Tennant Minerals has begun a multi-stage diamond drilling campaign targeting extensions and possible repetitions of its high-grade Bluebird copper-gold-bismuth discovery. The program tests an interpreted 1.5km structural corridor, but the Warrego-scale comparison remains an exploration target rather than an estimate of mineralisation.
- First diamond hole testing a 60m step-out west of Bluebird
- Four priority targets identified across an 800m corridor
- Structural modelling points to a possible 1.5km Bluebird-Perseverance corridor
- Up to 3,000m of regional aircore and slimline RC drilling planned
- No new exploration results reported in the announcement
Bluebird drilling targets a 1.5km structural corridor
Tennant Minerals Limited (ASX:TMS) has started diamond drilling aimed at testing whether the high-grade Bluebird copper-gold-bismuth system continues west and down-plunge towards the Perseverance magnetic complex in the Northern Territory.
The company’s structural interpretation and gravity and magnetic modelling identify a corridor extending at least 800m west of the drilled Bluebird zone, within a broader 1.5km fault corridor. Tennant says the footprint is comparable in scale with the Warrego deposit, raising the possibility of a much larger mineralised system, but that comparison describes targeting potential rather than discovered resources.
Four step-out targets define the first drilling phase
The first of four Stage 1 diamond holes is testing a section 60m west of existing drilling. Subsequent holes are planned at 120m step-out spacing, with the program designed to test extensions, repetitions and deeper targets associated with the interpreted Camel and Kamran fault intersection.
The geological case rests partly on earlier high-grade intersections in the projected corridor, including 24m at 11.8 grams per tonne gold with 0.66% copper and 30.5m at 6.8 grams per tonne gold with 6.2% copper. Those are historical drilling results cited by the company, not results from the new program.
Existing resource provides the starting point
Bluebird’s October 2025 mineral resource stands at 1.58 million tonnes grading 1.30% copper, 1.04 grams per tonne gold and 3.00% copper equivalent, containing 47,400 tonnes of copper equivalent. The resource covers the open-pit portion of the deposit, while the company says mineralisation remains open westward and at depth.
The new campaign follows the 18m high-grade Bluebird hit, which returned 18m at 10.0 grams per tonne gold equivalent, including 4.55m at 34.3 grams per tonne. Tennant says the intersection may indicate increasing gold and bismuth grades with depth, although that interpretation still needs to be tested by further drilling.
Regional drilling expands the search beyond Bluebird
Alongside the diamond holes, up to 3,000m of aircore and slimline reverse-circulation drilling is testing the Kamran West and Perseverance North area. The target sits along the Kamran Fault and is supported by geochemical and geophysical anomalies, including historical bottom-hole sampling that returned 725 parts per million copper and 34.6 grams per tonne silver.
Resource work and processing studies remain ahead
Tennant plans to use the Stage 1 results to shape a second target-testing phase, alongside further resource work, metallurgical testing and mining studies. It is also completing its contribution to the Tennant Creek Copper Alliance feasibility study for a shared processing facility, with the longer-term aim of incorporating the outcomes into a potential pre-feasibility study for Bluebird.
The immediate test is more basic: whether the first holes convert an attractive structural and geophysical model into continuous mineralisation. Until assays arrive, the 800m corridor and Warrego comparison should be treated as hypotheses, with drilling results, funding, metallurgy and development studies still standing between exploration potential and a mineable project.
Bottom Line?
The next meaningful catalyst is assay evidence from the 60m step-out and subsequent 120m-spaced holes, not the scale of the exploration model alone.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the first step-out holes confirm that Bluebird mineralisation continues west along the interpreted fault corridor?
- Can the Perseverance and Kamran targets produce a separate mineralised zone rather than only geophysical or geochemical anomalism?
- How will future drilling, metallurgy and the Tennant Creek processing study affect the case for a Bluebird pre-feasibility study?