Latest news with #QMines
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: QMines grows precious metals position in central Queensland
QMines is acquiring the high-grade Mount Mackenzie gold and silver project Peak Minerals has discovered high-value monazite at the Minta rutile project in Cameroon A fully underwritten, non-renounceable entitlement offer will see Zenith Minerals raise up to $3.5m Your standout small cap resources stocks for Thursday, June 19, 2025 QMines (ASX:QML) Set to expand its precious metals position in central Queensland through the pending acquisition of the high-grade Mount Mackenzie gold and silver project is QMines, which advanced 7.7% to 4.2c. The company believes this will complement its gold, copper and zinc interests at the Mt Chalmers and Develin Creek projects in the historical mining region that is relatively unexplored. It has completed due diligence and is in the final stages of acquiring Mt Mackenzie from Resources and Energy Group (ASX:REZ), which jumped 37.5% to a daily top of 2.2c. The $2.48 million acquisition is expected to increase QMines' (ASX:QML) gold and silver exposure, supporting its strategy to develop a diversified minerals portfolio in central Queensland. Mt Mackenzie is an advanced staged project, about 140km northwest of Rockhampton and 45km from QML's Develin Creek copper-zinc landholding. The existing shallow resource comprises 129,000 ounces of gold and 862,000 ounces of silver and is open in all directions. QML is updating the mineral resource estimate, with results anticipated soon. On completion of the sale REZ will receive $1m in cash, inclusive of a $100,000 deposit, and 33m QML shares, voluntarily escrowed for 12 months. In support of the acquisition and near-term development plans, QMines has entered into a convertible note arrangement with a major existing shareholder to provide $1m with an additional $500,000 available upon request. QML executive chairman Andrew Sparke said the company was delighted to confirm its intention to complete the Mt Mackenzie gold-silver project acquisition. 'The project is a highly strategic and value-accretive addition to our asset base, increasing gold and silver exposure and providing operational synergies with our Mt Chalmers and Develin Creek projects,' he said. 'The strong financial support from one of our largest shareholders, via the secured convertible note on favourable terms, demonstrates confidence in our strategy and capacity to execute.' QML is in the final phase of planning a drilling program at Mt Mackenzie, focusing on confirming historical high-grade gold and silver results such as 36m at 4.4g/t Au and 25g/t Ag, 26m at 12.78g/t Au and 34g/t Ag and 12m at 14.93g/t Au and 61g/t Ag. Peak Minerals (ASX:PUA) The discovery of high-value monazite by Peak Minerals at the Minta Est prospect stands to boost the economics of the heavy minerals package at the Minta rutile project in Cameroon. Monazite trades at about three times the value of rutile and zircon, presenting PUA with significant economic upside at Minta. This has seen Peak put in a strong performance on the ASX, rising as much as 21.05% to a daily high of 2.3c, a new four-year high, with more than 84m shares changing hands. PUA closed at 2.2c, a rise of 15.79% on the pre-trading halt close. Sampling at Minta Est has returned Heavy Mineral (HM) results along with mineral assemblages and rare earth element distribution results. Assays were received from an additional 36 residual and 11 alluvial holes at Minta Est over an initial 121km2 and further assays are pending. The average depth of all holes reported on Minta Est to date is 4m, with all holes intersecting mineralisation from surface. In-situ grades of 0.5%-1.2% TREO were achieved from free-dig material in monazite separated by conventional mineral sands processing methods. Recent and historical samples show assemblages of up to 73% monazite, up to 35% rutile and up to 28% zircon at Minta Est. There were encouraging returns of high-value magnet rare earths in excess of 25% MREO, including up to 22.5% NdPr light rare earths and up to 2.7% DyTb heavy rare earths. The ongoing reconnaissance drill program at Minta aims to systematically test an initial 3,500km2 over broad drill spacings to identify higher-grade areas for follow-up infill drilling. The project has not previously been subject to modern exploration techniques and the company is utilising cost-effective, hand auger drilling to target the mineralisation from surface. Hand auger drilling is widely utilised for drilling heavy mineral sand deposits and is particularly effective in the residual soils at Minta due to the stability of the drilled formations. 'It is very exciting to release these new drilling assay results representing an entirely new high- grade discovery at Minta Est, located across 121km2 in the northeast portion of Minta rutile project,' Peak Minerals chief executive officer Casper Adson said. 'Monazite makes up to 73% of the heavy mineral assemblage at Minta Est, positioning the project as a potential high-value, world-class asset. 'Importantly, the separated monazite contains up to 22.5% NdPr and 2.7% DyTb - key magnet rare earths critical to the global energy transition. 'Mineral sands deposits typically contain up to 0.1% in-situ total rare earth oxides (TREO). 'The potential discovery of a mineralised zone with significantly higher rare earth content, hosted in free-dig sands that require no drill-and-blast or crushing and milling, is truly exceptional. 'Even more remarkable is that the monazite has been successfully recovered using only standard mineral sands beneficiation techniques, such as gravity and magnetic separation.' Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) With a fully underwritten, non-renounceable entitlement offer to raise up to $3.5m underway to accelerate exploration and resource growth at its gold projects, Zenith Minerals reached a high of 4c, a lift of 33.34% on the previous close before closing at 3.6c. Funds will support a 9000m-12,000m drilling campaign at the newly consolidated Dulcie gold project in Western Australia as well as deep diamond drilling at the Red Mountain gold project in Queensland. At Dulcie, drilling will be focused on growing the 210,000oz mineral resource estimate, strengthening the path towards commercial production. The funds will be raised through a two for seven offer at 3c per share with a one-for-three free-attaching option. Showing their confidence in the company and its gold strategy, the raise will be strongly supported by Zenith's board and management. The company's managing director Andrew Smith will sub-underwrite $150,000 and non-executive director Euan Jenkins $100,000 while other directors will apply for their respective entitlements. Noble Helium (ASX:NHE) (Up on no news) Noble Helium (ASX:NHE), which is answering the growing need for a primary and geo-politically independent source of helium with its projects along Tanzania's East African Rift System, has been a big mover, up 58.33% to 1.9c although there's no fresh news. Four projects are being advanced according to the highest ESG benchmarks to serve increasing supply chain fragility and supply-demand imbalance for this scarce, tech-critical and high-value industrial gas. Priced at up to 50 times the price of LNG in liquid form, helium is essential to many modern applications as an irreplaceable element in vital hi-tech products such as computer and smartphone components, MRI systems, medical treatments, superconducting magnets, fibre optic cables, microscopes, particle accelerators and space rocket launches. Rising demand and constrained supply are fuelling growth prospects within the global marketplace, particularly for cleaner 'green helium' sourced from non-carbon environments. At present, more than 95% of the world's helium is produced as a by-product of the processing of hydrocarbon-bearing gas. Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) On a fast-track to mining at the 112,000oz Eureka gold project near Kalgoorlie in WA is Javelin Minerals, which reached 0.3c today, before easing right back to 0.2c. The company is taking steps to mine the ~34,000 recoverable ounces within the 62,000oz indicated resource and is in advanced discussions with mining and processing contractors. With the gold price sitting above A$5200/oz, JAV is closing in on the goal of unlocking the substantial value of the resource in a cost-effective and timely manner. Javelin Minerals is considering several options for milling nearby, including the Paddington gold operations owned by Zinjin Mining Group Co which is just 20km away. Engineering studies and the approval process for the restart of mining are well advanced, with the board aiming to be mining within 12 months. The mining strategy is being advanced in parallel with exploration at Eureka and a new drilling program is planned to follow up strong results next to and below the Eureka pit. These areas are considered to be priority exploration targets with excellent potential to grow the resource, both at Eureka and their Coogee gold project nearby. 'Our plan to generate early production and cashflow at Eureka is now the primary focus of the board for the Eureka gold project, which has been endorsed by strong interest from third parties to partner with us for the project's development in the short term,' JAV executive chairman Brett Mitchell said. 'Based on the discussions to date, we are confident that this strategy will prove extremely effective in creating rapid value in the current record high A$ gold price environment, whilst we continue the exploration program to grow the overall inventory at both our Eureka and Coogee gold projects.'
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Queensland moves to future-proof resources sector
Falling coal prices prompt Queensland to accelerate shift into diversified resources Explorers gain active support from Crisafulli Government as they look to bring projects into development QMines and Zenith Minerals discuss how government backing is advancing their projects As coal prices continue to fall, Queensland — Australia's top coal producing state — is looking to diversify by increasing its push into other resources, targeting faster project approvals and rapid development. Closure of the Mt Isa copper smelter has been viewed as a major blow to Queensland's renowned Northwest Minerals Province and copper industry but the state's mining sector extends far beyond Mt Isa. With active support from the Crisafulli Government, central Queensland explorers say their respective projects are progressing faster towards development. This not only serves to fuel the state's economy but supports its transition to net zero, drives regional jobs and supercharges Queensland's critical minerals capability. At the heart of the coal to copper transition Copper explorer QMines (ASX:QML) is on its way to becoming a 10,000-20,000tpa copper equivalent producer at the Mt Chalmers copper-gold mine, with a pre-feasibility study last year indicating a 10.4-year project costing $191m with a 1.8-year payback and NPV of $373m. Since listing in May 2021, QML has acquired two projects, as well as five rural properties, drilled at least 40,000m and delivered seven resource upgrades at Mt Chalmers about 90km from Rockhampton. As part of its growth strategy, the company is working to double its planned production rate, focusing on the acquisition of regional deposits capable of supporting a centralised processing hub at Mt Chalmers, while also advancing exploration to expand and upgrade current resources and convert historical resources into reserves. Speaking with Stockhead, QML managing director Andrew Sparke said QMines saw itself right at the centre of the transition to critical metals. 'I need to start by saying coal is a very important contributor to the State Government purses, we have a lot of great coal mines that generate a lot of value for Queenslanders and Australia,' he said. 'But there is a transition going on and it puts us in a very good position given we own the historical Mt Chalmers copper-gold mine but also considering the flurry of acquisitions we've done in the Central Queensland region over the last couple of years. 'We've bought the high-grade copper-zinc project at Devlin Creek, which settled in September last year, and we've just announced the acquisition of the Mount Mackenzie project, all in the central Queensland region,' he said. 'What that means is, over time, there will be more and more jobs coming online from these newer energy transition metals as the world diversifies its energy mix. 'I think it's a great hedge for the Queensland community that we have a lot of these new energy metals in Queensland which can pick up the slack in terms of jobs, royalty funds, and also in terms of the engineering and industry capabilities the state has.' Speeding up the approvals process According to Sparke, the new Queensland Government is making a concerted effort to improve regulatory efficiency by simplifying permitting, reducing delays and expediting the approvals process. 'There's a new program underway at the moment that waives tenement holding costs for a period of five years,' he said. 'There're also some collaborative grants for new exploration ideas where they'll co-fund drilling for explorers to make new discoveries in this space, so they're doing a lot and being very proactive in terms of trying to foster these new energy transition metals. 'It's nice to see that change of perspective, that mining is important to the prosperity of Queensland and Australia and we need to co-exist to create jobs which leads to a better standard of living.' Support for Red Mountain drilling Multi-commodity explorer Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) owns the Red Mountain project in central Queensland's Auburn Arch, a region known for its rich mineral endowment. Discovered by ZNC in 2017, the project presents significant gold and silver mineralisation, with associated copper and molybdenum at depth. The mineralisation is hosted within a large breccia pipe system and shares similarities to other major gold deposits such as Mt Wright, Mt Leyshon and Mt Rawdon. ZNC managing director Andrew Smith echoed QMines' view, noting that the world was undergoing a fourth industrial revolution marked by a shift from hydrocarbons to a renewable-based economy. 'Governments are recognising that the transition requires critical minerals and key elements such as such as copper and they're passing policies in Queensland and in the Federal Government to support these initiatives,' he said. 'What we're seeing on the ground is the pointy end of the stick, which is the recent grant that has enabled us to de-risk this project.' Last month, the company secured a $275,000 Queensland Government grant under Round 9 of the Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) - a state program designed to encourage discovery of critical minerals - to support deep diamond drilling at Red Mountain, highlighting the project's strategic position in the search for critical and precious minerals. ZNC exploration manager Danny Greene said Queensland was quite unique in terms of the grant funding offered. 'Generally, with state funding, it's co-funded and is normally capped at 50% - the company pays 50% and the government pays 50% but in Queensland, they've gone the extra yard,' he said. 'They offer 100% of the funding and it's generally a bit more lenient on where you can allocate that funding as well, so they are super supportive in that regard.' Upcoming drilling at the project in July is designed to unlock the project's primary gold mineralisation, while also tapping into the copper and molybdenum mineralisation at depth. The company will target what it believes could be a significant gold system with copper and molybdenum as part of a potential broader porphyry-style, intrusion-related mineralising event.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This QMines Insider Increased Their Holding By 23% Last Year
Looking at QMines Limited's (ASX:QML ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net buyers. That is, there were more number of shares purchased by insiders than there were sold. While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Executive Chairman & MD Andrew Sparke for AU$345k worth of shares, at about AU$0.047 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.042. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Andrew Sparke was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! See our latest analysis for QMines QMines is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying. I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. QMines insiders own about AU$3.2m worth of shares. That equates to 18% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. The fact that there have been no QMines insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders own shares in QMines and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing QMines. Our analysis shows 4 warning signs for QMines (3 don't sit too well with us!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing. But note: QMines may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
