Terra Metals (ASX:TM1) reports its ‘broadest’ mineralised interval to date at the Dante Project in Western Australia, returning 448m of continuous platinum group element (PGE)-copper-nickel mineralisation at the Southwest discovery.
The first diamond tail assays from drill hole SWRD051 returned 448m @ 0.87 grams per tonne (g/t) PGE3 and 0.15% nickel (Ni) from 102m, confirming one of the thickest mineralised packages intersected in the Southwest Main Sulphide Corridor.
The intersection includes higher-grade zones of 90.9m @ 1.18g/t PGE3, 0.19% Ni, and 0.14% copper (Cu) from 282.74m, containing 6.2m @ 2.31g/t PGE3, 0.23% Ni, and 0.30% Cu from 358m.
A further 101m @ 1.46g/t PGE3 and 0.2% Ni from 427m includes 36.6m @ 2g/t PGE3, 0.24% Ni, and 0.11% Cu from 427m.
General Manager of Operations and Exploration Barry Jones says Southwest is emerging as a ‘significant’ mineralised system, with drilling continuing to define a footprint extending approximately 950m by 700m and at least 750m down dip.
“The scale, continuity, and thickness of the mineralised package, which is locally developed up to approximately 400m, highlight the potential significance of this discovery,” Jones says.
“Importantly, Southwest does not appear to be a simple stratiform horizon.
“Mineralisation is developed throughout a broader mafic-ultramafic sequence, with enrichment across the full PGE suite as well as associated copper, nickel, and cobalt.
“This supports our interpretation of Southwest as a large polymetallic magmatic sulphide system with the potential to become one of the more significant systems of its type in Australia.”
The Southwest discovery lies entirely outside the existing 148 million tonne Dante mineral resource, representing a new growth opportunity within the Jameson Layered Intrusion.
Additional diamond tail results from SWRD052 returned 370m @ 0.90g/t PGE3 and 0.17% Ni from 170m, including 68m @ 1.25g/t PGE3, 0.21% Ni, and 0.12% Cu from 227m, as well as 15m @ 2.21g/t PGE3, 0.22% Ni, and 0.13% Cu from 480m.
Meanwhile, pre-collar drilling in hole SWRD055 returned 78m @ 1.08g/t PGE3 and 0.17% Ni from 174m, with assays pending for a diamond tail drilled to 618.3m.
CEO Thomas Line says the results strengthen Terra’s confidence in the scale and geological potential of the discovery.
“Intersecting 448m of continuous mineralisation within a primitive troctolite-pyroxenite package demonstrates that the Southwest system is both laterally extensive and exceptionally thick,” Line says.
“Rather than a single mineralised reef, drilling is defining a broad mineralised corridor containing multiple mineralised horizons, providing significant scope for continued resource growth as drilling progresses.”
Terra says five drill rigs are currently operating alongside ground electromagnetic (EM), downhole EM, and downhole televiewer programs to extend the discovery.
Heritage surveys are likewise underway to expand drill access across the project area ahead of a targeted maiden Southwest resource estimate later this year.
Terra Metals is a critical minerals explorer and developer focused on its flagship Dante Project in the West Musgrave region of Western Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Terra Metals
