QMines Limited: Several Large Copper & Zinc Soil Anomalies Confirm Potential for Multiple Mt Chalmers Look-A-Likes
3 August 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
- Six-month program to digitise large historic soil dataset now complete;
- The program identified multiple large copper and zinc soil anomalies within the Berserker Beds which hosts the historic Mt Chalmers mine;
- The newly identified prospects are similar in scale and tenor to the distinctive geochemical signature of the Mt Chalmers VHMS deposit;
- Application for additional exploration tenure covering these priority targets has now been submitted;
- The discoveries demonstrate significant scale potential with multiple Mt Chalmers look-a-likes surrounding the historic mine; and
- Large drilling program underway (+30,000m) with second drill rig now onsite and assays expected shortly.
QMines Limited (ASX:QML)(FSE:81V)(QMines or Company) is excited to announce the results of a six-month historic soil sampling digitisation program which was undertaken by previous explorers, (Figure 1). The program has identified several large copper and zinc soil anomalies surrounding the high-grade historic Mt Chalmers copper and gold mine which is located 17km North East of Rockhampton. The historic mine produced 1.2Mt @ 2% Cu, 3.6g/t Au and 19g/t Au Ag between 1898 and 1982[i].
MANAGEMENT COMMENT
Commenting on the results, QMines Chairman Andrew Sparke, said: “The significance of the new soil data cannot be understated in terms of the scale and exploration potential. The Mt Chalmers mine is a well-documented VHMS system and the soil signature is very distinct. VHMS systems typically occur in clusters which is exactly what we are seeing at Mt Chalmers. It is important to note the scale of these new soil anomalies with one anomaly being approximately 10km long by 2km wide. This new discovery is a very exciting development that clearly demonstrates the significant scale potential of the Mt Chalmers project.”
The regional soil geochemical data acquisition and digitisation program has been ongoing for several months with the Company digitising 19,092 soil samples as seen in Figure 1. The samples were predominantly collected by Geopeko Ltd and International Nickel Australia during their operations in the Mt Chalmers area. The data was acquired from Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) reports.
Figure 1: Mt Chalmers Project geology with granted and pending tenements, project areas and historical digitised copper in soil geochemistry.
Figures 2-2: Anomalous copper and zinc soil geochemistry from T1, T2 and T3 prospects Mt Chalmers Project.
Soil gridlines varied between companies, ranging from 30 to 200 metre line spacings and 25 to 100 metre sample spacings with the soil grids covering large areas of the prospective Berserker Beds with the focus of this update being the Tracker T1, T2 and T3 copper soil anomalies as seen in Figure 1.
The recently acquired and digitised soil geochemical signatures from the Tracker T1, T2 and T3 prospects are similar in scale and tenor to that found at the Mt Chalmers VHMS deposit and represent exciting new drill targets for the Company. Importantly all of these anomalies are within the Permian Berserker Beds which hosts the Mt Chalmers VHMS deposit. Figures 2-2 illustrate the copper and zinc soil anomalies over the broader Tracker prospect areas with Figures 3-8 displaying deposit scale images of the soil signatures from the T1, T2 and T3 prospects.
Mean
Max
0 - 20 ppm
20 - 85 ppm
85 - 200 ppm
220 - 540 ppm
>540 ppm
Copper
49
2200
7963 (42%)
8481 (44%)
2021 (11%)
451 (2.4%)
76 (0.4%)
Zinc
105
7300
4066 (21%)
9258 (48%)
3539 (19%)
1660 (9%)
566 (3%)
Table 1: Mt Chalmers historic soil statistics
Table 1 illustrates the grade of the historic soil sampling over the Mt Chalmers Project is notably high in both Cu and Zn which are both target metals in Kuroko style VHMS mineralisation. Importantly 11% of all samples were greater than 85ppm Cu and 9% of all samples were greater than 220ppm Zn. The USGS worldwide average igneous derived soil abundance for copper being 70ppm and 132ppm Zinc.
Figures 3-4: Tracker T1 prospect copper and zinc historical soil sampling gridline geochemical anomalies.
Figures 5-6: Tracker T2 prospect copper and zinc historical soil sampling gridlines and geochemical anomalies.
Figures 7-8: Tracker T3 prospect copper and zinc historical soil sampling gridlines and geochemical anomalies.
Tracker T1, T2 and T3 soil anomalies potentially represent higher level erosional surfaces than displayed at Mt Chalmers which is evident in the lateral dispersion of zinc in soils at the Tracker prospects and a less pronounced copper anomalous core in the centre of the Tracker soil anomalies. The planned airborne EM survey will aid in delineating potential undercover VHMS mineralisation at the T1, T2 and T3 prospects. The Company believes that the remnant massive sulphides at the Mt Chalmers deposit will provide a baseline EM signature for ongoing VHMS exploration inside the Berserker Beds.
GEOLOGY
The geology of the Mt Chalmers area is relatively well-known with the Mt Chalmers mineralisation being identified as a well-preserved, volcanic-hosted massive-sulphide (VHMS) with a flat lying asymmetric mound geometry (Figure 9) this system contains copper, gold, zinc, lead and silver mineralisation and is recognised as being one of the highest grade gold VHMS mineral systems in the world[ii]. Mineral deposits of this type are deemed syngenetic and formed contemporaneously on, or in close proximity to, the sea floor during the deposition of the host-rock units. The mineralisation is believed to have been deposited from hydrothermal fumaroles, or direct chemical sediments or sub-seafloor massive sulphide replacement zones and layers, together with footwall disseminated and stringer zones within the host volcanic and sedimentary rocks.
The mineralisation system at Mt Chalmers displays some similarities to Australian VHMS deposits of Cambro-Ordovician and Silurian age, however closer comparison can be made with the Kuroko-style of VHMS of Tertiary age in Japan[iii].
Figure 9: Mt Chalmers asymmetric mound geometry with proposed current erosional surfaces for the Mt Chalmers Deposit and the Tracker Prospects[iv].
Figure 10: Location of the Mt Chalmers Project, granted tenure, geology and related infrastructure.
The Mt Chalmers mineralisation is situated in the early Permian Berserker Beds, which occur in the fault-bounded Berserker Graben, a structure 120km long and up to 15km wide. The graben is juxtaposed along its eastern margin with the Tungamull Fault and in the west with the Parkhurst Fault (Figure 1). The Berserker Beds lithologies consist mainly of acid to intermediate volcanics, tuffaceous sandstone and mudstone5. The strata are generally flat lying, but locally folded. Most common lithotypes are rhyolitic and andesitic lavas, ignimbrites or ash flow tuffs with numerous breccia zones.
Rocks of the Berserker Beds are weakly metamorphosed and, for the most part, have not been subjected to major tectonic disturbance, except for normal faults and localised high strain zones that are interpreted to have developed during and after basin formation.
Recent geological work by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines places volcanic and sedimentary units of the prospective Chalmers Formation, the host unit to the Mt Chalmers copper-gold mineralisation, at the base of the Berserker Beds.
The Ellrott Rhyolite and the Sleipner Member andesite were emplaced synchronously with the deposition of the Chalmers Formation. Late Permian to early Triassic gabbroic and dioritic intrusions occur parallel to the Parkhurst Fault. Smaller dolerite sills and dykes are common throughout the region and in the Berserker Beds.
DISCUSSION
Kuroko style of mineralisation usually occurs as clusters of mineralised zones, which appears to be the case for Mt Chalmers, which may be only one of several deposits. In addition, the interpreted structural dislocation for the mine area may have caused the break-up of larger mineral bodies structurally dispersing lenses within the general Mt Chalmers area. The Tracker T1, T2 and T3 prospects along with the Striker prospect display similar geochemical properties in soils to that found at the Mt Chalmers Copper Project.
QMines will expand drilling operations at the Mt Chalmers Project utilising all historical and newly acquired geological, geochemical and geophysical datasets. The systematic exploration methods adopted by the Company are designed to locate other preserved undercover VHMS mineralised systems that may be present within the Berserker Beds.
ONGOING EXPLORATION ACTIVITY
- Large planned drilling program underway (+30,000m) with second rig now onsite and assays expected shortly;
- RC drilling will be ongoing for several weeks with the current batch of drilling designed to infill and validate historical drillhole data and be used to potentially expand and upgrade the current resource¹;
- The Company has engaged Planetary Geophysics to manage and deliver a large REP-TEM airborne EM survey over the Mt Chalmers area extending both to the north-west and south-east of the Mt Chalmers mine covering an extensive area of the Berserker Beds;
- The survey is scheduled to commence in Q3-2021 and will be used in conjunction with all current data sets to define future potential VHMS drill targets;
- Soil sampling will continue over a much larger area with extensive soil grids utilising Niton portable handheld PAS XRF which delivers real time base metal suite analysis;
- The Company has applied for further exploration permits around Mt Chalmers extending the ground position to cover the Berserker Beds.
COMPETENT PERSON’S STATEMENT
The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Hamish Grant a competent person who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG). Hamish Grant is a contractor of by QMines Limited as Project Geologist. Hamish has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the JORC Code. Hamish Grant consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his work in the form and context in which it appears.
ABOUT QMINES
QMines Limited (ASX: QML) (FSE:81V) is a Queensland based copper and gold exploration and development company. QMines is seeking to become Australia’s first zero carbon copper and gold developer. The Company owns 100% of four advanced projects with a total area of 1,096km². The Company’s flagship project, Mt Chalmers, is located 17km North East of Rockhampton. The Project is a high-grade historic mine that produced 1.2Mt @ 3.6g/t Au, 2.0% Cu and 19g/t Ag between 1898-1982. Mt Chalmers has an Inferred Resource (JORC 2012) of 3.9Mt @ 1.15% Cu, 0.81g/t Au and 8.4g/t Ag.1,2
QMines’ objective is to grow its resource base, consolidate assets in the region and assess commercialisation options. The Company has commenced an aggressive exploration program (+30,000m) providing shareholders with significant leverage to a growing resource and exploration success.
DIRECTORS
ANDREW SPARKE
Executive Chairman
DANIEL LANSKEY
Managing Director
ELISSA HANSEN
Non-Executive Director & Company Secretary
QMINES LIMITED
ACN 643 212 104
SHARES ON ISSUE
111,372,748
UNLISTED OPTIONS
4,200,000 ($0.375 strike, 3 year term)
ASX CODE
QML
FSE CODE
81V
This announcement has been approved and authorised by the Board of QMines Limited.
QMINES LIMITED
Registered Address: Suite J, 34 Suakin Drive, Mosman NSW 2088, Australia
Website: www.qmines.com.au
Telephone (AUS): +61 (2) 8915 6241 Telefon (DE): +49 (0)831 930 652 43
Daniel Lanskey, Managing Director Email: dan@qmines.com.au
Peter Nesvada, Investor Relations Australia Email: peter@qmines.com.au
Investor Relations, Deutschland Email: investoren@qmines.com.au
Notes:
¹ Refer to the Independent Geologist Report commencing on page 84 of the Prospectus dated 16 March 2021 available at https://qmines.com.au/prospectus-2/
2 The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the Prospectus dated 16 March 2021 and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the resources estimates in the Prospectus dated 16 March 2021 continue to apply and have not materially changed.
[i] The Mt Chalmers JORC Resource can be found in the QMines Prospectus (Annexure A) – Independent Geologists Report, https://qmines.com.au/prospectus-2/
[ii] The Gold Content of VMS Deposits, Patrick M Langevin, 11 May 2010.
[iii] Taube A., 1990. Mount Chalmers gold-copper deposits. In Geology of the Mineral Deposits of Australia and Papua New Guinea.
[iv] USGS, Volcanogenic Massive Sulfides Occurrence Model, 2010.