Key Highlights

  • QMines has exchanged binding contracts to buy 25 freehold parcels for $5.5 million adjoining Mt Chalmers.
  • The land covers about 209.61 hectares and sits within the proposed mine development footprint.
  • The parcels are expected to host the processing plant, tailings storage Facility and water storage dam.
  • A 103-hole programme totalling about 18,360 metres is planned at Botos and Woods Shaft.

QMines (ASX:QML) has exchanged binding contracts to acquire 25 freehold parcels adjoining its Mt Chalmers Copper-Gold Project in Central Queensland. The purchase is being made by the company's wholly owned subsidiary, RLG, from the Woods family for $5.5 million after about two years of negotiations.

The land covers about 209.61 hectares and lies 17 kilometres north-east of Rockhampton. Settlement is still pending.

Why the land matters

The parcels sit within the proposed mine development footprint. QMines expects them to host the processing plant, tailings storage facility and water storage dam, although all three remain subject to final design and regulatory approvals.

Owning the land is expected to allow geotechnical investigations, engineering design, environmental monitoring and definitive feasibility study work to proceed, while reducing the risks associated with land access and compensation. Environmental studies are already under way, and the company is targeting submission of an environmental authority application in the first half of 2027.

Executive Chairman Andrew Sparke said the company's strategy had always been to systematically remove the barriers to developing Mt Chalmers. He said the Acquisition provided greater certainty over the proposed development footprint and was another important step towards production.

The wider land position

Once settled, QMines will hold 34 freehold parcels covering about 572 hectares across Mt Chalmers and Mt Mackenzie. The company says the combined property reference values and acquisition consideration total about $12.14 million.

QMines notes that this figure combines independent indicative assessments with actual or contracted purchase prices, and that it is not a current independent valuation of the portfolio. Investors should therefore treat it as a guide to what has been paid and assessed rather than a market value.

Drilling access

The acquisition includes conduct and compensation agreements and a good neighbour agreement, which provide access to drill the Botos and Woods Shaft prospects.

Reverse circulation drilling has started at Botos, where the company has planned a 64-hole, 11,360-metre programme. The first stage comprises 11 holes to confirm historical results and test extensions to known mineralisation.

A 39-hole programme of about 7,000 metres at Woods Shaft is due to begin once the initial Botos holes are finished. Together, the two programmes total 103 holes for about 18,360 metres. Woods Shaft hosts an inferred resource of 0.54 million tonnes at 0.50% copper and 0.95 grams per tonne gold.

Funding

The acquisition will be funded from existing cash. QMines reported about $10.7 million in cash and no Debt at 30 September. That figure predates a $5.5 million Placement and excludes up to $1.4 million in deferred consideration from the sale of QDrilling. The company is also offering a $1 million share purchase plan with capacity to accept oversubscriptions; the offer document was lodged with the ASX on 9 November.

Qualifications

The land purchase removes a development constraint but does not itself advance the Economics of the project. A definitive feasibility study, environmental approvals and project financing are still required before construction. Settlement of the land has not yet occurred.

Mt Chalmers is a historical copper-gold mine, and QMines has been working to redevelop it as a modern open-pit operation. Land ownership can be a significant obstacle for projects close to regional cities and farming districts, where negotiations with landholders can take years. Securing the land for the plant and tailings removes one of the more difficult variables in the development schedule, although the remaining approvals and funding are still to come. The 2027 environmental authority application is the next regulatory test.

What comes next

QMines' next milestones are settlement, results from the Botos and Woods Shaft drilling, continued feasibility work and lodgement of the environmental authority application in the first half of 2027.