- 01Southwest strike extended to 1,350m.
- 02Largest continuous high-grade reef; broad 3E (Pt-Pd-Au).
- 03MRE targeted Q1 2027; heritage approvals in place.
Terra Metals (ASX: TM1) has extended the interpreted strike of its Southwest discovery to 1,350 metres, after diamond drilling confirmed what it describes as the largest continuous high-grade reef identified at the project to date.
The latest work has reinforced a stacked system of polymetallic reefs from near surface, with broad mineralised intervals carrying platinum, palladium, gold, copper, nickel, and cobalt across the Southwest area.
Heritage approvals now cover the entire immediate Southwest footprint, allowing grid-spaced resource-definition drilling to advance ahead of a maiden mineral resource estimate targeted for the first quarter of calendar 2027.
Terra is continuing extensional drilling with the system open in all directions, while more than 40,000 assays remain pending and recently drilled sulphide zones at several nearby prospects are awaiting laboratory results.
Metallurgical test work is also progressing in parallel, with cleaner flotation trials underway to evaluate bulk and split concentrate options ahead of the planned MRE.
Stacked Reef System
The latest diamond results include a broad 336.9m interval grading 1.02 grams per tonne combined platinum, palladium and gold (3E), with several higher-grade reefs occurring within the wider mineralised package.
Other drilling returned similarly broad 3E mineralisation over hundreds of metres, supporting Terra’s interpretation that higher-grade reefs recur through a larger continuous polymetallic system rather than occurring as isolated zones.
Copper and nickel accompany precious-metal mineralisation across reported intersections, while cobalt is also present and drilling has traced the system from shallow depths to more than 700m downhole.
“Geophysics and surface geochemistry continue to shine the way to further extensions along strike and across the broader project,” managing director Thomas Line said.
“Promising sulphide intersections identified recently in multiple new locations provide further encouragement that there is still a lot more to come.”
Resource Drilling and Test Work
With heritage and clearance surveys completed across the Southwest project area, Terra can now undertake infill drilling along the existing 1,350m strike as part of the work required to support the maiden MRE.
First-pass drilling has intersected sulphide mineralisation at Double Snag about 1,200m along strike from the previously confirmed Southwest Main Zone.
Thick sulphide zones have also been encountered at Area 1 and Area 2, with assays pending and visual estimates not establishing grade or economic value.
Bench-scale metallurgical work includes mineral characterisation, grinding hardness assessment, and flotation trials, with cleaner testing examining product configurations ranging from a single bulk sulphide concentrate to separate copper, nickel, and pyrrhotite concentrates.
Terra plans to combine the enlarged drilling program, outstanding assays, metallurgical results, and ongoing geological modelling in the first Southwest MRE before moving toward subsequent technical studies of potential mining, processing, and development options.
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