Tungsten Mining has commenced a major drilling campaign at its 100 per cent owned Watershed tungsten project in Queensland in an effort to strengthen confidence in mineralisation expected to underpin initial areas for mining.

The drill program follows a preliminary economic evaluation (PEE) released by the company in June and is designed to provide additional geological, metallurgical and geotechnical information needed to advance both mine planning and engineering.

The reverse circulation (RC) program comprises 175 holes for approximately 15,000m. Drilling will tighten the spacing across known high-grade mineralisation to a 20m-by-20m pattern, allowing Tungsten Mining to better define the continuity, geometry and grade distribution of the ore targeted for early mining.

The results will feed into an updated mineral resource model and help refine the mine plan, mining schedules and pit design.

A separate diamond drilling program will comprise 75 holes for approximately 5,700m. The work is primarily focused on collecting representative samples for metallurgical testing, while also gathering geotechnical information required for pit design, mine planning, process design and detailed engineering.

Diamond core will also be logged and assayed to support the updated resource model.

Tungsten Mining chairman Gary Lyons said the combined programs would help reduce development risk at Watershed.

“The commencement of this major drilling program is an important next step in the advancement of Watershed following the strong Preliminary Economic Evaluation outcomes announced in June,” Lyons said in a statement.

The RC drilling is expected to take approximately four months, while the diamond program is expected to run for around three months.

Tungsten Mining expects the first drilling results from the campaign to be released from October 2026.