QMines Extends High-Grade Copper-Gold Zone Beneath Mt Chalmers Pit

High-Grade Sulphides Continue Beneath Mt Chalmers

QMines Limited (ASX:QML) has found another concentrated pocket of copper-gold sulphides beneath the flooded Mt Chalmers open pit, with hole 26MCDD043 returning 26.2 metres at 1.3% copper and 0.7 grams per tonne gold, equivalent to 2.0% CuEq. Inside that interval, 2.4 metres graded 5.4% copper and 3.8g/t gold for 9.1% CuEq.

The result is notable not only for its grade but for its geological setting. The highest-grade material sits in semi-massive pyrite-chalcopyrite sulphides above a copper-bearing stringer zone, a combination QMines says is consistent with the Kuroko-style volcanic-hosted massive sulphide architecture interpreted at Mt Chalmers. The hole also returned further copper intervals below the main zone, including 10.4 metres at 0.7% copper.

The latest drilling builds on the October Mt Chalmers assays, which included a 16.7-metre copper-gold-silver intersection and a high-grade polymetallic lens. QMines says the new core and assays will feed into a planned Mineral Resource update, while retained material will support ongoing geometallurgical testwork.

Eastward Drilling Adds a Second High-Grade Intercept

Hole 26MCDD047, drilled 64 metres east of 26MCDD043, returned 7.6 metres at 1.8% copper and 1.5g/t gold, or 3.2% CuEq. It included separate higher-grade sections of 1.2 metres at 3.0% copper and 2.6g/t gold, and 1.7 metres at 2.7% copper and 2.0g/t gold. A further 1.4-metre interval graded 3.1% copper and 1.0g/t gold.

That second intersection improves the picture of mineralisation beneath the historic pit, but the company is explicit that continuity between the two holes has not been established. Hole 047 also intersected timber, fill, clay gouge and voids from historic underground workings, while a 1.5-metre void was included at zero grade in the reported 7.6-metre composite.

Open Copper-Zinc Mineralisation Meets Drilling Trouble

Hole 26MCDD048, 81 metres south-southeast of 26MCDD043, returned 13.0 metres at 1.0% copper and 0.4g/t gold, including two metres at 2.7% copper. Zinc and lead increased near the bottom of the hole, where the final four metres averaged 1.3% zinc, 0.5% lead and 0.5g/t gold.

The hole was abandoned at 63 metres after the drill string became stuck and was lost, leaving the mineralised zone open below the end of hole. QMines is assessing a follow-up hole, but the extension remains untested rather than a defined resource addition.

Resource Update Still Depends on Continuity and Assays

Since late July, the pontoon campaign has drilled 14 holes for 1,281 metres beneath the pit lake, with a further hole underway and three rigs operating across the broader program. The announcement says 39 holes remain in the laboratory awaiting assay, creating the prospect of substantial additional results, although the timing and grades of those assays are not specified.

The main technical caution is sampling and geometry. The reported intervals are downhole lengths rather than true widths, and core recovery across part of the highest-grade section in 26MCDD043 was about 67%. Historic voids also affect the interpretation of holes 043 and 047. Those factors do not negate the assays, but they mean the next meaningful test is whether drilling can demonstrate repeatable geometry and continuity suitable for the Mineral Resource model.