Take me down to the Sulphide City where the grade is good and the copper’s pretty

• QML aims to improve resource confidence after positive results from Develin Creek drilling
• Company recorded up to 2.63% copper, 4.2% zinc and 36.9g/t silver
• RC drilling continues with the addition of several diamond tails and assays pending

Special Report: The latest RC drilling program from QMines at the Sulphide City deposit – part of the Develin Creek project in Queensland – has returned high-grade hits of up to 2.63% copper, 4.2% zinc and 36.9g/t silver.

Earlier this year, the company released a combined resource estimate for the Scorpion and Sulphide City deposits of 4.13Mt at 1.01% copper, 1.16% zinc, 0.15g/t gold and 6.0g/t silver with 56% in the inferred category and 44% in the higher confidence indicated category.

The 8000m program was aimed at validating the tenor and continuity of the high-grade massive sulphide mineralisation in historic drilling, along with expanding and infill drilling the resource to upgrade more to the indicated category.

A total of 27 holes for 5,861m is complete with high-grade intersections from the first 13 holes including:

• 9m at 2.63% Cu, 4.2% Zn, 0.12g/t Au and 5.6g/t Ag from 178m, within 21m at 1.2% Cu and3% Zn from 167m;
• 6m at 2.2% Cu, 3.0% Zn, 0.34g/t Au and 36.9g/t Ag from 239m; and
• 11m at 1.6% Cu, 3.2% Zn, 0.15g/t Au and 4.1g/t Ag from 158m; within 54m at 0.54% Cu and5% Zn from 134m.

Drilling is continuing with two rigs onsite. Diamond tails will be added to selected drill holes to better understand the geometry of the semi and massive sulphide mineralisation in the deposit.

The diamond rig is expected to be on site by Thursday, July 31, and will continue alongside the current RC program.

Resource update could be on the cards

QMines (ASX:QML) said planned step-out drilling would test for extensions of the mineralisation and the overall program would enhance existing data and be used to upgrade the current resource.

“These early drilling results from Sulphide City are highly encouraging and provide further confidence in the scale and quality of the Develin Creek project,” executive chairman Andrew Sparke said.

“We’re particularly pleased with the continuity and grade of the mineralisation encountered, including multiple thick, high-grade copper-zinc intersections that align with and extend historic results.

“Importantly, the presence of stacked mineralised zones and broad intercepts supports our view that Sulphide City may host a much larger VMS system.

“With drilling continuing and further assay results pending, we look forward to building momentum towards an upgraded resource, informing future mine planning and our broader regional development strategy.”

Workstreams from the Develin Creek, Mt Mackenzie and Mt Chalmers projects will be integrated into an updated pre-feasibility study planned for the first half of 2026.

The revised study will reflect an expanded mine plan (2Mtpa), incorporating blended material from the three projects and updated capital and operating cost estimates.

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.