QMines hits mineralisation in all holes to date at Develin Creek drilling campaign
QMines (ASX: QML) has intersected mineralisation in all holes completed to date in its initial reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at the Develin Creek project in Queensland.
Mineralisation has been found in the expected sections, which the company’s management says is providing confidence in the success of a planned resource update.
QMines will have a better understanding of the quality of the mineralisation in the next few weeks when it receives assay results from samples from the completed RC holes, which have been sent to the ALS laboratory in Brisbane for testing.
Enhanced mine plan
The initial Develin Creek in-fill RC drilling program is designed to improve resource confidence at the shallow high-grade Scorpion and Window copper deposits.
The company is aiming to increase the ore reserve and extend the Mt Chalmers mine life by adding the higher-grade Develin Creek material into the mine plan and intends to make sample submissions at regular intervals throughout the program.
“QMines is now focusing on drilling at Develin Creek to increase the potential scale and mine life of the Mt Chalmers project,” chair Andrew Sparke said.
“Develin Creek hosts two high-grade copper deposits at Scorpion and Sulphide City which fall outside of the current Mt Chalmers mine plan.”
“These deposits provide potential to increase the scale of a potential mining operation at the nearby Mt Chalmers project.”
High-grade copper
The Develin Creek project contains two high-grade copper resources at Sulphide City and Scorpion that contain combined resources of 3.2 million tonnes at 1.05% copper, 1.22% zinc, 0.17 grams per tonne gold and 5.9g/t silver.
The mineral resource at Develin Creek currently contains approximately 53% in the inferred resource category.
Mineralisation across the Develin Creek site was discovered by Queensland Metals Corporation in the early 1990s, with subsequent work completed by Fitzroy Resources and Zenith Minerals (ASX: ZNC).
Mt Chalmers resource
Mt Chalmers has a resource of 11.3Mt at 0.75% copper, 0.42g/t gold, 0.23% zinc, 4.8g/t silver and 4.28% sulphur, with 91% of the resource now in the measured and indicated categories.
QMines recently completed a Mt Chalmers pre-feasibility study that demonstrated a long-life, high-margin, low-cost mining operation.
The company received firm commitments to raise $5 million in early August, well exceeding the original target of $2m.
Proceeds are being used to fund exploration and development plans at the Mt Chalmers and Develin Creek projects, payment for the remaining 49% interest in the Develin Creek project and for general working capital purposes.