Drill rigs fire up at Western Queen as Rumble weighs mine development options

• Rumble Resources kicks off 20,000m drill program to grow 370,000oz at 3.1g/t gold resource
• Underground scoping study progressing after preliminary study demonstrated favourable economics, with open pit alternatives being reviewed
• Processing and revenue options are being actively pursued, including metallurgical testwork on the maiden 13,200t tungsten resource

Special Report: Rumble Resources is gearing up for a step change with diamond drilling about to kick off at Western Queen, while studies into mine development and processing options gather pace.

The pivotal batch of activities comes less than a month after Rumble pulled in up to $9 million through a Tribeca supported capital raise as the company targets H2 2026 production from its Western Queen gold and tungsten project.

Contractor DDH1 Drilling is moving two rigs to the Rumble (ASX:RTR) site for the 20,000m diamond drill program set to start this week at the gold project with bonus tungsten.

The program is primarily designed to grow the mineral resource estimate of 3.8Mt at 3.1g/t for 370,000oz of gold, released just three months ago, by testing high-grade down plunge extensions at the Western Queen South and Central deposits.

A portion of the program is infill drilling at Western Queen South, which currently has a resource of 198,900oz. This aims to upgrade inferred ounces to the higher confidence indicated category as part of an ongoing underground mining scoping study. Results will underpin an updated MRE in early 2026.

Notably, the drill program will also target tungsten skarn lodes next to the gold mineralisation, following up on August release of the maiden tungsten MRE of 4.31Mt at 0.31% tungsten trioxide (WO₃) for 13,200t WO₃. Metallurgical testwork is also planned to assess whether the critical mineral can provide a parallel revenue stream alongside gold.

Underground scoping study underway

On the development front, MEGA Resources has updated mine schedules for the open pit mining scenarios. A smaller Western Queen South open pit option is under review, which could provide an early start to production.

A recently completed  preliminary underground study demonstrated favourable economics for mining both Western Queen South and Central from underground. That prompted Rumble to start a detailed scoping study which is now underway and expected to be completed during the current December 2025 quarter.

Discussions are also ongoing with a number of third-party processing plant operators in the region.

A draft toll treatment agreement has been received and is under review. Access to nearby processing infrastructure in the well-serviced mining region of WA will allow Rumble to unlock the valuable gold resources at Western Queen.

Tungsten upside

Bulk samples of tungsten have also been prepared for detailed metallurgical testing, which is scheduled to commence this quarter.

Early indications suggest tungsten recoveries could support an economic by-product stream, especially as prices rally amid export restrictions from dominant producer China.

The mineral’s high melting point and strength make it ideal as a hardener for steel in cutting and drilling applications and for defence hardware it also has various applications in  electronics, semiconductors, solar cells and batteries.

Peter Harold, Managing Director and CEO commented: “Following the recent capital raising the company is now well funded to progress Western Queen with the dual aims of growing the gold and tungsten resources and moving the project into production.

“Resource extensional drilling is on track to commence this week with up to 20,000 metres of diamond drilling planned below the current known mineralisation at Western Queen South and Central. We will also be looking to grow the recently reported tungsten resources given the tungsten mineralisation is spatially adjacent, and sub-parallel to, the high-grade gold.

“Optimisation of the proposed Western Queen South open pit has been completed to incorporate the new resource estimate announced in July 2025. A preliminary underground mining study of both the Western Queen South and Central deposits was positive, and we are now undertaking a more detailed scoping study.

“While we progress towards gold production targeting late calendar year 2026 we recently released the maiden Western Queen tungsten Resource and will now complete a metallurgical testwork program to determine how we can unlock a revenue stream from the tungsten.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Rumble Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.