Terra Metals Limited (ASX: TM1) has announced significant drill results from the Southwest Discovery at its Dante project in Western Australia, confirming an extensive zone of platinum-group-metal, nickel, and copper mineralisation. The latest diamond tail assays demonstrate a continuous mineralised package reaching 448 metres in thickness, reinforcing the company's interpretation of a large-scale, polymetallic magmatic sulfide system. These findings originate from a newly identified ultramafic package that remains open along strike and at depth, suggesting the potential for further growth as exploration continues across the site.

The company is currently operating five drill rigs across the project, reflecting an aggressive approach to defining the geometry and continuity of the system. According to the company, these drill results indicate the possibility of a shallow starter pit that could transition into a substantial mineralised system at depth.

"Southwest is emerging as a significant PGM-Cu-Ni-Co mineralised system, with drilling continuing to define a large and coherent footprint extending approximately 950 metres by 700 metres and at least 750 metres down-dip. The scale, continuity and thickness of the mineralised package, which is locally developed up to approximately 400 metres, highlight the potential significance of this discovery."

— Barry Jones, General Manager - Operations and Exploration

The Southwest Discovery is situated entirely outside the existing 148Mt Dante Mineral Resource, identifying it as a major standalone growth opportunity for the explorer. The company’s geological team has noted that the mineralisation is not confined to a single horizon but instead spans various mafic to ultramafic rock types within a layered sequence. This complexity is interpreted as a result of repeated magma recharge events, which have effectively concentrated metals throughout a broad sequence of rock, providing, in the company’s view, a more significant footprint than the previously defined mineralised reefs.

"These first diamond tail results have significantly strengthened our confidence in the scale and geological potential of the Southwest Discovery. Intersecting 448 metres of continuous mineralisation within a primitive troctolite-pyroxenite package demonstrates that the Southwest system is both laterally extensive and exceptionally thick."

— Thomas Line, CEO & Managing Director

The primary drill hole, SWRD051, returned 448 metres at 0.87g/t PGE3 and 0.15% nickel from 102 metres, including several higher-grade internal zones. Another hole, SWRD052, intersected 370 metres at 0.90g/t PGE3 and 0.17% nickel. To refine the structural understanding of these zones, the exploration team is employing ground and downhole electromagnetic surveys, alongside downhole televiewer data, to target potential areas of massive sulfide accumulation.

Looking ahead, the exploration strategy is firmly focused on advancing the project toward a maiden Mineral Resource estimate for the Southwest system, which the company currently targets for delivery by late 2026. Because the mineralised corridor remains open in multiple directions, the company expects to continue receiving assays from ongoing diamond tail drilling throughout the remainder of the calendar year. These upcoming results will be critical as the company works to delineate the grade distribution and the structural controls of the discovery, further assessing its potential to serve as a significant development asset within the Jameson Layered Intrusion.

Read the full announcement: OUTSTANDING DIAMOND RESULTS CONFIRM 448M THICK INTERVAL