en.Wedoany.com Reported - QMines (ASX: QML) is conducting a 10,000-meter multi-rig drilling campaign at its wholly owned Mt Chalmers project in Queensland, Australia. The first drill hole has encountered high-grade copper, gold, zinc, lead, and silver.

This drilling campaign comprises two parallel work streams. One focuses on resource growth and exploration, while the other aims to support the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).

Drilling for the resource growth and exploration component is concentrated on the Woods Shaft deposit, targeting an increase in copper and gold resources. QMines stated that Woods Shaft confirms a gold-rich event beyond the known massive sulfide. The current drilling is the first to test the regional-scale corridor connecting Botos, Mt Chalmers, and Woods Shaft.

Drilling to generate datasets for metallurgy, geotechnical, environmental, and resource confidence will ultimately complete the DFS for the Mt Chalmers project. The company is also drilling for the first time beneath the historical flooded open pit.

Assay results from multiple completed drill holes are pending. Three rigs remain active on site.

Executive Chairman Andrew Sparke noted that this campaign is the largest drilling program QMines has executed since its inception.

"An intersection of 18 meters at 2.7 g/t gold and 1.7% copper, accompanied by meter-grade intervals exceeding 20 g/t gold, confirms the quality and scale of the Mt Chalmers system," Sparke said.

"Woods Shaft is a copper-gold deposit, but gold excites us the most."

"We believe this reflects a gold-rich event extending well beyond the known massive sulfide. Our large-scale drilling here aims to expand Woods Shaft and incorporate it into an enlarged Mt Chalmers resource."

"Simultaneously, we are completing drilling designed to inform the DFS. Advancing both in parallel allows us to grow resources and progress studies concurrently, generating a strong news flow for QMines through the remainder of 2026."

The Woods Shaft deposit, located 800 meters southwest of the historical Mt Chalmers mine, is a shallow copper-gold deposit. It has an inferred resource of 540,000 tonnes at 0.95 g/t gold and 0.50% copper, and remains open in all directions.

With rigs active at Mt Chalmers and multiple assay results pending, QMines anticipates a robust news flow in the second half of 2026.

QMines is a Queensland-focused copper-gold development company advancing the Mt Chalmers and Develin Creek deposits.