Taruga set to unlock copper-gold targets in PNG

Taruga Minerals has engaged aeromagnetic data processing specialist Southern Geoscience Consultants (SGC) to unlock the geological understanding of its Kol Mountain porphyry copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea.

A refined litho-structural framework across the entire tenement, using the existing magnetic data, will guide future exploration activities and allow the ranking of high-potential targets.

To create the framework, SGC will reprocess, filter, interpret and image old magnetic survey data to identify structures and targets. Suitable structures and high-potential targets may then be modelled using the latest 3D inversion modelling software to create detailed 3D models of the subsurface to help constrain drilling depths and model geometries.

This tenement-wide litho-structural interpretation marks an important step toward unlocking the broader potential of the Kol Mountain project,

“By integrating all available datasets and applying modern geophysical interpretation, we are positioning the project for more precise and capital-efficient drill targeting.”

The Kol Mountain Copper–Gold Project, is a proven large-scale copper-gold opportunity on New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea. Historic drilling by major companies (BHP, Rio Tinto & Ok Tedi) has confirmed a whopping 1 km mineralised strike length at the extensive Esis Porphyry system, with multiple zones remaining open and additional high-impact targets identified across the project area.

About 15 km northeast of the Esis porphyry, the untested, 4.8km-long Bukuam target sits alongside the Kapea shear zone, where historical drilling delivered a significant 35m at 3.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including 5m running 13.1g/t gold.

Intriguingly, several models of mineralisation are evident at the Kol Mountain Copper–Gold Project, including high-grade epithermal quartz veins, skarn potential on the edge of altered granite intrusives, shear hosted gold mineralisation and porphyry style gold copper.

The copper-gold porphyry complex includes wide, near-surface supergene enriched zones of 222m at 0.38 per cent copper from just 3m and 184m at 0.3 per cent copper from 2m. Historic data also indicates the presence of low-level, wide, gold results, with trench highlights of up to 55m grading 8.3 g/t gold, including 5m running 13.1g/t gold.

Four holes ended in mineralisation too, hinting at strong depth potential, including a near surface supergene enriched ‘end of hole’ zone of 16m grading 0.57 per cent copper.

The Kol Mountain copper–gold project is surrounded by multiple world-class gold and polymetallic operations spread across the country. They include Barrick Gold’s Porgera gold mine in the PNG highlands, containing a 34-million-ounce gold operation, Newcrest’s Lihir gold mine, containing 87 million-ounces and most recently, Newmont -Harmony’s huge 28.2 million-ounce Wafi-Golpu mine. In short this is elephant country when it comes to mineral deposits.

During late 2025, Taruga announced another addition to its discovery pipeline with the identification of a previously undocumented gold and copper prospect within its Uaroo East Project in the Northern Gascoyne Province, Western Australia.

The company said it found no prior record of this mineralised prospect in historical WAMEX data, which it interpreted as evidence of limited historical exploration coverage across the broader tenement package and the Northern Gascoyne Province.

Initial rock chip sampling from an approximately 1 km-long outcropping quartz ridge returned a saddlebag of anomalous gold and copper results, including 0.5 g/t gold and 0.4 per cent copper, 0.5 g/t gold and 0.1per cent copper and 0.4 g/t gold and 0.4 per cent copper.

As Taruga moves to sharpen its exploration focus through advanced geophysical modelling, all eyes will be on how quickly these emerging drill targets translate into meaningful drill results – momentum that could place Taruga at the forefront of PNG’s next major elephant sized copper-gold discovery.

And with gold trading at all time highs and a wall of demand potentially about to eventuate from AI data centres that are currently on the drawing board, Taruga just might be in the right commodities at the right time.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au