QEM Launches Three-Phase Exploration Plan for Idaho Tungsten Project
Key Takeaways
- QEM has set out a three-phase exploration programme for the Big It Tungsten Project in Idaho, with a site visit planned for October 2026 to start ground-based work.
- Big It is a past producer of tungsten concentrates grading roughly 67–75% WO₃, last worked in the 1950s with no known modern systematic exploration.
- About 380 m of documented underground development offers direct access for mapping and sampling, which QEM calls a cost-effective way to test the historical system.
- Phase 1 takes two to three months, Phase 2 adds three more if results are encouraging, and Phase 3 first-pass drilling has no disclosed timing.
- Historical grades are unverified and not a Mineral Resource, with peak values drawn from limited grab samples lacking surveyed locations, so the programme's job is to prove them.
Three-phase exploration programme set for Big It Tungsten Project
QEM Limited (ASX: QEM) has released an initial three-phase exploration programme for the Big It Tungsten Project in Idaho, USA, following a review of historical geological, mining and exploration information. The company says each phase will be results-driven, with later work informed by earlier outcomes.
A site visit is planned for October 2026 to initiate the ground-based work and confirm access, logistics and priority work areas. This is exploration-stage activity, designed to use modern techniques to progressively validate the project’s geological potential and advance it towards drill testing.
For investors, the appeal is straightforward. The QEM exploration programme would bring modern, systematic work to a past producer, and each phase offers a potential news-flow checkpoint.
Robert Cooper, Managing Director
“We’re excited to be getting on the ground in Idaho and commencing our initial exploration programme at Big It. The staged application of modern exploration techniques will hopefully lead to QEM identifying further mineralisation as we work to demonstrate the potential of this underexplored tungsten, antimony and gold project.”
When big ASX news breaks, our subscribers know first
Why does Big It stand out as a past-producing project?
Production history and polymetallic system
Big It is a past producer of tungsten concentrates reportedly grading approximately 67–75% WO₃. The last known documented activity occurred in the 1950s, and no modern systematic exploration programme is known to have been completed.
Available historical underground sampling returned individual values of up to 2,980 ppm W, 19.5% Sb and 11.15 g/t Au. Those maximums come from separate samples in a limited suite of historical rock/grab samples that lack surveyed locations or representative sample widths. They should not be read as representative grades or evidence of continuous mineralisation.
A 1952–1953 U.S. Defence Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA) programme identified additional oreshoots. Historical records report average grades of 4.45% WO₃ over an average vein width of 17.2 cm and 7.45% WO₃ over 10.9 cm. These results pre-date modern reporting standards and have not been independently verified by QEM.
Key project strengths highlighted by the company include:
- U.S. Government records documenting approximately 380 m of lateral development, together with raises, winzes and historical stoping
- A steeply dipping vein system not systematically drill tested beneath the historical workings, with strike extensions also largely unexplored
- A setting within the regionally extensive Pritchard Formation
That existing underground development matters because it offers direct access to the mineralised system for mapping and sampling, which the company says provides a cost-effective pathway to test the historical system.
Location and tenure
The project sits near Pinehurst in the Pine Creek Mining District, immediately adjacent to the Coeur d’Alene mineral belt. That district has historically produced more than 1.2 billion ounces of silver.
Tenure comprises three unpatented federal lode mining claims, plus approximately 101 acres of associated landholdings made up of two private land parcels. The company notes the project is a relatively small position within a much larger mineralised corridor, giving potential for expansion through additional tenure acquisition.
How does the staged exploration programme work?
What staged, results-driven exploration means
Staged exploration works like a series of gates. The company first verifies what is already known, then defines targets, and only then considers drilling.
The benefit for you as an investor is that spending is matched to evidence. Each phase is a potential catalyst, but QEM states progression from Phase 1 to Phase 2, and then to Phase 3, will be subject to technical results, access, permitting and ongoing assessment.
Phase breakdown
The table below summarises the planned programme as presented in the company’s announcement.
| Phase | Timing | Work programme | Objective | Indicative outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Reconnaissance & Validation | Three months (expected to take two to three months) | Data/GIS compilation; mapping; workings inspection; channel and rock-chip sampling; orientation soils; pXRF screening, drone / Lidar survey | Verify historical information and establish geological / structural controls | Determine priority areas for systematic Phase 2 follow-up |
| Phase 2: Ground Surveys & Target Definition | Three months (a further three months, subject to encouraging Phase 1 results) | Infill mapping/geochemistry; UAV magnetics and modeling; targeted trenching; integrated 3D structural interpretation | Define the geometry and extensions of prospective structures and rank drill target | Drill-ready target portfolio |
| Phase 3: First-Pass Drilling | Not disclosed | Diamond drilling beneath / along strike of workings and on new targets | Test continuity, geometry, grade distribution and scale of mineralisation | Basis for follow-up drilling and further project evaluation leading to project scoping studies |
Phase 1 is expected to include:
- Desktop compilation and GIS of historical plans, workings, sampling, tenure, topography and geology
- Geological and structural mapping, with emphasis on the known mineralised corridor
- Channel sampling of accessible mineralised structures, supported by rock-chip sampling
- Orientation soil geochemistry on an initial nominal grid of approximately 100 m × 50 m, adjusted for terrain, access and orientation results
- Portable XRF (pXRF) screening, with laboratory assays providing the analytical basis for reported results
Phase 2 would add UAV magnetics, LiDAR topography, targeted trenching and an integrated 3D target model, with a ranked set of drill-ready targets as the principal deliverable.
Phase 3, subject to successful target definition, would provide the first modern drill test of the Big It mineralised system using RC and/or diamond drilling. Drill metres and hole numbers would be finalised after Phase 2.
The next major ASX story will hit our subscribers first
What comes next for QEM?
In the near term, the October 2026 site visit kicks off the ground-based work, with Phase 1 results determining whether the programme progresses.
Longer term, a resource-focused drill programme and the initiation of concept/scoping studies would follow successful Phase 3 drilling results that demonstrate sufficient geological and grade continuity.
QEM’s wider portfolio includes the Garden Valley Project (Nb-Ta-REE) in Idaho and the Julia Creek Vanadium and Energy Project in Queensland.
The caution here matters. The historical results should not be relied upon as a current Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve, and further work, including verification sampling, geological/structural mapping and drilling, is required.
Don’t Miss the Next ASX Tungsten Breakout
Get FREE breaking ASX mining news in your inbox within minutes of release, complete with in-depth analysis. Join 30,000+ investors already staying ahead of the market. Click the “Free Alerts” button at Big News Blast to receive market-moving announcements the moment they break.