Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
QEM (ASX: QEM) is turning its attention to a new generation of critical minerals opportunities in the US, with the company using historical mining records and modern exploration techniques to assess the potential of two recently acquired Idaho projects. In this interview with HotCopper, managing director Robert Cooper discusses the vast opportunities and analyses their potential.
The company’s strategy centres on Big It, a historically producing tungsten project, and Garden Valley, a rare-metals project prospective for niobium, tantalum and rare earth elements.
For QEM managing director Robert Cooper, the attraction is not simply the presence of critical minerals, but the combination of historical evidence, favourable jurisdiction and the opportunity to apply modern exploration to projects that have seen limited systematic work.
Big It is the more advanced of the two from a historical mining perspective. The northern Idaho project is a past producer of tungsten concentrates grading between 67% and 75% tungsten trioxide, with production linked to US wartime programs.
QEM’s review of the historical data has also highlighted a broader polymetallic opportunity, with previous underground sampling returning individual results of up to 2,980 parts per million tungsten, 19.5% antimony and 11.15 grams per tonne gold. The company cautions that these were selective historical samples and should not be interpreted as representative grades or evidence of continuous mineralisation.
Garden Valley presents a different geological proposition. The project, formerly known as the Columbite Project, hosts multiple pegmatite prospects with historical evidence of niobium, tantalum and rare-earth mineralisation.
The standout target is Vaught-Peck, where historical records describe a strongly zoned pegmatite and underground workings. Historical production is reported at around 500 pounds of columbite, while records also document exceptionally coarse rare-metal crystals, including a 309-pound columbite-bearing crystal associated with an approximately 100-pound samarskite crystal.
Rather than immediately committing significant capital to drilling, the company is using historical information to identify the most compelling targets, then progressively applying modern exploration techniques to determine where the strongest opportunities lie.
For investors, the next six to twelve months will therefore be about turning historical evidence into modern exploration data. Watch the full interview with MD Robert Cooper to find out more.
Join the discussion: See what HotCopper users are saying right now and be part of the conversations that move the markets.
The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
