Terrain steps up WA gold hunt

Terrain Minerals has stepped up its hunt for gold in Western Australia with exploration at its Smokebush and Wild-Viper projects identifying new targets for drill testing including recognised gold-bearing structures and extensive old mine workings. Drilling is scheduled to kick off in the third quarter of 2020; to be funded in part by the recent $3m sale of the company’s Great Western tenure.

Terrain’s two projects are hosted within the renown Goldfields region of WA.

Wild-Viper is in the Eastern Goldfields, around 70 km north of Leonora and the recently acquired Smokebush project is in the Murchison district, approximately 65 km west of Paynes Find. Terrain’s exploration program continues to identify a wealth of potential targets within both project areas.

The company’s Smokebush project surrounds the developing Mt Mulgine Tungsten-Gold operation in the South Murchison, with Terrain’s tenure hosting four primary targets areas including the Wildflower, Monza, Target 13 & T16 prospects.

The Monza prospect is shaping up as something of a ‘wildcard’ with field work and mapping showing the historical underground mine workings at the site to be far more extensive than first thought.

Interestingly, there is little or no surface expression of the underlying gold mineralisation –possibly the ideal target for a significant untapped discovery.

The company has recently received approvals for drilling at both Wildflower and T16 whilst a recently submitted regional conservation management plan and biological survey should allow the drilling approvals for both Monza and T13 to proceed rapidly. Drill testing at Smokebush is scheduled to commence in the third quarter of this year.

Exploration at the highly prospective Wild-Viper project also continues to come up trumps in the wake of the company’s recent sale of its ‘Great Western’ tenement to expansionist gold miner, Red 5. The Great Western tenement lies within the Wild-Viper project area and was recently offloaded by Terrain to Red 5 for more than $3 million in cash and shares.

Terrain is putting its revitalised funding to good use with a recent program of mapping and sampling identifying new targets within the project area. Terrain has identified a repetition of the gold-bearing Black Cat structure in the northern tenement area.

Whilst the old Black Cat gold mine is located just north of the tenement boundary, sampling shows a coherent anomaly within the Wild-Viper tenure, parallel to the mine structure. The new anomaly is over 600 metres long and has returned rock chips of 0.58 g/t gold – this target remains untested by drilling.

With Terrain brandishing a pocket full of cash and a bag full of targets, the company looks ready now to step up its gold hunt.

Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting ? Contact : matt.birney@businessnews.com.au