Castillo Copper Ltd has announced that drilling is now under way at the Arya Copper Prospect, which is located in the Mt Isa copper-belt.
Highlights
- The inaugural drilling campaign at the Arya Copper Prospect is now underway, after a massive logistical effort to prepare the drill-pads and heli-lift the rig and all supporting equipment to site.
- After reconciling the geochemical and geophysics data, the Board decided to orchestrate a strategic ‘proof of concept’ campaign, comprising five initial RC drill-holes.
- The key focus remains, being to drill-test the three targets identified by BHP in the mid-1990s including EG01, EG02 and EG10:
- Of these, EG01 has been interpreted as a potential massive sulfide bedrock conductor 130 m thick, 1500 m long and 450 m wide at a revised 100 – 200 m depth.
- If initial observations and findings from the drilling are encouraging, the campaign will be expanded to fully-test the extent of any underlying system.
- Concurrently, the geology team will undertake a 200 x 200 m mapping/rock chip sampling campaign which is designed to extend the known surface anomaly to the south.
Castillo Copper’s Managing Director, Simon Paull, commented: “Of the 22 targets that we have across the tenure in the Mt Isa region, the Arya Copper Prospect has generated the most intrigue and interest among stakeholders. The geochemistry and geophysical evidence have all provided compelling evidence the three targets are potentially among the best within our tenure. As such, the Board optimistically looks forward to the initial observations as the campaign
Next steps
In Queensland, the following is set to take place over the coming weeks:
- Progress reports on drilling at the Arya Copper Prospect.
For the lithium projects:
- Ongoing due diligence for the Picasso and Litchfield Lithium Projects, including return of assay results for surface sampling campaigns.
There are several ongoing steps for the Zambia operations, including:
- Complete the IP survey at the Luanshya & Mkushi Projects then analyse the results for incremental targets for test-drilling.
- Commence work on the inaugural drilling campaign for the Luanshya Project.