Copper and gold explorer QMines Ltd (ASX:QML) has seen its share price rise more than 6% on news that maiden metallurgical testing at its Develin Creek project in Queensland had indicated marketable concentrates of copper and pyrite.
The testwork was conducted by Como Engineers who were hired late last year to assess drill core form Develin’s Creek, considering in particular its suitability for a process outlined for the proposed Mount Chalmers flotation plant.
The core – which had been drilled in 2022 – was prepared to 3.35 milimetres in size and assayed for copper, iron, lead, zinc and sulphur, with samples from here used in flotation testwork.
This revealed that concentrates including copper grading beyond 15% percent and zinc at more than 50%, could be produced, in addition to pyrite concentrate with more than 85% combined pyrite by weight.
Develin Creek is located 90 kilometres northwest of Rockhampton, and comprises several Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) copper-zinc deposits within the Rookwood Volcanics.
Since August 2023, QMines has been developing the project – having signed in that month a term sheet to acquire an initial interest of 51% of the play from Zenith Minerals and retains the right to take on the remaining 49% within 12 months.
A new mineral resource estimate was published in September, with this comprising 3.2 million tonnes at 1.05% copper, 1.22% zinc, 0.17 grams per tonne of gold and 5.9 grams per tonne of silver – 53% of this being in the inferred category.
At 11:27 AEST, QMines shares were trading at 7.9 cents – a rise of 6.76% since the market opened.