- EQ Resources (EQR) says bonanza-grade ore from the historic Mt Carabine Tungsten Mine supports a potential first-phase open pit operation
- Now closed, the mine was a major tungsten producer in the 1970s and 80s and is being investigated for re-opening through a bankable feasibility study
- Final assays from a 16-hole drilling program have recovered high-grade intercepts from a zone less than 40 metres below the floor of the open pit
- EQR says the results point to an extension of the pit as a preferred development option in the near-term
- Shares have dropped 7.9 per cent to 3.5 cents at 12:23 pm AEST
EQ Resources (EQR) says newly returned bonanza-grade ore intercepts from the Mt Carabine Tungsten Mine in far North Queensland could be “game changers”, supporting the potential re-opening of the historic operation.
Mt Carabine was a major producer of tungsten in the 1970s and 1980s before its closure in the wake of low global metal prices. Decades later, EQR is investigating the mine’s potential to once again participate in the world-stage tungsten market.
To this end, final assays from a 16-hole drilling program have reportedly recovered several high-grade intercepts from a zone located less than 40 metres below the floor of the mine’s existing Andy White open pit.
Average grades from the drilling, which included a 70-metre extension to one hole, exceed the site’s previously reported JORC resource grade of 0.13 per cent tungsten trioxide (WO3).
Best intercepts included 9.11 metres at 1.88 per cent WO3 from 138.79 metres, containing 0.37 metres at 20 per cent WO3 — which was struck 32 metres below the pit floor.
Another section, 22 metres beneath the pit, returned 12.92 metres at 0.59 per cent WO3 from 135.95 metres, including 0.48 metres at 12.4 per cent WO3.
According to EQR, these results suggest an extension to the current open pit could be a superior development option in the near-term.
EQ Resources CEO Kevin MacNeill said the results would feed into initial ore reserve calculations as part of the mine’s current bankable feasibility study (BFS).
“I am very pleased with the success of the drill campaign and would like to five special thanks to the effort and care of our geology team, DDH1 Drilling and ALS through this process to help us in achieving this fantastic result,” he said.
“Hole EQ015 is the best drill hole we’ve seen out of the 80 holes drilled at Mt Carabine to date and given the location just beneath the existing pit [it] argues well for an open pit extension.”
The bankable feasibility study is progressing as planned, with the company set to release an updated ore reserve ahead of the full BFS report.
Despite the news, shares have dropped 7.9 per cent to 3.5 cents each at 12:23 pm AEST.