QMines (ASX:QML) has intersected ‘high-grade’ copper-gold beneath the flooded Mt Chalmers open pit in Central Queensland.
Pontoon hole 26MCDD043 returned 26.2m @ 1.28% copper (Cu) and 0.73g/t gold (Au), for 1.99% copper equivalent (CuEq), from 36.4m.
The interval includes 2.4m @ 5.37% Cu and 3.83g/t Au for 9.07% CuEq in semi-massive sulphide. A further 10.4m @ 0.67% Cu was returned from 65.6m, below a 3m void.
Hole 26MCDD047, 64m east, returned 7.6m @ 1.77% Cu and 1.46g/t Au for 3.2% CuEq from 42.1m. That interval includes a 1.5m void assigned zero grade.
Hole 26MCDD048, 81m south-southeast of 043, returned 13m @ 0.98% Cu and 0.36g/t Au for 1.47% CuEq from 50m.
QMines abandoned 048 at 63m after the drill string became stuck in historical underground workings, while still in copper-zinc mineralisation.
Zinc grades increased towards the bottom of the hole, with the final 4m returning 1.3% zinc, 0.5% lead, and 0.5g/t Au from 59m. A follow-up hole is being assessed.
Core recovery was about 67% across 36.4–39.1m in hole 043. Continuity between 043 and 047 remains to be established, and true widths are unknown.
Exploration Manager Tom Bartschi says the geology matters as much as the grade.
“We have intersected high-grade semi-massive sulphide sitting above a substantial copper-bearing stringer zone, consistent with what we expect from the Mt Chalmers VHMS [volcanic-hosted massive sulphide] system,” Bartschi says.
He says the results will feed into the company’s mineral resource update, with the new core also supporting metallurgical test work.
The drilling significantly derisks the grade model, which previously relied heavily on historical drilling. It will also inform a mineral resource update targeting a mining-ready estimate.
Since late July, QMines has drilled 14 pontoon holes for 1,281m, with hole 26MCDD056 underway and three rigs still operating. Assays remain pending for six pontoon holes, as the company reports 39 holes in the laboratory awaiting assay.
The company owns 100% of the Mt Chalmers Copper-Gold Project, which is a VHMS deposit. The historic mine produced 1.2 million tonnes at 2% Cu and 3.6g/t Au between 1898 and 1982.
QMines is an Australian base and precious metals developer advancing a portfolio of projects in Queensland.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Main image: QMines
