Taruga uncovers a new gold-copper direction at Uaroo Ridge
Taruga Minerals has identified a new northeast-trending gold-copper zone at Uaroo Ridge in Western Australia, led by a rock chip grading 1.4g/t gold and 4.3% copper. The result expands the prospect’s exploration footprint, but remains an early-stage surface sampling result with no drilling or resource estimate.
- UARK042 returns 1.4g/t gold and 4.3% copper
- New 500m northeast trend cuts across existing mineralised corridor
- Uaroo Ridge exploration area extends to about 2km by 600m
- Follow-up soil sampling, mapping and geophysical surveys planned
- Taruga relinquishes E08/3733 and parts of two other tenements
Highest-grade Uaroo Ridge sample defines new direction
Taruga Minerals Limited (ASX:TAR) has found its strongest surface result yet at the Uaroo Ridge prospect, where rock chip sample UARK042 returned 1.4g/t gold and 4.3% copper. Two nearby samples from the same outcrop also carried meaningful grades: UARK043 assayed 0.5g/t gold and 2.6% copper, while UARK041 returned 0.4g/t gold and 2.4% copper.
The grades sit within a newly defined northeast-trending anomaly that crosses the prospect’s previously recognised 1km WNW-ESE quartz ridge. Taruga says soil and rock sampling has now outlined a 500m northeast trend, opening a second structural direction across the Uaroo East Project in the Gascoyne province of Western Australia.
Surface results broaden the exploration footprint
Uaroo Ridge was identified during Taruga’s 2025 reconnaissance program, which found quartz veining, malachite and chalcopyrite at surface. Follow-up soil sampling has linked the prospect with the nearby Uaroo Hill locality and expanded the area assessed to roughly 2km long and 600m wide.
The company describes the new northeast trend as a step up in the prospect’s exploration potential, with sampling indicating room to extend the anomaly beyond the current coverage. Uaroo Ridge sits about 5km north of Thowagee, another priority prospect in the same tenement package, while the Moodong Well area lies approximately 8km to the northeast.
Next work shifts from reconnaissance to target definition
Taruga plans to extend close-spaced soil sampling, continue geological mapping and selective rock chip work, and run magnetic and gravity surveys to better define the structures controlling mineralisation. At Moodong Well, the company intends to test a separate 1,500m northwest-trending quartz-rich shear through soil sampling and geophysics.
That work is important because the reported grades come from selective in-situ rock chips, not drilling. Taruga’s JORC disclosure states that the rock samples may not represent broader mineralisation along the trend; there is no drilling, subsurface continuity, mineral resource estimate or economic assessment reported. The sample locations were recorded by handheld GPS with approximately 5m accuracy, and no independent verification or external audit was completed.
Tenement review concentrates the retained ground
Alongside the exploration update, Taruga said it will relinquish E08/3733 in full and surrender parts of E08/3245 and E08/3734. The retained portfolio includes the ground around Uaroo Ridge, Thowagee and Moodong Well, with E08/3734 remaining the largest listed licence at 170.4 square kilometres.
The immediate question is whether the new northeast anomaly can survive the transition from surface geochemistry to subsurface testing. Until drilling establishes thickness, continuity and depth, UARK042 is best read as a compelling target-generation result rather than evidence of a defined deposit.
Bottom Line?
The headline grade is encouraging, but the next value-defining step is proving that the surface signal continues below ground.
Questions in the middle?
- Will expanded soil and geophysical surveys extend the northeast anomaly beyond the current 500m trend?
- Can drilling confirm continuity, thickness and depth beneath the high-grade outcrop?
- How will the relinquished ground change Taruga’s exploration priorities and capital allocation?
