Consultant appointed, work imminent at NWQ project

12 August 2024

CASTILLO COPPER LIMITED
("Castillo", "CCZ" or the "Company")

Consultant appointed, works imminent at the NWQ Copper Project

Castillo Copper Limited (LSE and ASX: CCZ), a base metal explorer primarily focused on copper across Australia and Zambia, is pleased to announce that geological consultant, Global Ore Discovery, has been appointed to carry out imminent development activities at the Big One Deposit, situated within the Company's NWQ Copper Project in Mt Isa's copper belt. The premise of scheduled works is in alignment with Castillo Copper's previously announced surface sampling campaign strategy¹.

HIGHLIGHTS:

·    Last Quarter, Castillo Copper formulated a comprehensive surface sampling campaign concentrated on areas with historical anomalous surface copper and/or high conductivity zones at the Big One Deposit.

·    To carry out these works, the Company has appointed geological consultant Global Ore Discovery, a leading minerals and energy exploration consultancy².

·    The exploration campaign will commence with a comprehensive surface sampling program which, when reconciled with known geophysical anomalies, should identify fresh targets to test-drill that could extend known mineralisation.

o  Subject to securing approvals and access, the Board expects work to commence this week.

o  The Big One Deposit has a JORC 2012 compliant inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 2.1Mt @ 1.1% Cu for 21,886t contained copper metal, making it a key area of focus within the project³.

·    Progressing development work at the Big One Deposit is timely, as the Queensland government has committed to injecting funds into the region stemming from the new $30m Mount Isa Mining Acceleration Program⁴.

·   The Board's strategy to wait for the right partner to unlock value from selling non-core assets is starting to bear fruit:

o  The 13.4m shares in Rimfire Pacific Mining (ASX: RIM) that Castillo received in return for selling the BHA West Project4 (two tenements) in Broken Hill is now valued at more than $700k⁵.

·    The Board is optimistic this performance can be replicated with the remaining non-core assets - including the Cangai Copper Mine and BHA East Project in NSW plus the Mkushi Copper Project in Zambia - once the right partners are secured. 

Ged Hall, Chairman, commented: "The Board is delighted to appoint Global Ore Discovery as the lead geological consultant to spearhead our exploration efforts at the Big One Deposit.

"The first priority is to complete a surface sampling campaign that should, once analysed and reconciled with known geophysical anomalies, identify targets for test drilling that can potentially extend known mineralisation.

"Having successfully unlocked value from selling the BHA West Project to RIM, the Board is optimistic that once the right partners are secured, this can be repeated with the remaining three non-core assets in NSW & Zambia."

Campaign Objectives

Having previously delivered a JORC 2012 compliant inferred MRE at the Big One Deposit (2.1Mt @ 1.1% Cu for 21,886t contained copper metal) - leveraging results from prior drilling campaigns in 2020-21 - a key objective will be to reconcile geochemical and geophysical data to identify targets to drill-test.

Subsequent drill-test works would bear potential for the Company to identify extended mineralisation beyond the identified orebody, effectively paving the way to grow the known resource.

To recap, the 2020 IP survey comprised six lines, ranging from 500-700m long, and spaced 200m apart over the 1,200m line of lode (Figure 1).

FIGURE 1: LINE LOCATIONS TRANSVERSING BIG ONE DEPOSIT

Source: CCZ geology team

Interpretations on the IP survey from Castillo's then geophysicist suggested there is a significant untested bedrock conductor north of the line of lode that is materially larger than the high-grade anomaly drilled in 2020⁶ (Figure 2). 

FIGURE 2: LINE 3 - NEWLY IDENTIFIED BEDROCK CONDUCTORS

Source: CCZ geology team

Further, the geophysicist implied there is incremental copper mineralisation along the north-trending fault structures rather than constrained within the trachyte dyke.

In addition, based on historical surface observations, circa 200m north of the line of lode is a sizeable, potentially mineralised gossan that needs to be thoroughly assessed for its copper potential.

All samples from the current surface sampling campaign will be sent to the laboratory for assaying. Once the full suite of geochemical results are returned and reconciled with historical surface observations / IP survey, then high conviction test-drill targets can finalised to potentially extend known mineralisation.

Schedule of Works (12 - 16 August 2024)

Subject to approvals and access being granted, at a high level, the schedule of works to be completed by Global Ore Discovery include:

·    Arrival at Mt Isa on Monday 12th August 2024

·    1x Senior Geoscience Consultant and 1x Field Technician to drive to site following biosecurity clearance

·    pXRF rock chip sample readings to be undertaken concurrently with the mapping of 8 x target areas

·    Priority will be given to checking drill sites (pegging and photographing pre-disturbance records)

·    Time permitting, the consultants will also seek to conduct a limited soil sampling orientation survey over a number of the key areas

About Global Ore Discovery

Global Ore Discovery is a leading minerals and energy exploration consultancy with a team of multi-disciplinary geoscience and spatial information professionals. The Company maintains a successful, international exploration and resource discovery track record.

Unlocking Value from Non-Core Assets

The Board's strategy to strategically partner with Companies and unlock value through Joint Ventures (JV) or the sale of non-core assets is starting to pay-off. Notably, the 13.4m ASX: RIM shares CCZ received in return for selling the BHA West Project (two tenements) in Broken Hill has more than doubled and is now valued at more than $700k⁷. 

Increasingly, with a level of consolidation now apparent across the copper sector, the Board is optimistic this performance can be replicated with the remaining non-core assets once the right partners are secured.

To summarise, the key selling points for the non-core assets are below:

·    Cangai Copper Mine (NSW): based on previous historical data and several drilling campaigns undertaken by Castillo, a JORC compliant inferred MRE was calculated at 4.6Mt @ 2.45% Cu for 114kt contained copper metal⁸. In addition, there are several untested bedrock conductors open at depth which are yet to be drill-tested.

·    BHA East Project (NSW): leveraging historical data and data gathered from the most recent drilling campaign, a JORC compliant inferred MRE was calculated at 64Mt @ 318 ppm Co for 21,556t contained cobalt metal and 44,260t of contained copper metal (63Mt @ 0.07% Cu)⁹ at relatively shallow depths.

·    Mkushi Project (Zambia): a 2022 IP survey highlighted multiple zones of high chargeability coincident with known copper soil anomalies which are potential bodies of disseminated copper sulphide mineralisation and are prime targets to test drill¹⁰.

For further information, please contact:  

References

1)                  See ASX Announcement 27 May 2024

2)                  Global Ore Discovery. Available at: https://www.globalorediscovery.com/

3)                  See ASX Announcement 28 February 2024

4)                  Tibben, K., "Thousands of mining jobs headed for Queensland," 7 August 2024. Available at: https://safetowork.com.au/thousands-of-mining-jobs-headed-for-queensland/

5)                  See ASX: RIM Announcement 21 March 2024

6)                  See ASX Announcement 20 May 2020

7)                  ASX: RIM market price on 9 August 2024 $0.053 x 13,440,861 = $712,365

8)                  See ASX Announcement 25 July 2023

9)                  See ASX Announcement 1 June 2022

10)               See ASX Announcement 5 April 2022

About Castillo Copper

Castillo Copper Limited is an Australian-based, Australian-focussed copper exploration Company with a strategy to develop multi-commodity assets that demonstrate future potential as an economic mining operation.

Through the application of disciplined and structured exploration and analysis, Castillo Copper has identified assets deemed core to the Company's sustained growth and is actively progressing these interests up the value curve.

Current focus will be on advancing exploration activity at the Company's wholly owned NWQ Project, situated in the copper-belt district approximately 150km north of Mt Isa in north-west Queensland.

Other interests include the Broken Hill Project in western New South Wales and the Cangai Copper Mine in north-east New South Wales, as well as exploration targets in Zambia.

Castillo Copper is listed on the LSE and ASX under the ticker "CCZ".