold and 0.54% copper.
Another notable intercept was 8.7m at 0.73g/t gold, 26g/t silver, 0.34% copper, 1.7% lead and 4.4% zinc from 21.2m.
Highlight gold and copper assays were 0.6m at 3.31g/t gold, 87g/t silver, 5.21% copper and 1% zinc from 115m; 15.2m at 2.36g/t gold and 0.67% copper from 139m, including 2m at 9.31g/t gold and 1.34% copper from 154m; and 14.6m at 1.01% copper from 185m.
QMines executive chairman Andrew Sparke said the final assays from the program had returned some “outstanding” results.
“The current resource model has not factored in zinc and lead so we will now work towards updating the resource model to factor in these results,” he said.
Mt Chalmers copper-gold project
The maiden diamond drilling program aimed to validate historical data on Mt Chalmers, which is 17km northeast of Rockhampton in Queensland.
Mt Chalmers hosts a historic mine that generated 1.2 million tonnes at 3.6g/t gold, 2% copper and 19g/t silver between 1898 and 1982.
The project has an inferred JORC resource of 3.9Mt at 1.15% copper, 0.81g/t gold and 8.4g/t silver.
QMines noted that previous owners of the project had not consistently analysed samples for the full base metals suite, with a “significant number” of historic holes not assayed for zinc and lead.
A 30-hole for 3,000m reverse circulation program is now underway at Mt Chalmers, which is designed to further validate historic data and upgrade the inferred resource.
“The company’s reverse circulation drilling program is progressing well with six holes drilled to date,” Mr Sparke noted.
“We expect to deliver more results that will lead to a resource update in the near future,” he added.
Other exploration includes an airborne electromagnetic survey over Mt Chalmers and soil testing.