Terrain’s Smokebush campaign opens a second tungsten front

Lightning drilling moves from resource definition to expansion

Terrain Minerals Limited (ASX:TMX) has moved into the most consequential phase of its Smokebush program, with an 86-hole, 10,905-metre reverse-circulation campaign now underway around the Lightning gold deposit. The program follows a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 677,000 tonnes at 2.5 grams per tonne gold for 54,000 ounces, plus 156,500 ounces of silver.

That resource is a starting point rather than a reserve or development case. It contains 157,000 tonnes at 3.5 grams per tonne gold within an optimised open-pit shell, with the balance reported under underground assumptions. Terrain is directing 54 holes for 5,735 metres to infill and expand the existing resource, including work intended to support a possible upgrade in classification, while 32 exploration holes will test extensions and new targets. The campaign was previewed in the 10,905-metre drilling campaign, which had not yet produced new exploration results at the time of that earlier report.

Tungsten broadens the Smokebush proposition

The more surprising development is tungsten. Terrain’s review of its historical drilling database and over-range re-assaying identified 20 intersections above 1,000 parts per million tungsten across 16 holes and five named prospects, with anomalous tungsten present across six Smokebush prospects over an area of roughly 6 kilometres by 5 kilometres.

The strongest reported result was 1 metre at 0.75% WO₃ from 144 metres at Lightning. Another Lightning hole returned 2 metres at 0.55% WO₃ from 137 metres, while results were also recorded at Hurley, Cota, T16 and Wildflower. The company plans up to 12 RC holes specifically targeting tungsten, but the evidence remains early-stage: only 9,078 of 27,780 drill samples have been assayed for the commodity, and the reported intersections are narrow downhole widths with true widths not yet known. The filing’s high-grade tungsten results had already identified the 0.75% WO₃ result and the limited assay coverage.

Metallurgy removes one technical complication

Lightning’s first-stage metallurgy also produced useful support for the exploration thesis. Three reverse-circulation composites returned optimised gold recoveries of 87.0%, 92.1% and 93.7% through gravity and cyanide leaching at a conventional P80 75-micron grind. No refractory or preg-robbing behaviour was identified in the tested material.

Those results do not establish project economics, and the work covered only three composites. They do, however, indicate that the tested mineralisation did not require fine grinding or a specialised processing route. That is a meaningful technical result for a small explorer still trying to determine the scale, continuity and classification of its deposit, and it builds on the earlier conventional Lightning metallurgy.

Critical-minerals pipeline remains active beyond Lightning

Terrain’s other projects add breadth, though not yet the same level of definition. At Larin’s Lane, Curtin University test work achieved rare-earth recovery of 83% using methanesulphonic acid, rising to as high as 99% after calcination and higher-temperature leaching. Scandium extraction reached about 67% to 79% under elevated-temperature and calcined conditions, while gallium dissolution reached up to 89%; selective gallium recovery still requires further study.

At Lort River, assays from a 35-hole air-core program returned total rare-earth oxide grades above 200 parts per million in 25 holes. The standout interval was 8 metres at 3,349 parts per million TREO from 27 metres, including 6 metres at 4,230 parts per million. Carlindie’s 538-site ultrafine soil survey has also been completed, with results expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. These projects remain exploration or metallurgical opportunities rather than defined economic resources.

Rights issue improves cash but leaves a shortfall

The immediate constraint is funding. Terrain reported $1.222 million in cash at 30 September and net operating cash outflows of $1.055 million for the quarter, leaving an estimated 1.16 quarters of funding and no unused finance facilities. The company subsequently received $743,231 from its non-renounceable rights issue and is seeking to place a further $856,872 shortfall.

The planned capital program is therefore running on two tracks: drilling is accelerating, but the company still depends on additional equity to sustain its stated objectives. Terrain also proposes a 14-for-1 security consolidation, subject to shareholder approval at its 2026 annual meeting. The next hard evidence will come from RC assays, any tungsten-focused drilling, and whether the shortfall is placed before the cash runway becomes the dominant story around Smokebush.