Follow-up trenching program is planned for Big Red gold project in central Queensland
Previous trenching at Big Red returned high grade gold results including 9m at 5.9g/t gold
A reassessment of two shuttered open pit gold mines within QXR’s ground has also kicked off which were last mined at gold prices below A$500/oz
Meanwhile, QX says its US lithium project has geological similarities to Albemarle’s Silver Peak
Special report: QX Resources is set to begin a trenching program at Big Red as it reassesses closed open pit gold mines at the Queensland site.
QX Resources’ (ASX:QXR) exposure to copper, gold and molybdenum stem from its assets covering more than 100,000 hectares in the Drummond Basin of central Queensland, an underdeveloped region with a long history of ongoing gold mining and an endowment of over 8.5Moz. This district was the start of Evolution mining as Conquest back in 2010-2011.
The company is undertaking a reassessment of two shuttered open pit gold mines within its ground that were last operated when the gold price was less than A$500/oz.
Now, with prices soaring to a comfortable ~A$3,500/oz, the company believes the time is right to dig deeper into the gold potential at Big Red.
Big Red’s past trenches; quartz breccias; are of past trenches (yellow rectangle) and planned extensions (orange rectangle). Pic via QXR
Trenching followed by drilling
A new program of trenching has begun, following up where prior trenching left off and returned mineralised widths of 9m at 5.9g/t gold.
It is an initial phase to extend two north-east trending elongate zones previously encountered in QXR trenches with high grade gold results occurring over a strike length of 650m.
The company believes the zones may be up to 1,200m long based on past soil sampling and geophysics.
The current program is planned to extend the zone of high-grade gold mineralisation prior to a drilling campaign over a number of shallow targets.
‘Excellent potential for a gold discovery’
“QXR has excellent potential for a gold discovery at Big Red in Queensland, which will be followed-up in the planned trenching program and followed later by a drill program, previously delayed due to inclement weather,” QXR managing director Stephen Promnitz says.
“Nearby closed open pit gold mines were operating at much lower gold prices and show potential for future production as part of a reassessment of their potential.”
The two open cut mines, Belyando and Lucky Break, were closed when gold was fetching around 15% of current gold prices.
QXR’s shuttered Belyando open pit gold mine. Pic via QXR
Drilling data by QXR and previous explorers show potential exists for down dip extensions to known gold mineralised zones and parallel features, as well as extensions along strike.
The company believes the potential of Big Red may be similar to the nearby Twin Hills deposit, which boasts roughly 1Moz (23.1Mt at 1.5g/t gold).
US Lithium Project geologically similar to Albemarle’s nearby lithium producer
Last week, QX confirmed its lithium project has geological similarities to Albemarle’s Silver Peak based on recent drilling.
Multiple horizons have been confirmed by two diamond drill holes at QX Resources’ Liberty Lithium Project in California, indicating the existance of a large brine basin with numerous brine aquifers. Geological similarities were confirmed with mining major Albemarle’s Silver Peak mine across that state border.
“QXR has defined a new large scale brine basin, saturated with brines, at the Liberty lithium brine project,” QXR managing director Stephen Promnitz says.
“A large near-surface brine field with lithium potential is currently rare in the USA – and the geological setting, with conglomerates loaded with brines, is similar to Albemarle’s producing deposit.”
Potential drilling is planned to intersect deep lithium brines in the centre of the basin.
This article was developed in collaboration with QX Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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