QMines Limited (ASX:QML) announced on 22 July 2026 that its extensive 10,000-metre multi-rig drilling campaign is now underway at the high-grade Mt Chalmers copper-gold project, located 20 kilometres northeast of Rockhampton, Queensland. QMines Limited is a Queensland-focused copper and gold development company that owns 100% of the Mt Chalmers and Develin Creek deposits. The company reported initial high-grade copper, gold, zinc, lead, and silver results from the opening hole of this significant program, confirming the quality of the Mt Chalmers system.
The comprehensive drilling initiative is bifurcated into two parallel workstreams: resource growth and Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) support. A substantial 7,000-metre program, the largest ever undertaken at the site, is targeting the Woods Shaft deposit, situated 800 metres southwest of the historic Mt Chalmers mine. Woods Shaft is a shallow copper-gold deposit holding an Inferred Resource of 0.54 million tonnes at 0.95 g/t gold and 0.50% copper, remaining open in all directions. This resource expansion is designed to potentially increase the overall mine life at Mt Chalmers. The DFS workstream is focused on collecting crucial metallurgical, geotechnical, environmental, and resource-confidence data required to complete the Definitive Feasibility Study.
Early results from the metallurgical drilling have proven highly encouraging. Diamond hole MCDD003 delivered an intercept of 18 metres at 2.7 g/t gold and 1.7% copper from 54 metres downhole, which included higher-grade sections such as 12 metres at 3.8 g/t gold and 2.0% copper. Executive Chairman Andrew Sparke commented that these opening results are “exactly what we wanted to see,” further noting that the gold at Woods Shaft is particularly exciting and indicative of a gold-rich mineralising event. With assays pending from numerous completed holes and three drilling rigs actively operating, QMines anticipates a consistent flow of technical results and project milestones throughout the second half of 2026.
