QMines Fires Up 10,000m Drill Blitz With 18m at 2.7g/t Gold and 1.7% Copper
QMines fires up its biggest drill campaign at Mt Chalmers with 18m at 2.7g/t gold, 1.7% copper
QMines (ASX:QML) has launched a 10,000m+ multi-rig drilling programme at its 100%-owned Mt Chalmers copper-gold project, 20km northeast of Rockhampton, Queensland — the largest campaign in the company’s history. The first 16 holes are already complete, with three rigs currently active across multiple work streams.
The standout opening result from the metallurgical drilling programme came from hole MCDD003: 18m at 2.7g/t Au and 1.7% Cu from 54m, including 12m at 3.8g/t Au and 2.0% Cu, and a 1m hit at 20.3g/t Au and 3.3% Cu. This dual-track programme advances the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) AND targets resource growth simultaneously, positioning QMines for sustained news flow through H2 2026.
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The opening assays and what they tell investors
Hole MCDD003 intersected both principal mineralisation styles of the Mt Chalmers VHMS system. An upper polymetallic zone containing zinc, lead, silver and gold was intersected from 20m, followed by a broad footwall copper-gold stringer zone from 54m containing abundant chalcopyrite and veinlets within intensely silica and chlorite-altered volcanics.
Individual assays reached 4.4% Cu and 20.3g/t Au in the stringer zone, and up to 17.8% Zn, 7.6% Pb and 94.5g/t Ag in the polymetallic zone. The results compare favourably with the current Mt Chalmers Mineral Resource average of 0.75% Cu and 0.42g/t Au, confirming locally high-grade mineralisation at shallow depth.
Geotechnical hole 2026_GT03 also returned mineralisation (3m at 0.1% Cu, 0.3g/t Au and 1.9% Zn from 48m), confirming that mineralisation extends beyond the potential pit outline.
| Hole ID | From–To (m) | Interval (m) | Cu (%) | Au (g/t) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCDD003 | 20.0–24.5 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 |
| MCDD003 | 28.5–34.0 | 5.5 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| MCDD003 | 54.0–72.0 | 18.0 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| MCDD003 (incl.) | 54.0–66.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 | 3.8 |
| MCDD003 (incl.) | 61.0–62.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 20.3 |
| 2026_GT03 | 48.0–51.0 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
Executive Chairman Andrew Sparke
“This is the biggest drilling campaign QMines has ever undertaken, and the opening results are exactly what we wanted to see. An intercept of 18m at 2.7g/t gold and 1.7% copper, with metre-scale hits above 20g/t gold, confirms the quality and scale of the Mt Chalmers system.”
Understanding VHMS deposits and why Woods Shaft matters
A Volcanic-Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) deposit is formed by ancient hydrothermal and exhalative activity. These deposits typically host copper, gold, zinc, lead and silver in concentrated lenses.
Mt Chalmers is a high-grade historic mine that produced 1.2Mt @ 2.0% Cu, 3.6g/t Au and 19g/t Ag between 1898 and 1982. The Woods Shaft deposit, located approximately 700-800m southwest of the Mt Chalmers open pit, sits at the same stratigraphic level but is copper-gold dominant. QMines interprets this as evidence of a “gold-rich event” that extends well beyond the known massive sulphides.
The gold at Mt Chalmers is coarse and free milling, meaning it can be extracted more easily than gold locked in sulphides. The Pre-Feasibility Study reported 82% gold recovery, pointing to strong economics for this style of mineralisation.
Inside the two-track, five-programme campaign
The drilling campaign runs across TWO work-streams: (1) resource growth and exploration, and (2) DFS support. Running both in parallel is designed to compress the development timeline while simultaneously growing the resource base.
| Programme | Purpose | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Metallurgical diamond drilling | Feasibility (DFS): comminution and flotation testwork samples | 14 holes, 1,500m (nearing completion) |
| Geotechnical drilling | Feasibility (DFS): pit wall and geotechnical design inputs | 6 holes, 538.3m (complete) |
| Woods Shaft resource drilling | Resource growth: largest ever Woods Shaft programme, targeting expanded Mt Chalmers resource | 39 holes, 7,000m (35 RC, 4 diamond) |
| Slag and waste characterisation | Feasibility (DFS): environmental classification, plus testing for residual metal value in historic slag and stockpiles | 18 holes across three stockpile areas (ongoing) |
| In-pit pontoon drilling | Feasibility (DFS): resource infill beneath the flooded pit, in ground inaccessible from land | 12 holes, 1,200m |
Woods Shaft — the resource growth engine
The 39-hole, 7,000m programme (35 RC, 4 diamond) at Woods Shaft is the largest ever drilled at the deposit. Located approximately 700-800m southwest of the Mt Chalmers open pit, Woods Shaft currently holds an Inferred Mineral Resource of 0.54Mt at 0.95g/t Au and 0.50% Cu, open in all directions.
Prior QMines drilling at Woods Shaft produced results such as 45m at 2.64g/t Au and 0.67% Cu from surface, including 37m at 3.14g/t Au and 0.82% Cu (hole QMWSRC001, announced 25 October 2022). The goal of the current programme is to grow Woods Shaft to the point where it can be folded into an expanded Mt Chalmers Mineral Resource and potentially extend mine life.
DFS-focused drilling, including a first for QMines
The metallurgical programme (14 holes, 1,500m, nearing completion) and geotechnical programme (6 holes, 538.3m, complete) are generating critical inputs for the DFS. The slag and waste characterisation programme (18 holes) is testing historic stockpiles from mining and smelting campaigns between the 1890s and 1940s for residual copper, gold and payable metals — a potential project upside if grade, volume and recoverability are demonstrated.
The in-pit pontoon programme represents the first ever drilling beneath the flooded historic open pit from a floating pontoon at Mt Chalmers. This 12-hole, 1,200m programme targets resource infill and a first-pass test of depth extensions below the pit, in ground inaccessible from land-based drill positions.
The DFS data streams being gathered include:
- Metallurgical samples for comminution and flotation testwork
- Geotechnical inputs for pit wall and mine design
- Environmental classification of waste and stockpiles
- Resource-confidence drilling beneath the flooded pit
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What comes next and why the timing matters
Assays remain pending from multiple completed holes with three rigs active across the project. QMines is positioned for strong, sustained news flow through H2 2026.
Next steps include:
- Receipt and interpretation of outstanding metallurgical and geotechnical assays.
- Comminution and flotation testwork for the DFS.
- Completion of in-pit pontoon drilling beneath the flooded pit.
- Continuation of Woods Shaft resource drilling.
- Integration of all datasets into the resource model and DFS.
QMines is transitioning from data collection into resource growth, technical integration and project optimisation, working toward completing the Mt Chalmers DFS. The company holds combined Mineral Resources of approximately 20Mt and Ore Reserves of 9.6Mt across Mt Chalmers, Develin Creek and Mt Mackenzie, all 100%-owned.
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