Terrain begins biggest-ever Smokebush drilling campaign

10,905 Metres of Drilling Targets Lightning Growth

Terrain Minerals Limited (ASX:TMX) is preparing to put its largest-ever reverse circulation drilling campaign to work at the 100%-owned Smokebush project in Western Australia. The 86-hole, 10,905-metre program is designed to tighten the existing Lightning resource, test extensions and search for additional mineralised structures across the granted mining lease.

The drill rig and crew are expected on site later this week, with site preparation and supporting infrastructure already completed. The announcement marks the start of a substantial work program, rather than a results release: Terrain reported no new exploration results and the geological outcomes remain dependent on drilling and assays.

Resource Drilling Focuses on Open-Pit Expansion

Resource work accounts for 54 holes and 5,735 metres across the Lightning and Monza structures. Terrain says the holes are intended to infill the existing pattern sufficiently to support a possible upgrade of parts of the Lightning Mineral Resource from Inferred to Indicated, while also testing whether near-surface mineralisation can expand the optimised open-pit shell.

Lightning’s maiden Inferred estimate, announced in July, totals 677,000 tonnes at 2.5 grams per tonne gold for 54,000 ounces of gold and 156,500 ounces of silver. Only 157,000 tonnes at 3.5 grams per tonne gold, containing 17,500 ounces, currently falls within the optimised open-pit shell. Eight additional exploration holes will test the northern strike extension, which sits outside the existing resource envelope.

Seven Priority IP Targets Add Discovery Risk and Upside

The remaining 32 holes, covering 5,170 metres, will test induced-polarisation chargeability anomalies, interpreted strike extensions and a central soil geochemical anomaly. Sixteen holes are aimed at IP targets, 14 at Lightning North and Target 13, and two at the central soil anomaly.

Terrain’s exploration thesis is that Lightning may be one of several sub-parallel, shear-hosted gold systems within the Smokebush greenstone package. The targets were generated from IP surveys, soil geochemistry, existing drilling and geological interpretation, but the company cautions that the chargeability corridors are interpretations rather than confirmed geological structures. The campaign therefore combines relatively defined resource work with higher-risk exploration testing.

Around 12 tungsten-focused holes could also be added to the program if approvals are obtained. That work would build on the tungsten follow-up holes Terrain previously outlined after identifying tungsten across six Smokebush prospects, although the current announcement does not confirm that those holes have been approved or included.

Funding Deadline Sits Alongside the Drilling Push

The campaign arrives as Terrain’s rights issue approaches its 22 October 2026 closing deadline. The company has previously earmarked capital from its Lightning drilling raise for the Smokebush work, but this announcement does not disclose the level of shareholder participation or the amount ultimately raised.

Executive director Justin Virgin said the intended resource upgrade could support initial mining studies and Terrain’s stated strategy of working towards a potential small-scale toll-milling operation. That remains a forward-looking objective: the immediate test is whether the drilling can improve the resource classification, enlarge the open-pit component or identify economic mineralisation beyond Lightning.