Drilling has commenced at QEM’s flagship Julia Creek Project which is mining for vanadium and oil shale.
A five hole, 4C (four inch) core drill program is currently underway, designed as an infill program to provide data on drill spacing between existing holes and will assist with increasing confidence in the geological model.
The drill program is intended to provide 300kg of bulk ore material for planned processing studies.
QEM said the core recovered would be used to advance processing studies to optimise the extraction of vanadium and potentially oil shale and would also be used in the geological model, to increase the geological confidence of the deposit.
QEM told the ASX on May 7 they did a 26km 2D seismic program to survey the geological structure of the seams across the project area, with data also being input into the geological model, again with the aim of increasing the geological confidence of the deposit.
QEM said the results from the drill program and the seismic data would play an important role in the their plans to update the geological resource and help them assess potential mine designs.
The company is doing a pre-feasibility study for the Julia Creek project and expect that final drilling data results after assays will be completed by July.
QEM Executive Director David Fitch said the drilling was the next logical step after the seismic survey.
“The drill program will provide valuable data which will be input into the geological model, which well positions the Company in the further development of this exciting opportunity,” Mr Fitch said.
The project covers almost 500 sq kms of the Toolebuc Formation, which is recognised as one of the largest deposits of vanadium and oil shale in the world and located less than 16km east of Julia Creek.
Vanadium can be used to make steel alloys and its strength makes it perfectly suited to the creation of tools, axels, piston rods and as girders in construction.
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