Terrain tightens grip on high-grade WA gold with new mining lease

Terrain Minerals has successfully converted multiple prospecting licences to a mining lease which will secure its exploration and planned mining activities in the area for a 30 year term.

The newly granted mining lease will firmly cement Terrain’s presence in the prospective extreme northwest of its Smokebush project tenement area, about 350 kilometres north of Perth and 65km west of Paynes Find in WA’s Murchison region. 

The new lease encloses the company’s recently-defined and highly-prospective Lightning gold and silver prospect, where Terrain is working towards generating its first JORC-compliant gold-silver resource by mid-2026. 

To that end, the company has embarked on a major reverse-circulation (RC) drilling program in late November, which is currently underway and well-advanced, aimed at plugging about 34 holes for 6800 metres into its Lightning prospect and also at its separate Wildflower prospect, 5km south of Lightning, in the mid-western extremity of the contiguous Smokebush tenement group.

About 4500m of drilling has been allocated to the increasingly important Lightning prospect, aimed at building on previous encouraging drill results with first assays expected in mid-February, while 2300m has been allocated to testing Wildflower. 

The previous results from Lightning which have endeared Terrain to the prospect include a 13m intercept  assaying a solid 8.13g/t gold from 122m, including 2m at 48.22g/t gold.

A second hole delivered 17m going 3.43g/t gold from 147m, including 2m at 17.17g/t gold and 17.88g/t silver, while a third hole came in at 22m assaying 2.71g/t gold from 105m and 21m at 15.79g/t silver, including 1m going 18.04 g/t gold from 124m. 

At Wildflower, about 5km south of Lightning, Terrain’s recent induced polarisation (IP) geophysical survey has unveiled multiple large-scale structures which appear similar to those observed at Lightning, with three targets identified in three distinct structures that extend over a distance of about 800m.   

Intriguingly, both Lightning and Wildflower sit in similar structural proximity to the same granitoid intrusion which further work may prove  to be a controlling structure or significant mineralising influence.

The proximity of both prospects to the granitoid body and the high-grade gold-silver results at Lightning point to a strong possibility that further evaluation of Wildflower’s well-defined drill targets – which Terrain plans to drill in January - could represent a significant opportunity to expand the company’s gold footprint in its Smokebush ground.

The company’s Smokebush project is surrounded by several other significant mining operations, including Capricorn Metals' reinvigorated Mt Gibson gold project to the south and 29Metals' Golden Grove world-class polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mining operation to the north. 

Terrain appears to have the bit between its teeth now at Smokebush and the precious metal hunt is on in earnest, with the already well-defined target at Lightning looking like it may yield a maiden resource in short order and Wildflower’s promise  looming close behind.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au