Terrain Minerals Limited (ASX: TMX) has released its first Mineral Resource Estimate for the Lightning Gold Project, part of the company’s 100 per cent owned Smokebush Gold and Silver Project located 350km north of Perth, Western Australia.
The independent inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) outlines 677,000 tonnes at 2.5 grams per tonne gold for 54,000 ounces.
The estimate is constrained within an optimised pit shell, with additional economic assumptions applied to account for underground mining potential.
Terrain described the result as a “Starter” MRE, characterising it as an initial foundation rather than a complete picture of the project’s mineral endowment.
Mineralisation at Lightning begins at surface and remains open along strike and at depth, with the resource currently under-drilled to the north of the main orebody.
The company said the deposit shows both open pit and underground potential, and it intends to accelerate exploration activity aimed at upgrading the current inferred classification to the indicated mineral resource category.
Terrain also plans to expand the overall resource inventory through further drilling, including infill and extensional programs designed to capture mineralisation that currently sits outside the boundaries of the MRE.
Beyond Lightning itself, Terrain pointed to numerous look-alike gold targets identified across the broader Smokebush Project area, which the company said will continue to be advanced as part of a longer-term strategy to define a substantial gold resource inventory.
Terrain Executive Director Justin Virgin said the milestone marked an important step for the company.
“The Maiden ‘Starter’ mineral resource estimate at Lightning represents another major milestone for Terrain and provides an exciting foundation for the company’s future growth.
“Importantly, a significant amount of known mineralisation remains outside the current MRE, highlighting the strong potential to expand the resource through further drilling.”
Virgin said the company’s technical team has already identified a pipeline of follow-up targets to pursue alongside resource conversion work.
“Our next drilling campaign will focus on both infill and extensional drilling to convert and grow the existing resource, while also testing several new priority targets that our technical team has developed across the project.
“With mineralisation remaining open along strike and at depth, we believe Lightning has considerable upside and is well positioned to deliver further resource growth.”
Terrain also flagged silver as an area of interest at the project’s Monza structure. Historical drilling at Monza was not consistently assayed for multi-element results, meaning a portion of existing holes have not been tested for silver alongside gold.
“Terrain will also focus on evaluating the silver potential of the Monza structure, as only 28 per cent of historical drill holes were not tested for multi-element results, which also tests for silver.”
The company said this gap presents an opportunity to assess additional silver mineralisation potential within the existing drilled footprint, without the need for new drilling to test the concept.
Looking ahead, Terrain confirmed that stage one metallurgical test work results are expected in the third quarter of 2026, with further metallurgical studies scheduled to follow as the project progresses.
With the Starter MRE now in hand, Terrain said its focus will shift to a combined program of infill drilling, resource extension and new target testing, positioning Lightning as a key growth driver within the wider Smokebush Gold and Silver Project.