QMines plans to raise between $10m and $20m to reactivate mothballed Queensland mine site

This newly-formed resources explorer wants to raise $20m to restart digging at a long-dormant gold and copper mine in regional Queensland.

SPRINGING TO LIFE

A long-dormant gold and copper mine outside Rockhampton looks set to spring to life again later this year thanks to the efforts of a newly-formed resources explorer.

Planning to take advantage of soaring commodity prices, an outfit called QMines will lodge IPO prospectus documents this week to raise between $10m and $20m to start digging the stuff up at Mount Chalmers. Shares will be priced at just 30 cents each.

The company is the brainchild of Sydney-based bizoid Andrew Sparke, who also runs boutique investment house Olive Capital.

He teamed up last August to form QMines with industry veteran Dan Lanskey, who now serves as MD of the operation and previously spent time as chair of troubled resources minnow LWP Technologies in Brisbane.

QMines chairman Andrew Sparke

Together they raised $2.2m in seed capital late last year to get things moving at Mount Chalmers, which lies about 17km northeast of Rockhampton and was mined sporadically between 1898 and 1982.

It was most recently an open pit site overseen by Mount Morgan Ltd between 1979 and 1982, when falling prices rendered it uneconomical.

Sparke has tried repeatedly over the past few years to snare the mineral exploration licenses and he finally succeeded in negotiating a deal with Traprock Mining Ltd to get them in late 2020.

Luckily for Sparke and Lanskey, they’ll be able to surf in on a significant amount of capital previously committed to the site, as well as a historical drill database to guide their exploration.

The deal also includes the rights to mine three other mothballed copper and gold projects located near Warwick and Stanthorpe.

In a positive omen for potential QMines investors, Sparke and his colleague Jim Anderson offloaded their listed gold and silver explorer Alt Resources to private equity players last year for $40m.

Lanskey said that sale “clearly demonstrates we have assembled an experienced team that can deliver the results we are targeting at our Queensland projects’’.

As you might expect, QMines is not the only player making waves in the area. Last November we learned that Heritage Minerals has embarked on a $60m gold recovery project that could be up and running by the end of this year.

ROUGH SEAS

A Gold Coast outfit that claims to be one of Australia’s leading marine fabricators faces a legal threat to its continued operation.

We learned on Monday that Black Marlin Towers Pty Ltd has been targeted for liquidation by alleged creditor Axima, a Victorian-based logistics and supply chain management firm which has just launched a wind-up bid in court.

Black Marlin Towers, operated by sole director and owner Paul Selby, is based at the Gold Coast City Marina and Shipyard. No defence has yet been lodged in the case.

Neither Selby nor Axima responded to requests for comment.

JOINING FORCES

Five of Queensland’s peak agriculture and natural resources lobby groups have formed an unlikely alliance to ramp up efforts on behalf of landholders.

It emerged on Monday that AgForce and the Queensland Farmers’ Federation have teamed up with the Australian Land Management Group, Southern Queensland Landscapes and Lock the Gate Alliance to promote better stewardship of rural areas.

The group, calling themselves the Land Management Alliance, are gunning for the implementation of a certification system focused on sustainability.