Terrain Minerals (ASX:TMX) is moving into a new phase at its 100%-owned Smokebush Gold & Silver Project in Western Australia.

Following the delivery of a maiden Mineral Resource at the Lightning prospect of 54,000 ounces of gold and approximately 156,500 ounces of silver, management is now focused on building scale, increasing confidence in the resource and progressing the project through the next stages of technical evaluation.

In the latest Barclay Pearce Capital Corporate Showcase, Terrain Minerals Executive Director Justin Virgin discusses the opportunity beyond the maiden resource, what management believes could drive further growth across Smokebush, and the longer-term ambition for the project.

Watch the Terrain Minerals Corporate Showcase

Transcript:

Q: For investors discovering Terrain Minerals for the first time, could you give us an overview of the company and ultimately what you’re trying to achieve at Smokebush?

Justin Virgin: Terrain Minerals is a typical ASX junior. We’ve been working at our Smokebush Project for six or seven years now.

I think we’ve got quite an exciting gold and silver project here — potentially a camp scenario where there are multiple deposits.

Now that we’ve started to unlock the geology and delivered a maiden MRE in July, I think it’s onwards and upwards from here.

Q: For investors who may not know the project, could you give us a little more information about where it is located?

Justin Virgin: The project is located within an established Western Australian gold region that hosts a number of significant gold deposits.

We’re surrounded by mining infrastructure and existing operations.

There are also milling options in the region that could potentially provide opportunities for toll treatment and earlier cash flow.

Importantly, we also have a granted Mining Lease, which is a major step forward for the project.

Q: You’ve taken Lightning from a discovery through to a maiden Mineral Resource. What gives you confidence that this can become even bigger?

Justin Virgin: It’s what we’re seeing in the geology.

We’ve drilled the area at varying spacings, and there is mineralisation sitting outside the current resource envelope.

The next drilling campaign is targeting infill drilling to bring more of what we already know is there into the model.

The mineralisation also continues at depth and occurs across multiple structures, so we see significant upside.

And Lightning is only one of a number of targets across the project. We have other targets that look similar to where Lightning itself was several years ago.

So we believe there is potential here for a broader camp of gold discoveries.

Q: As Terrain moves beyond pure exploration into resource growth, metallurgy and technical work, how do you prioritise where shareholder capital goes?

Justin Virgin: We’ve sent material back to the laboratory and are progressing metallurgical work, which is an important part of the process.

As we start looking at potential mining scenarios, we’re also speaking with potential partners and considering whether there may ultimately be opportunities around a smaller initial mining operation and toll treatment.

We have the Mining Lease granted, and we’re progressing environmental work and other requirements.

The next drilling campaign is targeting infill drilling to move the resource from Inferred toward Indicated.

Once you move through that process, you can progress into mining studies and the next stages of project assessment.

Q: Looking beyond the next drilling results, what are some of the key milestones investors should be watching?

Justin Virgin: I think the key milestone is that resource upgrade.

Mining studies would follow, alongside potentially finding a partner to assist with funding initial mining and looking at an offtake or processing arrangement with a mill.

There are different potential structures — whether that ultimately involves a mine-gate style arrangement or processing a larger parcel through one of the regional mills — but we need additional work and further numbers before we reach that stage.

Q: If Terrain successfully executes its strategy, what do you want the company to become over the next few years?

Justin Virgin: Our focus is Smokebush and becoming a gold and silver producer.

It would be great for it to become a standalone project. There is still a lot more drilling required to get there, but our end goal is to have a substantial operation.

We do have other projects at various stages, and we maintain a pipeline mentality.

The overwhelming majority of our focus is on Smokebush, while we continue to progress those other opportunities in the background and look for ways they may create value for shareholders over time.

Q: Finally, for investors who may not have heard of Terrain or invested in Terrain before — elevator pitch. Three things: why should they care about Terrain?

We’re currently around an $11 million market capitalisation with a 54,000-ounce Inferred resource.

In my opinion, the opportunity is attractive based on the resource we already have and the potential for it to grow with further drilling.

If you’re looking at a Western Australian gold story, we’re in an established mining jurisdiction with supporting infrastructure around us.

It’s an exciting story.

From discovery to a defined resource

The maiden resource at Lightning represents an important change in the Terrain story.

Rather than approaching Smokebush solely as an exploration project, Terrain now has a defined resource from which it can pursue both resource growth and increased geological confidence.

Virgin describes the current resource as part of a potentially broader gold and silver system, with the next drilling program targeting infill opportunities while the company continues to assess multiple mineralised structures and additional targets across the project.

Several of those targets, he says, resemble where Lightning itself sat earlier in its exploration history.

That distinction is central to the investment proposition.

The question is no longer simply whether Terrain can make a discovery at Smokebush, but whether the company can systematically build sufficient scale around Lightning and the broader project area.

More than the next drill result

While exploration remains central to Terrain’s strategy, the discussion also looks beyond individual drilling results.

Virgin identifies a potential progression from further drilling and resource upgrades into mining studies, strategic funding discussions and potential processing arrangements.

For investors, these milestones provide a framework through which to assess whether Smokebush is progressing from an exploration and resource-growth story toward a more defined development opportunity.

Terrain also holds a granted Mining Lease over Lightning, while the broader Smokebush setting provides access to an established Western Australian gold region and surrounding mining infrastructure.

What is Terrain ultimately trying to build?

One of the clearest points in the discussion comes when Virgin is asked what successful execution of Terrain’s strategy could ultimately look like.

His answer is straightforward: Smokebush is the company’s focus, and the longer-term ambition is to establish a substantial gold and silver operation.

He also acknowledges that further drilling and project work will be required before that ambition can be realised.

That longer-term framing is important.

Terrain’s proposition is therefore not simply tied to the next exploration result. Management is attempting to build on the Lightning resource, test the broader scale of the Smokebush system and progressively establish whether the project can support a credible development pathway.

Alongside Smokebush, Terrain also maintains exposure to gallium, rare earth elements, copper and lithium, providing additional portfolio optionality while the company’s primary attention remains on its gold and silver opportunity.

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For investors looking to follow Terrain Minerals more closely, the Terrain Minerals Chairman’s List provides access to company updates, investor communications and opportunities to stay closer to the company as the Smokebush story develops.