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- EQ Resources (EQR) appoints contractor DDH1 Drilling to undertake an upcoming phase two drilling program at its Mt Carbine project in North Queensland
- The 3000-metre program is targeting a phase three pit extension to potentially upgrade the existing resource and mine reserve following a recent bankable feasibility study (BFS)
- The BFS expanded Mt Carbine’s mine life to 14.5 years with “impressive” economics, and the company says any successful results “could be quickly brought into life-of-mine planning”
- Field work will begin shortly, and the company expects drilling to be complete by the end of February 2023
- EQR shares are trading at 4.5 cents at 11:01 am AEDT
EQ Resources (EQR) has appointed a drilling contractor for its upcoming phase two drilling program at its Mt Carbine project in North Queensland.
DDH1 Drilling will complete 23 planned holes for over 3000 metres to target the potential for the phase three pit extension following phase one drilling in the Dyke West Zone and a recently updated bankable feasibility study (BFS).
The BFS expanded the mine life to 14.5 years with “impressive” economics, including a net present value of $210 million and an internal rate of return of 397 per cent.
The BFS was also enhanced by a recently-announced 29.3 per cent upgrade in open pit ore reserves, resulting in a 15 per cent higher tungsten concentrate.
“We are now prioritising further resource drilling on the projected Western Extension of the Mt Carbine orebody with a view to expanding the near-pit mine reserves. Any successful results from the drill campaign could be quickly brought into life-of-mine planning,” EQ CEO Kevin MacNeill said earlier this month.
While drilling will primarily focus on the Western Extension of the project, the company will also follow up on discoveries from the phase one program.
A single hole will aim to determine the orientation of the high-grade zone found in a phase one drill hole which returned 5.95 metres at 0.94 per cent tungsten. The company believes the high-grade zone plunges west and has the potential to add to the future underground assessment.
More holes will be drilled at the Iron Duke system to investigate the outcropping Ruby Vein and the high-grade Crown Vein outcrops.
“All of the upcoming drilling has a strong value-add focus on life-of-mine, area definition and orebody extension,” Mr MacNeill concluded.
Field works will commence later this month and EQ Resources expects drilling will wrap up by the end of February next year.
EQR shares were trading at 4.5 cents at 11:01 am AEDT.
