QMines is heralding a new high-grade base metal discovery at its Mount Chalmers project, with drilling yielding intersections including 2m at 9.69 per cent copper equivalent.

The company completed an initial eight reverse circulation drillholes for 1096m in May and June, including six targeting the sparsely drilled south-west side of the project’s West Lode.

It said encouraging visual estimates of base metal sulphides had been confirmed by laboratory results, with drillholes intersecting a new Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) mineralised body.

Now named as Mount Chalmers Southwest, this new lode is located outside of the previous mining area and partly outside of the existing inferred resource.

Significant intersection include:

•12m at 4.3 8 per cent CuEq from 49m, including 2m at 9.69 per cent CuEq from 52m;

•4m at 3.34 per cent CuEq from 46m;

•3m at 3.46 per cent CuEq from 27m;

•6m at 1.66 per cent CuEq from 54m, including 1m at 7.11 per cent CuEq from 59m; and

•24m at 0.84 per cent CuEq from 103m including 1m at 5.77 per cent CuEq from 59m.

“We are very pleased to have located what appears to be a faulted extension of the West Lode,” QMines Managing Director Andrew Sparke said.

“Further drilling is in progress which aims to define a new resource which will be added to the existing resource at Mount Chalmers in due course.”