Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ, LSE:CCZ) has launched an exploration program at the NWQ Copper Project in the Mt Isa copper belt of northwest Queensland, seeking new exploration targets for drill-testing to upgrade the project’s mineral resource estimate (MRE).
CCZ’s geology team will put boots to ground to investigate the Big One, Arya and Valparaisa prospects in the first half of this year, with a particular focus on the Big One Deposit.
Big One currently holds an inferred MRE of 2.1 million tonnes at 1.1% copper for 21,886 tonnes of copper metal.
The company’s geological consultant has set a total exploration target of 2-6 million tonnes at 0.6-1% copper for 12,000-60,000 tonnes of copper metal, based on a large conductor to the north and promising geophysical and geochemical data previously collected on the tenure.
Open to strategic partnership
“With the macro-outlook for copper remaining upbeat, the board has authorised the geology team to visit several prospects to identify new targets to test-drill,” Castillo Copper managing director Dr Dennis Jensen said.
“Key areas of focus include increasing the grade and confidence in the current MRE at Big One and the magnetic anomaly at the Arya Prospect.
“Given the large size of the NWQ Copper Project, the board remains open to aligning with a strategic partner to further advance development work.”
The NWQ Project retains plenty of exploration upside; the Valparaisa prospect hosts copper mineralisation over 6 kilometres of strike across two horizons, suggesting a structurally-controlled copper system that could potentially be drill-tested.
The other key opportunity is the Arya prospect, where a large magnetic anomaly has been identified south of a known graphite system, which has demonstrated potential to be a primary source of copper mineralisation.
Finally, assays for the last sets of drilling and auger programs – still pending – should offer insight into the potential scale of the rare earth element discovery at the company’s Broken Hill Alliance Project’s East Zone.