- Up to $435,000 in government co-funding awarded as part of EIS scheme
- Funds to be used for upcoming diamond drilling and electromagnetic surveys
- Dante is surrounded by major critical minerals deposits in the West Musgrave region
Special Report: Terra Metals has been awarded up to $435,000 in government co-funding grants for diamond drilling and electromagnetic surveying of its highly prospective Dante copper-gold-nickel-PGE project in WA’s West Musgrave region.
The Musgrave block, a region covering 140,000km2 in central Australia, is at the junction of three major crustal elements: the WA, North Australian, and South Australian cratons.
Terra Metals (ASX:TM1), formerly GCX Metals, is in good company in West Musgrave – a burgeoning critical minerals district where BHP (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and a stack of juniors are unearthing significant nickel, copper and platinum group elements (PGE) deposits.
BHP is in the midst of constructing its $1.7bn, 390Mt Nebo-Babel nickel-copper-PGE project with associated infrastructure that de-risks projects such as TM1’s Dante in terms of logistics.
The discovery of the Nebo-Babel Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide deposit was considered to be the world’s largest Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide discovery since Voisey’s Bay, before the discovery of Chalice Mining’s (ASX:CHN) Julimar-Gonneville deposit in 2018.
In March TM1 commenced a maiden drill program at Dante, where it is testing four district-scale targets including the Cronus magmatic copper-gold sulphide target and the Crius, Hyperion, and Oceanus Cu-Au-PGE reefs.
Based on initial visual observations, the drill program has now been expanded to ~10,000m and initial assay results are expected in the coming weeks.
EIS grant to boost exploration efforts
The grants come under WA’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), a government initiative that aims to encourage exploration in the state and support the demand for critical minerals.
Two co-funding applications were applied for and granted to:
- Undertake diamond drilling at the Cronus prospect at Dante to test a large-scale magmatic copper-gold sulphide target; and
- Undertake a regional high-resolution airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey over Dante to identify bedrock conductors
The EIS allows TM1 to apply for a total refund of up to $220,000 from 50% of incurred diamond drilling costs and up to $215,000 from 50% of incurred direct AEM costs, subject to signing a funding agreement.
The explorer is currently finalising its plans for the proposed DD drilling program and AEM survey, which are both expected to commence in the second half of 2024.
Both programs need to be completed prior to 31 May 2025 to be eligible for the EIS funding.
TM1 CEO and MD Thomas Line says the company is delighted to receive not one, but two, EIS grants to explore the exciting Dante project.
“Our limited exploration to-date has already shown the significant potential for the Dante Project to host copper, gold, PGE and nickel mineralisation, with assays from our maiden drill program expected soon.
“We are grateful to the WA government for their support in providing this funding which will allow us to accelerate our future exploration plans at the Dante project.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Terra Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.