Terrain targets high-grade rare earths in vast WA clay basin

Terrain Minerals is back on the drill pads at its fully owned Lort River rare earths project in the Albany Fraser belt, 50 kilometres northwest of Esperance in WA.

The company has launched a critical follow-up aircore program designed to determine whether a standout, year-old rare-earth drill hit could herald a much bigger story.

The drilling blitz will cover 1500 metres of step-out drilling across a shallow clay basin first flagged in an airborne electromagnetic geophysical survey.

The hunt will specifically target ground around a previous scout hole that reported 8m at 4037 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 23m downhole, on the flank of a mafic intrusive body.

That 8m run also included an impressive 1-metre spike grading 9842ppm TREO from 25m and another 1-metre section assaying 9022ppm TREO from 27m depth.

Most notably for the permanent magnet brigade, the two high-grade TREO hits also delivered encouraging magnet rare earths responses.

The first of those 1-metre TREO slices reported significant magnet rare earths, including 2362ppm neodymium, 647ppm praseodymium and 291ppm dysprosium from 25m. 

The second 1-m TREO hit came in with 1645ppm neodymium, 437ppm praseodymium and 215ppm dysprosium from 27m.

Magnet rare earths are particularly valued because of their use in the manufacture of high-performance permanent magnets necessary for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other modern electronic devices. 

Those early scout drilling numbers represent good solid sniffs of a potential rare earths target that warrants further investigation. 

Terrain Minerals executive director Justin Virgin said: “This step-out program is designed to test priority zones near the high-grade intersection, which sits within the 66 km² regolith zone identified via airborne electromagnetics. Multiple areas will be tested as we assess the broader zone for scale and consistency of grade. Initially, samples will be taken in three-meter composite samples and submitted for testing.”

Terrain believes the conductive clay basin could have serious rare earths grade and volume potential, with the interpreted system stretching more than 12 kilometres long and 5.5 kilometres wide.

With cropping season looming, management says March is the last practical window to access the broadacre paddocks before the land is tied up for the period.

Terrain has pounced on the opportunity to slot in the rare earths reconnaissance drilling after completing campaigns at its Smokebush gold–silver projects near Yalgoo in WA’s Mid West region, where it is also awaiting assay results. 

If the latest drilling can demonstrate good grade repeatability and continuity across the basin, Terrain says Lort River could quickly shape up as an intriguing clay-hosted critical minerals play in a region that has only been lightly explored for this style of mineralisation. 

And with a relatively low-cost aircore drill rig already probing the shallow ground, Terrain can’t be too far away from seeing if a bigger rare earths target exists underfoot, which has the scale to match the early excitement.

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