QMines Ltd (ASX:QML) is readying for a large maiden drilling program at the high-grade Develin Creek Copper Project northwest of Rockhampton in central Queensland, which it expects to commence in coming months.
This program is intended to add additional mill feed to the company's planned Mt Chalmers copper-gold operation, further improving the project’s mineral resource estimate (MRE) and ore reserve.
The maiden program will focus on infill and step-out drilling at the Sulphide City, Scorpion and Window deposits, aiming to improve confidence in these resources and convert inferred material to the high confidence indicated JORC category.
Mt Chalmers resources
The combined Mt Chalmers measured, indicated and inferred MRE now stands at 15.1 million tonnes at 1.3% copper equivalent for 195,800 tonnes of contained metal.
The Mt Chalmers project itself has a resource of 11.3 million tonnes at 0.75% copper, 0.42 g/t gold, 0.23% zinc, 4.8 g/t silver and 4.28% sulphur, 9.6 million tonnes of which is in reserves.
Additionally, the company’s satellite Woods Shaft resource hosts a MRE of 540,000 tonnes at 0.54% copper and 0.95 g/t gold while the Sulphide City and Scorpion deposits at Develin Creek contain resources of 3.2 million tonnes at 1.05% copper, 1.22% zinc, 0.17 g/t gold and 5.9 g/t silver.
Importantly, these resources are not in the Mt Chalmers mine plan, demonstrating significant upside to the recently completed Mt Chalmers pre-feasibility study (PFS) results.
Improving continuity
In order to upgrade the resource to the indicated category, or better, QMines must establish an improved geological continuity through higher drilling density. This will be achieved by drilling at 25-metre nominal spacing.
QMines executive chairman Andrew Sparke said: "Now that the Mt Chalmers pre-feasibility study has been delivered, the company will focus on upgrading additional resources at the Develin Creek project whilst concurrently investigating additional satellite targets identified via the electromagnetic survey conducted last year around Mt Chalmers.
"These targets remain a high priority and the company expects to expand the drilling operations at the Artillery Road prospect in Q3 2024”.
Drilling to commence in coming weeks
To deliver the next Develin Creek resource upgrade, QMines has planned an estimated 60-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling program for up to 10,000 metres for Sulphide City, Scorpion and Window.
This includes step-out and infill exploration drilling with geological understanding expected to be improved as a result.
The drilling will be completed by the company's RC drilling rig with planned hole depths between 50 and 200 metres.
This RC program is planned to commence in coming weeks with the wet season rainfall abating, allowing rig access to the project area.
Mt Chalmers and Develin Creek projects.
The Develin Creek project comprises several volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) copper-zinc deposits within the Rookwood Volcanics.
Mineralisation styles reported from the main prospect areas include massive and banded sulphide deposits; reworked, polymictic breccia deposits; distal, graded sedimentary sulphide deposits; massive, replacement deposits and stringer zone quartz-sulphide vein deposits. Stacked, discrete and possibly folded bodies are typical.
Mineralisation at Scorpion, Window and Sulphide City was discovered and initially drilled to 50 metres spacing by Queensland Metals Corporation in the early 1990s. Subsequent owners, Fitzroy Resources and Zenith Minerals, undertook verification drilling programs along with regional exploration programs.
Reverse circulation (RC) drill hole collar locations and section lines AA and BB.
Read more on Proactive Investors AU
