Tennant Minerals has confirmed robust high-grade copper-gold-bismuth mineralisation at its Bluebird discovery, extending the resource down-plunge and westward. The company secured $2.8 million in funding to accelerate drilling and development.
- High-grade drill intersection of 18m at 10.0g/t AuEq confirmed
- Mineralisation remains open down-plunge and along strike
- Completed $2.8 million capital raise with shareholder approval
- Plans underway for step-out drilling and metallurgical test-work
- Participation in joint processing feasibility study progressing
Robust High-Grade Mineralisation Confirmed at Bluebird
Tennant Minerals (ASX:TMS) has reinforced the significance of its Bluebird copper-gold-bismuth discovery within the Barkly Project, delivering assay results that confirm a substantial high-grade zone extending beyond the current resource. Drill hole BBDD0050 intersected an 18-metre core zone averaging 10.0g/t AuEq, including standout intervals such as 4.55m at 34.3g/t AuEq and a narrower 0.55m section grading 47.2g/t gold, 9.3% copper, and 12.0% bismuth. These results were verified through re-assaying, underscoring their reliability and the robustness of the mineralisation.
Resource Expansion Potential and Geological Insights
The high-grade zone at Bluebird remains open both down-plunge and to the west, extending beneath the previously defined open-pit Mineral Resource. This new intersection lies below the optimised pit shell from the October 2025 resource estimate, which outlined 1.58 million tonnes at 3.00% copper equivalent. The mineralisation’s shallow plunge within a gravity and magnetic anomaly suggests further extensions are likely, with geophysical modelling highlighting a major untested ironstone body along strike. These findings provide a compelling rationale for further step-out drilling to delineate the resource at depth and along strike.
Capital Raise Fuels Next Phase of Exploration
To advance these exploration and development activities, Tennant Minerals successfully completed a $2.8 million capital raising, structured in two tranches. The first tranche of $1.73 million was received during the quarter, with the balance of $1.07 million secured post shareholder approval in July. Investors also received free-attaching options exercisable at $0.013 until mid-2030. This fresh capital strengthens the company's balance sheet, enabling planned drilling programs targeting immediate down-plunge and lateral extensions of the Bluebird mineralised body, alongside regional targeting along the Bluebird–Perseverance corridor.
Collaborative Processing Study Advances
Beyond exploration, Tennant Minerals remains an active participant in the Tennant Creek Copper Alliance, a joint initiative with CuFe Ltd and Emmerson Resources (now part of Pan African Resources) to evaluate a multi-user processing facility. This pre-feasibility study, partly funded by federal and Northern Territory government grants, aims to develop a centralised plant to service multiple deposits in the region, potentially delivering significant cost efficiencies. Final engineering and cost outcomes are expected in the September quarter, a key milestone for the project’s development pathway.
Financial Position and Upcoming Work
At quarter-end, Tennant Minerals held $1.436 million in cash, after spending $182,000 on exploration and a total of $433,000 in operating and investing activities. The company plans to maintain momentum with targeted extension drilling and corridor-scale target generation using integrated geophysical datasets. These efforts aim to unlock further value from the Barkly Copper-Gold Project, situated in the prolific Tennant Creek Mineral Field, which historically produced over 5.5 million ounces of gold and 700,000 tonnes of copper.
Bottom Line?
Tennant Minerals’ confirmed high-grade extensions and fresh capital position it well for aggressive resource growth, but upcoming drilling and processing study results will be critical to defining the project’s economic potential.
Questions in the middle?
- Will step-out drilling confirm a significant underground resource below the current open pit?
- How will metallurgical test results influence processing strategies for gold, copper, and bismuth?
- What impact will the joint processing facility feasibility have on project development timelines?