QMines unleashes flurry of high-grade copper strikes at Scorpion

QMines drilling hits more high-grade copper at the Develin Creek project
Results include 26m intersection grading 1.38% copper and 1.99% zinc
Ongoing drilling to be completed this year with a resource update expected to follow shortly

Special Report: Ongoing drilling has further validated QMines decision to complete the acquisition of the Develin Creek copper-zinc project in Queensland after returning more high-grade mineralisation at the Scorpion deposit.

The latest assays include hits such as 26m at 1.38% copper, 0.29g/t gold, 11g/t silver and 1.99% zinc from a down-hole depth of 72m (DCRC018) and 10m at 2.49% copper, 0.47g/t gold, 18g/t silver and 83m (DCRC024) that complement its initial high-grade strikes.

Importantly for QMines (ASX:QML), which completed the acquisition of the project from Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) in late September 2024, the results confirm that Scorpion is a shallow, high-grade copper and zinc deposit with potential to grow the mine life at its flagship Mt Chalmers copper-gold mine.

Recent metallurgical test work has already confirmed excellent recoveries for copper and gold at Develin Creek.

Mt Chalmers has a resource of 11.3Mt at 0.75% copper, 0.42g/t gold, 0.23% zinc and 4.6% silver, with 4.3% sulphur that hosts an ore reserve of 9.6Mt at 0.65% copper along with 0.48g/t gold, 0.27% zinc, 5.2g/t silver and 4.3% sulphur.

It is the subject of an attractive pre-feasibility study that outlined a >10 year mine development with cashflow of $636m to power a NPV and IRR of $373m and 54%, respectively.

Capex is estimated at just $191.9m with payback expected in just 1.84 years.

“We are very pleased with the current results from the company’s maiden drilling program at the newly acquired Develin Creek copper project,” executive chairman Andrew Sparke said.

“These results demonstrate that the Scorpion deposit is likely to extend the mine life at the proposed Mt Chalmers copper operation.

“We look forward to completing the drilling program this year and providing an updated mineral resource estimate shortly thereafter.”

Develin Creek project

Develin Creek comprises several volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) copper-zinc deposits within the Rookwood Volcanics.

QML first signed a terms sheet in August 2023 to acquire an initial 51% interest in the project before acquiring the remaining 49% on September 30, 2024.

While it currently has an inferred resource of 3.2Mt at 1.05% copper and 1.22% zinc, the company’s maiden drilling program to verify previous drilling as well as infill and extend mineralisation appears set to achieve the goal of both upgrade the inferred resource to the higher confidence indicated or measured categories and increase resource size.

Drilling has already intersected high-grade VHMS mineralisation with a similar tenor and style to the historical drilling results while step-out holes have extended the mineralised zones to the north-northeast of the Scorpion deposit with further drilling planned to the north of the deposit.

This article was developed in collaboration with QMines, 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.