Australia's QMines discovers 11-meter mineralized zone 180 meters beyond copper resource boundary

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 12, Australian mining company QMines announced the latest drilling results from the Mt Chalmers copper-gold project in Queensland. Diamond drill hole 26MCDD052 intersected an 11-meter-long zone of visible copper sulfide mineralization approximately 180 meters north-northeast of the existing mineral resource boundary, containing chalcopyrite and pyrite vein-hosted mineralization. This area lies outside the open-pit shell planned in the 2024 pre-feasibility study, and the grades of copper, gold and other metals are still pending laboratory assay confirmation.

Drill hole 26MCDD052 has a total depth of 255.50 meters, with the mineralized interval located at approximately 192 meters to 203 meters downhole, corresponding to a vertical depth of about 167 meters below surface. Core logging shows that the mineralization consists mainly of irregular chalcopyrite-pyrite veinlets and locally semi-massive sulfides, with visual sulfide content of approximately 25%-35% in some sections. Chalcopyrite is mainly concentrated in the 200-meter to 203-meter downhole interval, while the 198-meter to 200-meter interval is dominated by weaker pyrite mineralization.

This hole is the second exploration hole drilled in the target area north of the Mt Chalmers main pit. The newly discovered sulfide assemblage and vein textures are similar to the vein-hosted mineralization below the massive sulfide ore horizon of the existing orebody. Because the drill hole orientation is nearly parallel to the interpreted north-northeast-trending structure, the currently recorded intersection length is along-hole length, and the true thickness of the mineralized zone has not yet been determined.

QMines is investigating three geological interpretations for the new mineralized zone, including northward extension of the Mt Chalmers main orebody, a separate mineralized zone east of the main orebody, and mineralization related to the nearby Botos deposit. None of the three interpretations has been verified by continuous drilling, and the existing drilling results have not confirmed a continuous orebody between Mt Chalmers and Botos.

The company has commenced follow-up drilling focused on verifying the strike, true thickness and spatial continuity of the mineralized zone, and investigating the distribution of copper-gold mineralization along the approximately 4-kilometer geological corridor from Woods Shaft to Mt Chalmers to Botos. Laboratory assay results from the new drill holes are expected to be announced in late October.

The definitive feasibility study for the Mt Chalmers project is underway. QMines has previously conducted resource expansion, metallurgical testwork and geotechnical drilling at the project, and the newly identified mineralized interval has not yet been included in the formal mineral resource estimate.