QEM (ASX: QEM) is targeting historic mineral projects in Idaho as it enters the US critical minerals market, where the push for more secure domestic sources of strategically important commodities is creating new opportunities for mineral explorers.
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A lengthy assessment of the company’s assets and the global resources market identified the current shortages in critical minerals and the growing desire of the US to create a domestic supply chain – creating an opportunity for QEM to build exposure to this growing market.
The first step in that strategy came when QEM entered into a binding agreement to acquire all of the shares in Freshwater Metals and its two critical minerals exploration projects in Idaho.
The move to add the Big It and Garden Valley (formerly known as Columbite) projects was supported by a $2.645 million capital raising.
In a recent HotCopper interview, MD Robert Cooper describes the acquisition as a strategic step forward for QEM, providing exposure to a portfolio of past-producing US critical mineral assets with further exploration potential.
Big It: a historic US tungsten producer with modern exploration opportunity
The Big It project sits within Idaho’s Pine Creek District, located adjacent to the rich Coeur d’Alene mineral belt which is one of the largest and richest silver-producing districts globally.
The historic underground Big It mine has already proven its prospectivity, supplying high-grade tungsten concentrates of between 67 to 75% to US wartime programmes, with approximately 350m of underground workings potentially available for use as an exploration platform.
As part of its assessment of Big It, QEM identified it as one of only a handful of historically verified tungsten producers in the US, with documented government shipments.
The company’s assessment identified considerable potential at the project, which remains under-explored by modern standards, with little exploration undertaken since it was last investigated in the 1950s.
The historic Big It asset is now being assessed for its potential to support US tungsten supply at a time when the critical mineral is in significant demand for defence and modern technology.
The significant upside identified at Big It comes at a time when the global tungsten market is experiencing a severe structural supply deficit and surging prices driven by Chinese export curbs and growing defence demands.
The global tungsten market is currently valued at approximately US$6.66 billion and is projected to reach US$9.62 billion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 9.6%.
Modern exploration to unlock Big It’s potential
A detailed review and compilation of available historical geological, mining and exploration information undertaken by QEM at Big It is aimed at identifying early exploration targets.
The next phase of work at the Idaho project will focus on verification and target definition through geological and structural mapping; surveying of the portal and accessible underground workings where safe and practicable; systematic surface and underground sampling; integration of historical mining and sampling records; and verification of the 2022 soil geochemistry programme.
Commenting on the recent review of Big It, Mr Cooper said a compilation of data had demonstrated the projects exploration potential while providing a platform for QEM to plan and undertake exploration activities.
“The combination of historically verified tungsten production at Big It, together with previous significant sampling results for antimony and gold, highlights this potential.
“The under-explored nature of the project provides an excellent opportunity for the application of a systematic, staged application of modern exploration techniques that will hopefully lead to QEM identifying further mineralisation, and ultimately becoming a domestic producer of tungsten and other critical minerals in the United States to feed a growing market for these critical minerals.”
Garden Valley adds niobium, tantalum and rare-earth exposure
QEM added further critical minerals exposure with the Garden Valley rare-metals project, which is located in a renowned rare-metal pegmatite system in central Idaho.
Historic exploration assessed the asset as hosting multiple rare earth elements (REE) deposit styles across at least six distinct districts, from thorium-REE veins in the east to pegmatite and placer systems.
QEM identified potential for the project to align with US critical mineral priorities, with the nation having had no niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) domestic production since 1959.
The historic recovery of giant Nb-Ta oxide crystals confirmed the presence of high-grade columbite-samarskite pockets, with approximately 500 pounds of historic columbite (niobium) production.
Early-stage exploration was previously undertaken via a historic adit / tunnel dating back to 1944, but no systematic, modern exploration or geochemical sampling has been conducted.
Fast-tracking exploration at Garden Valley
QEM is now directing attention to the project, with its plans for early exploration activities at Garden Valley.
The company recently completed a detailed review and compilation of available historical geological, mining and exploration information, identifying early exploration targets and activities.
The review confirmed multiple historically documented niobium, tantalum-bearing rare-metal and rare earth elements (REE) mineral occurrences across the Garden Valley claim package, with six main prospects identified.
Historical United States Geological Survey (USGS) work documented a large, strongly zoned pegmatite approximately 250 feet (76 m) long and at least 200 feet (61 m) wide, tested by an approximately 150 feet (46m) underground tunnel beneath a prominent quartz core.
QEM also confirmed that no systematic modern exploration programme has been undertaken to define the scale, continuity or geochemical characteristics of the broader pegmatite field.
With that in mind, QEM is designing programmes of geological and structural mapping, systematic rock and soil geochemistry and modern geophysics. This work will likely be followed by potential drilling of priority targets, including the Vaught-Peck, Bowman and Mirandeborde prospects.
The next phase
QEM plans to travel to Idaho in late October, with initial field reconnaissance focused on Big It. The results of this work will help refine priority exploration targets and determine the next stage of activity, including the potential for drilling.
Garden Valley will also undergo further ground-based assessment as QEM works through its historical prospects and determines which warrant more detailed investigation.
Alongside the Idaho programme, QEM continues to assess additional critical minerals opportunities, with the two Idaho projects providing the initial platform for its broader North-American-focused strategy.
With two prospective critical minerals assets in a proven mining jurisdiction, QEM is positioning itself to participate in the development of a more secure US domestic supply chain at a time of growing demand for critical minerals.
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