- Castillo Copper (CCZ) is looking to further develop its copper and cobalt projects in NSW and Queensland
- Since announcing an MRE for the BHA project’s East Zone, Castillo attracted the interest of potential offtake partners and is dispatching drill core samples to test their potential
- In addition to BHA, Castillo’s Cangai copper mine is listed on the NSW government’s critical minerals list and the company plans to see what level of government support it can secure
- Castillo Copper also has some drilling programs in the pipeline with two across the BHA project and at the Big One deposit within the NWQ project in QLD
- Company shares are up 2.86 per cent to trade at 1.8 cents at 12:32 pm AEST
Castillo Copper (CCZ) has delivered an update on its strategy to develop its core projects and create shareholder value.
The company recently announced a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the East Zone within the BHA project in New South Wales.
It stands at 64.4 million tonnes at 318 parts per million cobalt and 0.07 per cent copper for 21,556 tonnes of contained cobalt and 44,260 tonnes of contained copper.
Since the announcement, the company has been approached by parties who are interested in becoming potential offtake partners.
In support of these discussions, Castillo Copper has dispatched diamond drill core from The Sisters prospect for metallurgical analysis and the potential to create a cobalt concentrate suitable for downstream applications.
Further, as the BHA project is listed on the NSW government’s critical minerals list, the board intends to engage with key stakeholders to see what support can be secured to assist with developing the cobalt potential.
The CCZ geology team is also focused on defining an exploration target at BHA which will factor in more prospects and deeper depths.
As planned, the company is also preparing for two reverse circulation (RC) drilling programs across the BHA project with the first to focus on extending cobalt mineralisation within the East Zone.
The second RC program will test targets identified in the West Zone which sits near to Cobalt Blue’s (COB) Broken Hill project.
“With cobalt remaining over US$70,000 per tonne, the priority is to extend known mineralisation across the BHA project’s East and West zones via targeted drilling campaigns and formalising a clear path to market,” Managing Director Dr Dennis Jensen said.
Castillo is also applying a similar approach to its Cangai copper project in NSW and the NWQ copper project in Queensland’s Mt Isa region.
Like the BHA project, diamond drill core samples from the Big One deposit within the NWQ project have been sent for analysis and potential to produce a copper concentrate for downstream analysis.
Castillo plans to undertake another RC and diamond core drilling program for the Big One deposit which will focus on extending known mineralisation and updating the MRE.
“Similarly, with copper above US$9000 per tonne, the Board will apply the same formula for the Big One deposit within the NWQ copper project,” Mr Jensen said.
In terms of the Cangai mine, which is featured on the state government’s critical minerals list, the company will see what level of government support it can secure to further advance the copper mine which is one of Australia’s highest grading historical copper mines.
Company shares were up 2.86 per cent to trade at 1.8 cents at 12:32 pm AEST.