Lightning strikes twice as Terrain Minerals adds silver to gold bounty
Terrain Minerals’ multi-element assaying has highlighted a correlation between gold and silver mineralisation at the Lightning prospect.
Terrain Minerals strikes silver at Lightning prospect with grades up to 70.59g/t in WA drilling program
Gold-silver correlation could boost project economics as silver nears US$50/oz
Company planning maiden resource estimate for 2026 following dual-commodity results
Special Report: Proving that Lightning does indeed strike twice, Terrain Minerals’ multi-element assaying of holes drilled at the prospect within its Smokebush project in WA’s Murchison region highlight the potential for significant silver credits.
Silver intersections were returned from the first seven of 22 holes in the recently completed drill program with highlights such as:
- 21m grading 15.79g/t Ag from a down-hole depth of 105m including 1m at 70.59g/t from 108m and 1m at 60g/t from 124m; and
- 17m at 17.88g/t Ag from 147m including 4m at 48.8g/t from 151m.
Earlier assaying of the same holes had already proven a breakthrough with the return of high-grade mineralisation such as 22m at 2.87g/t Gold from 105m plus; 17m at 8.13g/t Gold from 147m and 11m at 6.03g/t Gold with 43.5g/t Silver from 75m.
And importantly for Terrain Minerals (ASX:TMX), the results reinforce a possible relationship between gold and silver mineralisation.
This could enhance future project economics given that silver prices have risen more than twice as quickly as gold in the last six months to within a hair’s breadth of US$50/oz – an achievement that likely received a boost from the precious and industrial metal’s inclusion in a draft list of US critical minerals.
“These results continue to demonstrate the strong correlation between gold and silver at the Lightning prospect and across the broader Smokebush project,” executive director Justin Virgin said.
“With silver assays now supporting the gold results, Terrain has identified a valuable co-product opportunity that could enhance project economics.
“As gold and silver prices remain robust, the dual-commodity potential at Lightning is particularly exciting. The next drilling campaign will focus on expanding these zones as we advance towards defining a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate in 2026.”
Smokebush project
Smokebush sits within the 190km Yalgoo-Singleton Greenstone Belt, which hosts several well-known operations such as Capricorn Metals’ Mt Gibson gold project, 29Metals’ Golden Grove base metals project and Vault Minerals’ Rothsay gold mine.
The Lightning prospect was first flagged in May 2023 through induced polarisation geophysics that revealed a chargeability anomaly west of Monza trend before drilling later that year returned a 2m intersection grading 6.22g/t Au.
Follow-up drilling in early 2025 built on that success, delivering broader zones with strong gold and silver grades that significantly lifted confidence in the prospect.
The most recent drilling delivered high-grade gold hits in 17 of the 22 holes, highlighting the likelihood that Lightning is a meaningful deposit.
Notably, the results prove that IP surveying can vector the company towards mineralisation, which significantly reduces risk.
Next steps
TMX is progressing multiple workstreams to continue progressing Smokebush towards development.
For starters, the company expects to receive the remaining silver assays from the remaining 15 holes in December.
It has also completed the acquisition of IP surveying at the Wildflower gold prospect that sits southwest of Lightning.
Modelling of the resulting data is underway with results expected within four weeks.
Additionally, planning is underway for a follow-up RC drill program to test depth extensions below the high-grade intersections at Lightning along with step-outs along strike.
Drilling will underpin a maiden resource estimate scheduled for release during 2026.
TMX has lodged the mining lease application over the Lightning area with the WA government and is progressing a comprehensive technical review across adjacent target areas within the greater Smokebush project area where previous drilling returned encouraging gold grades.
The company is also planning preliminary metallurgical testwork in 2026 to assess recoverability and inform potential development scenarios.
This article was developed in collaboration with Terrain Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Originally published as Lightning strikes twice as Terrain Minerals adds silver to gold bounty
