General News
19 May, 2026
Mt Carbine moves to boost reserves
A FOUR-month drilling program has started at EQ Resources’ Mt Carbine mine in a bid to shore up reserves of tungsten and extend the life of the open pit operation.
The drilling campaign was announced to the Australian Stock Exchange recently, with the mine operators aiming to convert more of its existing resource into reserves and extend the life of the facility.
Recent strength in tungsten prices prompted the company to review the reserve position associated with the current pit designs.
The program, covering 28 holes and about 7,700 metres using both diamond and RC rigs, targets several key ore zones around current pit designs to improve geological confidence and refine future mine plans.
The initiative comes amid strong tungsten prices and follows Mt Carbine’s move into higher-grade in-situ ore, supporting a planned resource and reserve update in late 2026.
The company’s geology team designed the program to focus on extensions to the existing Stage 2 and Stage 3 open pit mine designs.
The target areas include infilling and extension of the Bluff, Dazzler, Iolanthe, Johnson, Ruby and Iron Duke ore zones.
Much of the deposit is still unexplored and, with major advances in ore sorting technology, the potential for extensions to the current mine design needed to be investigated, the company said.
Mt Carbine has an eight-year reserve mine life, and gained initial access to the higher-grade in-situ orebody in March, enabling a step-up in production from April.
With only 23% of the current resource converted to reserve, the company considers the current drilling program an important step in improving geological confidence in key target zones, supporting future mine planning, and positioning Mt Carbine for further production growth.
“Mt Carbine has already moved into a new phase, with initial access to higher-grade in-situ ore, and this drilling program is an important next step in building on that momentum,” EQR managing director Craig Bradshaw said.
“The company sees clear value in systematically drilling the next target areas to improve geological confidence, support future mine planning and help unlock further growth at the operation.
“Importantly, extending the mine life at Mt Carbine supports more than production growth.
“It supports employees, contractors, local trades, regional suppliers and the broader community, while strengthening EQR’s role in delivering secure, reliable and traceable Western tungsten supply into global markets.”
The drilling program commenced on 16 March and is expected to run for approximately four months. By mid-April, the diamond drilling component of the program had completed five drill holes for 1,900 metres.
The RC drill rig was mobilised on 11 April to support the program and undertake additional grade control drilling, with three holes for a total of 710 metres completed by the middle of the month.
Progressive assay results over the next three to six months are expected to clarify the potential for higher-grade shoots and extensions at depth and along strike, underpinning possible production growth and longer mine life.
