Terra Metals of Australia Advances Exploration and Beneficiation Testing at 76,000-Meter Platinum-Copper-Nickel Project

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 29, Australian mining company Terra Metals confirmed in its third-quarter report that approximately 76,000 meters of diamond drilling and reverse circulation drilling have been completed cumulatively at the Southwest platinum group metals-copper-nickel deposit of the Dante project in Western Australia, and that flotation process testing has advanced from roughing to cleaning. The company has also commenced geotechnical and groundwater investigation drilling to collect baseline data for subsequent open-pit design and project development studies, and plans to complete the first mineral resource estimate for the deposit in the first quarter of 2027.

Beneficiation research is comparing two process options: a single bulk mixed sulfide concentrate versus separate copper and nickel concentrates. Mineralogical analysis found that platinum and palladium in the deposit occur mainly as relatively coarse-grained tellurides associated with copper-nickel sulfides. First metallurgical test results are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 to evaluate concentrate product options and subsequent beneficiation flowsheets.

Currently, the main sulfide mineralized corridor at Southwest extends approximately 1,350 meters along strike, about 700 meters across, and at least 750 meters down dip. Previous drilling returned a 200-meter mineralized interval grading 0.75 g/t combined platinum-palladium-gold from the surface-starting interval, and another hole returned a 194-meter interval grading 1.01 g/t combined from a depth of 15 meters.

As of the end of September, more than 40,000 drill samples were still awaiting analysis in laboratories, and Terra continued to deploy 4 drill rigs in October for resource definition and local extension drilling. Relevant Aboriginal cultural heritage survey permits have been obtained for the main investigation areas of the deposit, allowing resource definition drilling to cover the identified main mineralized trends. The company plans to complete a scoping study in mid-2027, followed by a pre-feasibility study.