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Castillo Copper expedites cobalt exploration at Broken Hill project

Published: 19:36 26 Jun 2018 EDT

Outcrop at the Broken Hill project
Outcropping at Area 1 shows evidence of cobalt-bearing material

Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ) is targeting its Broken Hill tenure to be a substantial cobalt project and is expediting exploration.

Mapping of Area 1 has confirmed the presence of the same cobalt-bearing Himalaya Formation material as at Cobalt Blue Holding’s (ASX:COB) nearby Thackaringa project.

Thackaringa hosts a 72 million tonne resource at 852 ppm cobalt.

READ: Castillo Copper’s cobalt shares same geology as Cobalt Blue’s Thackaringa deposit

Castillo Copper will carry out soil sampling over the remaining prospective areas, especially as most of the Himalaya Formation within the tenure is not exposed at surface.

Chairman Peter Meagher said: “The receipt of positive geological and laboratory reports, along with a successful site visit, indicate we can target developing a substantial cobalt project at our Broken Hill tenure.

"It is important to reiterate some of our key comparative advantages: we own one of the largest mineralised footprints in the Broken Hill region and 100% of all mineral rights, while our ground is prospective for cobalt and other base metals.

"These are key strengths moving forward, as the Board has now decided to expedite the exploration program for our Broken Hill project.”

 

 

Sampling objectives

Core objectives of the sampling are to confirm and constrain mineralised zones by detecting trace cobalt values in overlying soils.

A recent site visit has supported Broken Hill’s potential to be a substantial cobalt project.

This visit focused on Himalaya Formation outcropping in key target areas, supported by geological and laboratory reports.

Within these outcrops, the geology team identified quartz-albite-biotite gneiss, known to host cobalt mineralisation, which is prevalent at Thackaringa.

Pyritic albite gneiss mapped

At Area 1 the company has mapped pyritic albite gneiss, which is the definitive mineralised horizon within the Himalaya Formation that hosts Cobalt Blue’s Big Hill deposit.

Cobalt surface readings at the Broken Hill project.

Rock chip sampling from key target areas is positive for cobalt mineralisation and several samples contained greater than 50 ppm cobalt, which is significant given the weathered nature of the rock units.

Historical assays reviewed

A review of historical geochemical assay results has also proven elevated cobalt within the Himalaya Formation across the tenure.

A follow-up field trip is planned to complete geological mapping.

The geology team expects to uncover further cobalt-pyrite mineralisation within highly folded Himalaya Formation units.

Neighbour Australian Mines (ASX:AUZ) undertook a successful surface geochemistry program targeting weathered in-situ bedrock, with anomalous values in excess of 15 ppm deemed significant.

Castillo’s geology team confirmed a high degree of similarity between samples taken from its ground and AUZ’s tenure, which also highlights the upside potential for hosting cobalt.

Area remains under-explored

Over the years, the Broken Hill project has been explored primarily for the traditional regional minerals of zinc, lead, silver and copper, with most cobalt surface readings secondary.

On a cumulative basis, cobalt readings have been recorded across the tenure, which includes recent rock chip samples taken by Castillo’s geology team.

However, the majority of the tenure remains under-explored, which delivers upside potential.

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