QMines Limited announced that the Company has completed an initial open pit optimisation study at Mt Chalmers. Mt Chalmers is the Company's project located 17km north-east of Rockhampton in Queensland. The pit optimisation study was undertaken by Gary McCrae of Minecomp Pty Ltd. The initial pit optimisation study has strengthened the Company's view that a robust mining operation can be developed at Mt Chalmers.

As a result, additional metallurgical test work is now being undertaken to progress Mt Chalmers towards a Feasibility study and the delivery of a maiden Ore Reserve statement. The initial study will help guide further work for a potential mining operation and the size of a potential plant. Additional work to determine the possibility of expanding a potential mining operation with the inclusion of underground mining and satellite deposits will also be undertaken.

The study determined that Mt Chalmers has the potential to support the extraction of 7.1Mt at a head-grade of 1.5% CuEq, potentially delivering 48,000t Cu, 137,500oz Au, 1.3Moz Ag, 26,000 Zn and 12,000 Pb net of mining dilution and processing losses. Mt Chalmers Resource Estimation: The Mt Chalmers resource stands at 11.3Mt @ 1.22% copper equivalent. Importantly, Measured and Indicated categories now account for 88% of the total Mt Chalmers resource.

The Mt Chalmers deposit is a relatively well preserved volcanic-hosted massive-sulphide (VHMS) mineralised system containing copper, gold, zinc, lead and silver. The geometry of the Mt Chalmers deposit is a relatively flat lying asymmetrical massive sulphide mound intersecting higher grade Cu-Au massive sulphides proximal to the centre of the deposit and high grade Pb, Zn, Ag in massive sulphide and exhalite mineralisation distal to the centre of the deposit. Similar metal zoning has also been observed in the stringer/disseminated zone beneath the massive sulphide mineralisation where copper and gold grades are typically higher in the centre and the zinc, lead and silver grades are typically higher distally and at greater depths.

The optimised pit captures the zones of higher-grade mineralisation and extends to a depth of approximately 160 metres. The optimisation extends the existing Mt Chalmers open pit and includes much of the massive and semi massive sulphide mineralisation identified over the past eighteen months of drilling since the Company's listing in May 2021. In 2021 and 2022, QMines' drilling programs have focused on expanding and improving confidence in the Mt Chalmers MRE with the aim of improving resource classifications.

This was done with a view to advancing the project through feasibility and eventual development. The Mt Chalmers optimisation study has utilised revised metal price assumptions which are now more in line with recent spot prices for base and precious metals with the copper price being revised upwards to $8,500t from the MRE estimate of $6,655t. Historical MRE metal price assumptions are shown in the JORC Table (Section 2) and the optimisation metal price assumptions shown in Table 2 in this announcement.

The Company has engaged COMO Engineers to manage the delivery of the Mt Chalmers Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and final metallurgical test work is underway at the ALS Balcatta laboratory in Perth. Based on the preliminary outcomes of the pit optimisation, pit shell twelve could potentially deliver 7.1Mt of ore providing mill feed over 9.5 years contemplating a potential standalone treatment plant at Mt Chalmers with a mill throughput of 750,000tpa. In designing the pit shell slope, Minecomp utilised the historical Mt Chalmers open pit wall and the recent digital terrain model as base line reference data.

The Mt Chalmers open pit remains well preserved and stable since open pit mining was completed by Geopeko in 1982. As part of the planned PFS, the Company will undertake detailed geotechnical drilling and studies to determine final pit slope.