Terrain Minerals is on the cusp of launching a reverse circulation drilling program on May 12 to follow-up the company’s recent discovery of shallow high-grade gold and silver at its Lightning and Monza prospects.
The two prospects lie in the northern extremity of its Smokebush project, 350 kilometres north of Perth. The drill crew is set to mobilise and get cracking with the first hole on Monday.
The proposed 20-day, 17-hole, 3350-metre reverse circulation expansion drilling campaign is designed to better define and if possible, extend the mineralisation identified in Terrain’s previous drilling of the two prospects, announced in March.
That program included two holes at the recently discovered Lightning prospect.
One hole intercepted 11m assaying 6.03 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 43.5g/t silver from 75m.
Within that primary intercept, Terrain nailed a triad of impressive high-grade 1m intervals, including 10.28g/t gold and 123g/t silver from 76m, 11.41g/t gold and 86.9g/t silver from 80m and 10.37g/t gold and 14g/t silver from 74m.
A second hole put into the Lightning prospect yielded 3m at 6.12g/t gold from 26m, including a 1m high-grade hit of 15.68g/t gold and 10.5g/t silver from 26m.
A single hole into the adjacent Monza prospect, 50m east of Lightning, delivered an initial 4m at 2g/t gold from 172m and a further 5m running 3.77g/t gold from 180m, including a 1m run of 13.13g/t gold and 18g/t silver from 180m.
The upcoming drilling program is well-timed to co-incide with Terrain’s non-renounceable rights issue to raise up to $1.8 million. Shareholders registered by Wednesday, May 14 ex-date can participate in the offer by applying for one new share for every 3.7 shares held, priced at $0.003 per share, with a free-attaching 1:1 unlisted option. A $0.005 strike expires on June 17, 2027.
Terrain has encouraged its registered shareholders to apply or bid for additional shortfall shares and the free attaching option. The company will lodge a prospectus with ASX/ASIC on Friday, May 9.
Terrain Minerals executive director Justin Virgin said: “We are very excited to commence site preparation for RC drilling at Lightning & Monza on Monday, with the drilling team arriving shortly after. The start of drilling coincides with the current $1.8M rights issue… Terrain’s goal is to achieve an initial mineral resource estimate at the Lightning & Monza gold prospect for release in early to mid-2026”.
Monza-Lightning’s potential was highlighted two years ago when Terrain’s modelling of its induced polarisation (IP) geophysical survey data indicated another gold mineralised zone might exist about 50m west of historical drilling.
Terrain proved the interpretation was correct when it confirmed the potential of the Lightning target in November 2023 with a drill hole put in to probe the IP anomaly that intersected 2m assaying 6.22g/t gold from 82m.
Further modelling of the IP anomaly showed it could extend for up to 600m along strike to the north and south of the initial hole. The two recent Lightning intercepts come from confirmatory holes put in to interrogate the modelling.
Terrain is now reviewing and remodelling its 2023 IP geophysical survey data to identify any additional targets within the broader project area.
Management notes its drill and geophysical results to date indicate that gold and silver mineralisation at Lightning and Monza remains untested along strike and at depth.
Given the project’s proximity to existing mining infrastructure, Terrain says Lightning and Monza will remain its priority targets.
Geochemical work in February demonstrated a strong correlation between the gold mineralisation at Lightning with lead, zinc, silver and arsenic, coupled with a moderate gold coincidence with antimony. Silver exhibits a strong correlation with lead and antimony.
The geochemical signatures are significant for possible volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS)-style mineralisation.
Terrain’s upcoming drilling program will further probe the 600m extent of the IP anomaly at Lightning, which parallels the 700m-long mineralised Monza structure.
Terrain plans to locate many of the holes so each hole will pierce both the Lightning and Monza mineralised zones, their adjacent IP anomalism, while also testing for the possibility of other parallel targets.
Three of the planned deeper holes will further test the southern half of the 700m-long Monza trend, which remains open along strike and at depth below about 190m from surface. Deeper holes may also capture any possible southward extensions of Lightning.
Terrain interprets from its previous drilling that Monza has a northward plunge and this will also be a consideration in drill targeting for the imminent program.
In addition to the 20-day drilling campaign, Terrain reckons the program will also require an additional eight weeks for sample transport and analyses.
Terrain’s Smokebush project sits on the southern end of the greenstone belt that comprises much of WA’s Yalgoo mineral field, which hosts 29Metals’ renowned Golden Grove volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, about 50km north of Smokebush.
Terrain’s Lightning-Monza duo is also about 25km south of Warriedar Resources’ extensive Golden Range gold deposits, including its Ricciardo deposit, and about 15km north of Vault Mining’s Rothsay deposit, near the southern extremity of the belt.
Considering the high grades encountered in limited drilling to date and the overall untested dimension of both prospects, Terrain’s upcoming drilling at Lightning and Monza could turn out to be a welcome bolt from the blue.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Doug Bright
