Orefox secured a share of A$1 million funding through the Queensland mining equipment, technology and services collaborative projects fund, delivered by METS Ignited and the Queensland government.

METS Ignited CEO Adrian Beer said it was driving collaborative projects to accelerate commercial outcomes for the economy and promote collaboration opportunities as part of a long-term strategy for growth.

"We are backing projects using technologies such as sensors, data analytics, machine learning, optimised x-rays, and solar energy that result in improvements in productivity, efficiency, safety and sustainability," he said.

QMines has started exploration activities across the Mt Chalmers project since acquiring the tenement from Traprock Resources, with the company reporting a resource of 73,000 tonnes of contained copper.

Discovered in 1860, the mine was originally worked for gold until copper was unearthed in 1898.

The partnership will use artificial intelligence technology to gain further knowledge of the Mt Chalmers deposit and other promising prospective sites around the historic mine, with QMines hoping to uncover further critical minerals to accelerate development.

As part of the project a comprehensive multi-element geochemical sampling program will be conducted, with data to be processed by OreFox through its machine and deep learning systems to gain further insights.

OreFox CEO Warwick Anderson said the project had the potential to increase exploration activity in Queensland, particularly for new economy minerals and could be applied to numerous other historical mines and deposits.

"The partnership between OreFox, is anticipated to bring more regional jobs to Queensland and aid Queensland exploration frontiers," he said.

"If we can prove the value of this project, then that opens the door to a significant export market for the processes we are developing."

Beer said the project was a great example of how AI and data science technologies could be harnessed to improve exploration and unlock the economic benefits of a historical mine site.