CEO Thomas Line says Terra Metals (ASX:TM1) has a slightly different story to tell at the RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia in 2026 than it had a year ago.
“Although everything we had then we have now and more. But we have just made Australia’s highest grade platinum group metal discovery in the West Musgrave for the Dante Project,” the CEO says.
Line highlights two large reef discoveries extending for at least 20km of strike, which are large mineralised stratiform reefs hosted within the Jameson Layered Intrusion, part of the Giles Complex.
“It’s very similar to the Bushveld province in South Africa. It’s a layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion. No one really liked it that much until now and a lot of people focused outside of this intrusion but we thought it was really exciting,” he explains.
“We have lots of really big reefs on this project, like the Bushveld. Our reefs are very similar, except they are all outcropped at surface and they’re like big coal seams. One of them for example would be about the size of Manhattan Island in terms of its surface area.”
In the Bushveld Province, the vanadium and titanium layers are at the top of the stratigraphy, and the precious and base metal rich layers are deeper in the stratigraphy.
Line highlights recent results from three holes demonstrate the scale and continuity of the Southwest platinum group metals (PGM)-copper-nickel sulphide system, confirming a ‘substantial’ mineralised intrusive complex extending over 850m of strike between SW5 and SW6.
The highest grade PGM zones in the latest assays are platinum-rich, recording up to 17.8g/t platinum, contrasting with the predominantly palladium-dominant mineralisation previously reported at Southwest.
Line notes the SW6 results reinforce the interpretation of Southwest as a conduit-proximal position within a vertically connected magmatic plumbing system. The dominance of Pd-rich sulfides, the thickness and continuity of mineralisation, and the presence of a large off-hole DHEM conductor collectively highlight the need for focused drilling to test the geometry and depth potential of the conduit and its associated sulfide pools.
The immediate priority is systematic down-dip and along-strike drilling to define the architecture of the mineralised corridor and determine true stratigraphic widths. Oriented diamond drilling will be essential to constrain internal layering, refine the position and attitude of the conduit, and establish the connectivity between SW5 and SW6 within what now appears to be a continuous feeder pathway.
This confirms a precious metals-diverse system, the CEO reiterates to the conference.
Follow-up drilling will also target the large DHEM conductor directly beneath the 31.1g/t 3PGE interval in SWDD006, as well as the lateral and vertical extensions of the thick sulfide packages at SW6, and potential repetitions of high-tenor sulfide zones along the broader Southwest trend.
In parallel, selected intervals will undergo full PGE suite re-analysis (including Rh) and comprehensive petrographic and SEM–EDS mineralogical work. These studies will refine the mineral hosts of PGEs, clarify the behaviour of Pd and Pt across proximal and distal positions, and strengthen the emerging zonation model.
Integration of structural, geochemical, mineralogical and geophysical datasets into an updated 3D intrusive architecture will guide ongoing targeting and support eventual progression toward resource definition.
‘Simple stuff’, vast area
Line says the area that Terra Metals is focused on is so vast “it’s going to take 20 or 30 years to get through everything”, however the company will focus on core prospects for now.
The mineral resource estimate (MRE) area covers less than 10% of mapped mineralised trend. Line believes there is at least 100km across the project. The mineral system remains open along strike and at depth, with reconnaissance expanding known footprint.
Line notes just 15km south of its flagship asset sits BHP’s (ASX:BHP) $1.7 billion Nebo-Babel mine development in the West Musgrave Block, which is 125km west of the South Australia-Northern Territory-Western Australia junction.
Dante is the only known resource with potential to host large sulphide deposits containing copper, gold, platinum group metals (PGMs), vanadium, and titanium.
“It’s very simple stuff,” Line says adding, “the metallurgy is fantastic, makes a beautiful concentrate, everybody wants it and we’re going to have hundreds of millions more tonnes of this we believe easily”.
“We’ve already got almost half a million ounces of gold, almost a million ounces of platinum in there and some palladium. And it’s one of the world’s highest grade and biggest titanium vanadium resources together with it.”
On 11 August 2025 Terra Metals unveiled the maiden MRE, which comes in at 148 million tonnes @ 14.8% titanium (TiO₂), 0.54% vanadium (V₂O₅), 0.18% copper, 0.33 grams per tonne 3PGE (1.38% CuEq) containing 22Mt TiO₂, 800,000 tonnes V₂O₅ and 270,000 tonnes copper, as well as 1.6Moz 3PGE.
The 3PGE comprises 400,000 ounces of gold, 880,000oz platinum, and 330,000oz palladium – all from surface.
Titanium is the most valuable in the sulphide concentrate. However, copper equivalent is used to report copper-bearing polymetallic mineralisation that carry additional titanium dioxide (TiO2), vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), gold, platinum, and palladium. It is simply for peer comparisons.
Titanium minerals can be difficult to track, and vanadium prices somewhat difficult for much of the market to understand, which is why it is using copper equivalent.
Terra Metals believes all the elements included in the metal equivalents calculation have reasonable potential to be recovered and sold. As such, Dante is on track to become a competitive producer of multiple strategic mineral products from a single source, as previously reported by this news service.
Of all six metals in the PGMs group, palladium and platinum are most important due to their economic values and higher quantities. The others are mined as byproducts.
PGMs have many useful properties and a plethora of applications including auto-catalysts, electronics, medical tools, hydrogen production and hydrogen fuel cells, as well as in jewellery, among many others.
Some 85% of palladium is used in vehicle exhaust systems, as part of the catalytic converter, turning toxic pollutants into less-harmful gases before being released into the atmosphere. Demand for hybrid cars is expected to largely contribute to demand for PGMs.
The International Market Analysis Research and Consulting Group expects the market to top US$55 billion ($85 million) by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate of 3.5% during 2024-2032.
Mining.com.au was an official media partner at this year’s RIU event.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Terra Metals & Mining.com.au
