Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ, LSE:CCZ) has appointed Global Ore Discovery as a geological consultant for its NWQ Copper Project within the Mt Isa copper belt.
Global will lead development activities at the Big One Deposit and its work will 'align' with Castillo's surface sampling strategy, investors were told in an update.
Last quarter, geologists developed a surface sampling campaign targeting areas with historical copper anomalies and high conductivity zones at the Big One.
Global will carry out this exploration. The campaign includes a surface sampling program designed to identify new drilling targets that could extend known mineralization. Work is expected to begin this week, pending necessary approvals.
"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," said Castillo chairman Ged Hall.
The Big One has an 'inferred' mineral resource estimate of 2.1 million tonnes at 1.1% copper or 21,886 tonnes of 'contained' copper metal.
This deposit is a key focus within the NWQ area. The timing of this work coincides with the Queensland government’s $30 million Mount Isa Mining Acceleration Programme, which aims to boost regional mining activities.
Castillo's strategy of waiting for the right partners to unlock value from non-core assets is showing results. The 13.4 million shares in Rimfire Pacific Mining, received from selling the BHA West Project, are now valued at over $700,000.
The company hopes to replicate this success with other holdings, including the Cangai Copper Mine, BHA East Project in New South Wales, and the Mkushi Copper Project in Zambia.