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Pre-site visit to Mt Oxide project confirms visible outcropping

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Global Mining Review,


Castillo Copper Ltd, a base metal explorer primarily focused on copper across Australia and Zambia, is pleased to announce that on a pre-site visit to the Mt Oxide Project, it has identified a prominent shear zone, surface outcrop and visible copper mineralisation. Furthermore, the company announces plans for its inaugural drilling campaign at Mt Oxide Project, which is scheduled to commence soon.

Following the fundraising and listing in London, Castillo has sufficient funds to rapidly expand exploration activities across tier one assets. The priorities are the Big One Deposit and Arya Prospect in the Mt Oxide Project within the Mt Isa copper-belt in Queensland, Australia.

Highlights

As part of pre-drilling formalities, the company’s geology team visited the high-grade Big One Deposit and noted:

  • A prominent shear zone and surface outcrop with visible copper mineralisation.
  • Confirmed the location of three pits with visible copper mineralisation.

The objective of drilling at the Big One Deposit is to extend known mineralisation where an earlier Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling campaign hit excellent economic intercepts up to 28.4% copper (Cu) along 600 m strike of surface mineralised porphyry dike, including:

  • B07: 3 m at 12.25% Cu from 42 m including 2 m at 17.87% Cu from 43 m and 1 m at 28.4% Cu from 44 m.
  • B05: 8 m at 2.33% Cu from 44 m including 6 m at 3.00% Cu from 45 m and 5 m at 3.28% Cu from 45 m.
  • B06: 4 m at 2.20% Cu from 44 m including 2 m at 3.19% Cu from 46 m and 1 m at 3.63% Cu from 47 m.
  • B25: 6 m at 1.55% Cu from 66 m including 5 m at 1.79% Cu from 66 m and 2 m at 2.08% Cu from 66 m.

For the Arya Prospect, the primary drill target (EG01) is an interpreted potential massive sulphide from a geophysical conductor ~130 m thick, with dimensions ~1500 m x 450 m and ~426 m below surface:

  • Complementing this are two secondary targets (EG02 and EG10) that are interpreted supergene copper mineralisation – both ~25 m below surface and ~25 m thick, with dimensions at ~160 m x 50 m and ~270 m by 280 m respectively.
  • Objective of the drilling campaign is to test for potential shallow supergene copper mineralisation and potential massive sulphides at depth.

Next steps

Further clarity on the timeline will be forthcoming once the drilling contractor is appointed – a decision is expected shortly as the tender evaluation process is nearing completion.

Simon Paull, Managing Director of Castillo Copper, commented: “We soon intend to commence drilling tier one copper targets at the Mt Oxide Project which is a pivotal moment in CCZ’s evolution. Our objective is to extend known high-grade copper mineralisation at the Big One Deposit and test drill the enormous 130 m thick interpreted potential massive sulphide target at the Arya Prospect. Thereafter, the focus shifts to eight additional prospects within the Mt Oxide project, which reflects the substantial exploration upside this asset delivers.”

Ged Hall, UK Director of Castillo Copper, added: “As preparations for the drilling campaign ramp up, our geology team has been delighted with the amount of outcropping and visible mineralisation at surface around the Big One Deposit. In short, the prominent shear zone, coupled with surface outcrops deliver clear demonstrable targets, which is excellent news during our maiden week trading on the LSE.”

Overview of Mt Oxide Project

Castillo is targeting the development of a viable copper mining operation at the Mt Oxide Project, which is located approximately 150 km north of Mt Isa in northwest Queensland. The project is within the proximity of several historic and currently operating copper mines including Lady Annie and Capricorn Copper.

Currently, the main highlight within the Mt Oxide Project is the exploration targets known as Big One Deposit and the Ayra Prospect, which was identified through an airborne electromagnetic survey conducted by Geoscience Australia in March 2019. On 12 December 2019, Castillo applied for an additional tenure contiguous and to the north of the Mt Oxide Project, once granted this will add an additional ~215 km2 to the ~737 km2 of granted tenure. The company’s main objective is to progress with several site visits to conduct geochemical sampling and geophysical surveys on known exploration targets to facilitate an inaugural test drilling campaign for developing a clear exploration strategy.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/10082020/pre-site-visit-to-mt-oxide-project-confirms-visible-outcropping/

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This article has been tagged under the following:

Australian mining news Copper mining news