QMines [ASX: QML]
Metals & Mining
Visible Gold, Bonanza Assays and Queensland GovernmentBacked QIC Funding Strengthen Production Pathway
We are revising our target price for QMines (ASX: QML) upwards to A$0.21, implying a compelling 261% total upside from the current A$0.06 share price and marking an uplift from our last report in January 2026. QMines is a Queensland-focused copper and gold developer-explorer advancing Mt Chalmers toward production while expanding its regional growth platform through Develin Creek and Mount Mackenzie. Since our last update, three developments have strengthened the investment case: improved resource confidence at Develin Creek, compelling high-grade drilling at Mount Mackenzie, and the April 2026 QIC investment, which materially strengthened funding certainty and development credibility. At Mount Mackenzie, the March 2026 Vein 355 bonanza result and the April 2026 extension of the high-grade corridor at North Knoll together reinforced the case for a broader and potentially expanded mineralised system. Delivery of key DFS, integration and drilling milestones should progressively reduce risk and support valuation uplift.
Develin Creek Resource Update Improves Quality and Strategic Value
In February 2026, QML updated the Develin Creek Mineral Resource to 4.70Mt @ 0.94% Cu, 1.01% Zn, 0.15g/t Au and 5.74g/t Ag, with approximately 90% of the inventory now classified as Indicated. The key value driver is not only the increase in tonnes but also the material uplift in classification confidence, which improves the resource’s relevance for mine planning, metallurgical work, and potential integration into the broader Mt Chalmers hub strategy. The inventory remains dominated by fresh sulphide material, supporting conventional flotation processing and reinforcing Develin Creek’s strategic value as a higher-confidence source of future throughput and mine-life extension.
Mount Mackenzie High-Grade Results Strengthen Exploration Upside
In March and April 2026, QML reported Mount Mackenzie results that materially strengthened both the grade case and broader system-scale exploration thesis. The standout result remains the bonanza-grade Vein 355 intercept in MMDD010 of 16m @ 19.35g/t Au and 21.6g/t Ag from 8m, including 1m @ 108.0g/t Au, confirming exceptional grade within meaningful mineralised widths rather than isolated narrow spikes. The April 2026 drilling update reinforced this case by confirming further broad and shallow high-grade mineralisation at North Knoll and additional support at Vein 355, extending the high-grade corridor beyond a single standout intercept. Importantly, these results support the interpretation of Mount Mackenzie as a broader structurally controlled epithermal field and strengthen confidence that the existing 3.4Mt resource may represent only part of a larger mineralised system.
QIC Funding Improves Development Certainty and Credibility
In April 2026, QML secured a A$15m strategic investment from QIC’s Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund, a Queensland Government-owned investor, comprising A$5m in equity and A$10m via a 2% NSR royalty. Combined with existing cash, management expects this to fund the company through DFS, FEED and construction readiness into FID. The structure is a key positive: it limits equity dilution by funding part of the package through a modest royalty over future cash flow, materially de-risking the development pathway while also providing strong institutional validation.
Stock Rerating Driven by Resource Growth and New Discoveries
Following recent milestones, we value QML at $0.20 in our base case (242% upside) and $0.22 in our bull case (279% upside), relative to the current share price of $0.06. Using the midpoint of these scenarios, our A$0.21 target implies 261% upside, driven primarily by the higher-confidence Develin Creek resource and a stronger balance sheet and execution profile, and excluding further upside from Mount Mackenzie, where high-grade drilling and new near-surface targets point to broader system-scale potential.