Terrain Minerals Targets Parallel Gold Structures with Major IP Survey at Smokebush

Major IP Survey Targets New Gold Structures at Smokebush

Terrain Minerals (ASX:TMX) has kicked off one of its largest induced polarisation (IP) surveys to date at the Smokebush Gold/Silver Project in Western Australia, focusing on untested ground within Mining Lease M59/796. The survey aims to detect repeat gold-bearing structures similar to those discovered at the Lightning prospect, which lies within the same north-south shear corridor and granite-proximal setting.

Executive Director Justin Virgin highlighted the unexplored potential of this area, noting it has never been tested with modern IP despite its geological similarity to Lightning. "We believe Lightning may represent just one of several mineralised structures within the broader Smokebush gold system," Virgin said, underscoring the strategic intent to expand the exploration pipeline beyond the current resource footprint.

Survey Includes Historic Hurley Target and Strategic Corridor

The western portion of the granted lease, which hosts the IP survey, sits between two known mineralised systems: the Lightning Gold Prospect to the east and the historic Black Dog open cut gold mine just outside the tenement boundary to the west. The survey also covers the Hurley target, where previous shallow drilling intersected anomalous gold mineralisation but lacked follow-up with modern geophysics.

By integrating coverage over Hurley with the broader western Lightning program, Terrain aims to both expand exploration over a known mineralised area and hunt for new parallel structures. This approach leverages the largest untested block of ground within the granted lease, which has been overlooked in prior IP surveys.

Proven IP Methodology Underpins Exploration Strategy

Terrain’s confidence in the IP technique is well-founded. The 2023 IP survey at Lightning identified a 600-metre-long chargeability anomaly that was subsequently drilled to reveal multiple high-grade gold intersections, including 13 metres at 8.13 g/t gold from 122 metres. Similarly, the 2025 IP survey at the Wildflower prospect defined over 800 metres of drill targets currently awaiting assay results.

This latest western Lightning IP survey employs the same independent contractor team and methodology, aiming to replicate past successes. The company expects to complete field acquisition by June 2026, with data processing and inversion modelling to follow. Drill-ready chargeability targets will be reported in July 2026 alongside the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for Lightning, marking a pivotal moment for the project’s advancement.

Terrain has now completed over 16,000 metres of drilling at Lightning, including 97 reverse circulation holes and four diamond holes, building a substantial dataset ahead of the resource estimate. The company’s recent capital raise of $1.5 million is set to accelerate these activities, supporting both the resource definition and follow-up exploration programs across the Smokebush project and other key assets $1.5M placement to push.

Regional Gold System Context and Adjacent Resources

The Smokebush Project lies within the Yalgoo Mineral Field and is part of a larger Mt Mulgine Granite-related mineralising system. Nearby, Tungsten Mining NL (ASX:TGN) has reported a combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 67,500 ounces of gold across adjacent prospects, with additional exploration targets defined. Terrain references these third-party resources solely for geological context, emphasizing that similar mineralisation on its tenure is not guaranteed.

Terrain’s working model posits that Lightning is one of multiple parallel gold-bearing structures within this corridor, a hypothesis the current IP survey is designed to test. The company’s broader exploration pipeline also includes the Wildflower prospect, where recent drilling campaigns have been completed and assay results are imminent, further bolstering the potential for systemic discoveries across Smokebush key drilling milestones.