Terra Metals Ltd (ASX:TM1, FRA:21V) has confirmed a major high-grade platinum group metals (PGM) sulphide discovery at the Southwest Prospect within its Dante Project in Western Australia, after second-pass assay results delivered exceptional grades from near surface.
The latest reverse circulation drilling at the SW5 target returned individual assays of up to 52.97 g/t PGE3 (the total of platinum, palladium and gold), with broad mineralised intervals starting just 48 metres below surface — a result the company says substantially upgrades the tenor of mineralisation previously reported at Southwest.
Plan view of Dante Project showing current MRE and the Southwest Prospect area.
Exceptional grades from near surface
The standout result came from drillhole SWT008, which intersected 35 metres at 2.90 g/t PGE3 from 48 metres, including 14 metres at 6.71 g/t PGE3 and a peak 1-metre interval grading 52.97 g/t PGE3.
Cross-section through the Southwest Prospect (SW5) of the Dante Project, showing recent RC drilling results from drillhole SWT008. Note: True width is not yet known, and dip is interpreted from limited data. Further drilling is required to confirm true widths and dip angle. Geometry shown is based on averaged structural measurements (α–β data) collected from oriented core in nearby holes SWDD002 SWDD008. The dip of the mineralised horizon cannot yet be confirmed from a single intersection, and dashed boundaries denote areas of geological uncertainty consistent with early-stage interpretation.
Importantly, the hole was terminated early at 102 metres — around 138 metres short of its planned depth — while still in mineralisation, suggesting further potential at depth.
Terra says PGM–copper–nickel sulphide mineralisation has now been defined across a large area at Southwest, spanning around 850 metres in strike, 450 metres in width and averaging about 50 metres in thickness, excluding visually identified sulphide zones. The system remains open in all directions and down-dip.
Plan view of the Southwest Prospect area, showing various target areas (SW1, SW2, SW3, SW4, SW5, SW6, SW7, SW8, SW9), over a mid-late time ground EM (historical) image.
Chief metallurgist Dr Evan Kirby said the grades intersected were without precedent in his experience.
“I’ve worked on major platinum deposits around the world and never seen a hard rock drill intersection with PGM grade anywhere close to this SWT008 intersection,” Kirby said. “In South Africa, the only comparable grades were found in the dunite pipes (Driehoek, Mooihoek and Onverwacht) that were mined in the mid-20th century.”
Evidence of a large, coherent mineral system
Managing director and CEO Thomas Line said the results point to a large and coherent mineral system rather than an isolated high-grade hit.
“When you intersect nearly 53 grams per tonne of PGMs from near surface, you don’t need to over-explain it — the rocks speak for themselves,” Line said.
“What excites me most is that this isn’t a one-off hit,” he added. “We are seeing high-grade PGM sulphides emerging across multiple targets, outside the current MRE, in a setting that in a geochemical sense strongly favours scale, as well as high grade.”
The SW5 discovery builds on earlier PGM–Cu–Ni sulphide intersections reported at the nearby SW6 target, supporting Terra’s interpretation that mineralisation across the Southwest corridor is linked to a shared feeder conduit or magma plumbing system feeding a broader layered mafic intrusion.
The geological setting — with high-grade PGM sulphides occurring within oxide-poor mafic units — is consistent with focused sulphide melt accumulation close to a conduit zone, rather than isolated or unrelated mineralised lenses.
Drilling at Southwest has now identified multiple stacked mineralised horizons, raising the possibility of vertically repeated PGM–Cu–Ni sulphide zones throughout the system.
Ongoing drilling strengthens scale potential
Further support for system-scale mineralisation came from drillhole SWT009, which intersected broad zones of PGM, nickel and copper anomalism extending mineralisation to the northwest. While grades were lower than those seen in SWT008, the result strengthens the case for a continuous, conduit-associated sulphide system rather than discrete mineralised pockets.
Terra noted that assays remain pending for multiple visually identified sulphide intervals from earlier drilling, providing a near-term pipeline of additional results.
Drill core from hole SWDD006 (226.55 – 226.85 m) showing net-textured to semi-massive magmatic sulfide mineralisation composed predominantly of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite
Development upside and next steps
From a development perspective, the company highlighted the shallow nature of mineralisation at Southwest as a potential advantage, with mineralised intervals starting close to surface and broad widths intersected — factors that could support an open-pit scenario, subject to further drilling and technical studies.
Southwest PGM intercepts, including the presently reported SWT008, overlaid on the newly collected high-resolution gravity geophysical image. Also shown are anomalous PGM auger geochemistry samples with grade labels in ppb PGM, and airborne EM anomalies (Stars), and all drill collars (white dots, many assays pending).
The Southwest discovery sits within the broader Dante Project in the West Musgrave region, which hosts the Jameson Layered Intrusion — part of the Giles Complex, a large mafic-ultramafic system often compared to South Africa’s Bushveld Complex.
Terra plans to follow up the latest results with further drilling aimed at better defining true widths, testing down-dip and along-strike continuity, and refining the geometry of the interpreted feeder conduit system. Selected high-grade samples will also be re-assayed for a full PGM suite, including rhodium, alongside detailed mineralogical and geochemical studies.
Line said the Southwest Prospect was rapidly emerging as a value driver within the Dante Project.
“Dante is proving to be one of the most compelling polymetallic systems in Australia in decades, and the Southwest Prospect is now clearly a key driver of that story.”
Location of the company’s Dante Project tenure, overlying the geology map of the West Musgrave Region.