Terra Metals has announced a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for its Dante Project, revealing a significant polymetallic deposit with strong grades and excellent metallurgical recoveries. The resource remains open for expansion, supported by ongoing drilling and strategic funding.
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate of 148Mt at 14.8% TiO2 and 0.54% V2O5
- High-grade Indicated Resource of 38Mt with elevated copper and PGE content
- Independent MRE by Pivot Mining Consultants with expert Ken Lomberg
- Metallurgical testwork confirms excellent recoveries for key metals
- Phase 3 drilling imminent to target resource growth and new discoveries
A Significant Maiden Resource
Terra Metals Limited (ASX, TM1) has delivered an impressive maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its 100%-owned Dante Project, located in Western Australia's West Musgrave region. The polymetallic resource totals 148 million tonnes grading 14.8% titanium dioxide (TiO2), 0.54% vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), 0.18% copper (Cu), and 0.33 grams per tonne of combined platinum group elements (3PGE), including gold, platinum, and palladium. This substantial resource contains approximately 22 million tonnes of TiO2, 800,000 tonnes of V2O5, 270,000 tonnes of copper, and 1.6 million ounces of 3PGE.
The high-grade Indicated Resource subset, comprising 38 million tonnes, boasts even stronger grades with 18.4% TiO2, 0.73% V2O5, 0.23% Cu, and 0.72 g/t 3PGE, highlighting the project's potential for economically viable extraction.
Expert Validation and Metallurgical Promise
The MRE was independently prepared by Ken Lomberg of Pivot Mining Consultants, a seasoned expert with over 38 years' experience in layered intrusion mineralisation, including the renowned Bushveld Complex in South Africa. Complementing this, metallurgical testwork led by Dr. Evan Kirby has demonstrated excellent recoveries across all key metals, with copper recovery at 95.8%, platinum group metals at 90.9%, vanadium at 65.6%, and titanium at 74.4%. These results underscore the potential for producing high-grade concentrates through relatively simple processing techniques.
Strategic Growth and Exploration Outlook
Remarkably, the maiden MRE was achieved within just 12 months of discovery, at a low discovery cost of approximately A$0.07 per tonne of resource. The resource area currently covers less than 10% of the mapped mineralised trend, with the system remaining open along strike and at depth. Phase 3 drilling is set to commence imminently, targeting resource expansion and new discoveries across multiple reef corridors.
Terra Metals is well-funded for its exploration and metallurgical programs, following a recent A$4 million strategic placement involving Golden Energy and Resources and investor Matt Lattimore. This financial backing positions the company to aggressively pursue growth opportunities within this underexplored province.
A Globally Significant Critical Metals Asset
CEO Thomas Line emphasised the strategic importance of the Dante Project, describing it as a globally significant critical metals discovery with a clear path to rapid, low-cost resource growth. Situated within the Jameson Layered Intrusion of the Giles Complex, the project shares geological similarities with the world-class Bushveld Complex, one of the richest sources of platinum group metals globally.
With ongoing metallurgical optimisation and extensive exploration potential, Terra Metals is positioning Dante as a long-life, strategic asset in the critical metals sector, essential for emerging technologies and clean energy applications.
Bottom Line?
As Terra Metals embarks on its next drilling phase, the Dante Project’s potential to reshape the critical metals landscape is just beginning to unfold.
Questions in the middle?
- How will Phase 3 drilling results impact the size and grade of the Dante resource?
- What are the timelines and expected outcomes for the ongoing metallurgical optimisation?
- How might global demand for critical metals influence Terra Metals’ development strategy?