Terrain Minerals (ASX: TMX) has kicked-off a follow-up air-core drilling campaign at the Lort River rare earth element (REE) project near the town of Esperance in Western Australia’s south.
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The 1,500m step-out air core drilling campaign is testing an area where a previous intersection returned 8.0m at 4,037 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) in March 2025.
The target is located within a shallow regolith clay basin identified from Terrain’s existing airborne electromagnetic (AEM or VTEM) survey data, which is considered highly prospective for REE mineralisation.
The scale of the interpreted basin exceeds 12 km in length and 5.5 km in width and correlates with known REE-bearing regolith horizons previously identified in drilling.
Executive director, Justin Virgin, said the step out program is designed to test priority zones near the high-grade intersection, which sits within the 66 sq. km 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-metre composite samples and submitted for testing,” he said.
“March is the last month in 2026 that the broad acre paddocks can be accessed prior to cropping. With Terrain’s Smokebush gold–silver project remaining the company’s focus, the board decided to take advantage of this window following the completion of the gold/silver RC and diamond drilling campaigns at Lightning and Wildflower targets.
“Early data interpretation has confirmed a broad conductive regolith clay basin at our Lort River Project that correlates with potential REE enrichment. These results, combined with our previous geochemical work, reinforce the potential for the Lort River Project to represent a unique emerging critical minerals discovery opportunity within the Esperance region.
“The apparent spatial correlation between AEM conductivity zones and prior assay data gives us confidence in targeting these drill holes more effectively.”
Impressive magnet rare earth element (MREE) content has been intersected within a basin that has a growing reputation for containing significant REE upside.
In what has been an active period for Terrain, the company recently reported the completion of RC and diamond drilling campaigns at the Smokebush gold and silver project, located 350km north of Perth,
TMX is steady at 0.5¢. Mkt cap $15.01M.
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