Castillo Copper Ltd (LSE:CCZ, ASX:CCZ)’s has prioritised the modelling of a JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate (MRE) for cobalt across the BHA Project’s East Zone, following a strategic review of the asset near Broken Hill in the far west of New South Wales.
As a result, the previously announced intention to spin out and list the BHA Group on the ASX has been deferred.
This will enable the board to focus on expediting the development of the East Zone.
Identifying the cobalt potential within the East Zone is timely, with the battery metal upcycle ongoing and the New South Wales Government listing the BHA Project on its critical minerals list.
Substantial potential data pool
Castillo Copper CEO Dr Dennis Jensen: “After a strategic review, the board has prioritised modelling up a global JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate for cobalt across the BHA Project’s East Zone.
“Further forensic work has identified up to 6,182 drill-holes, undertaken by the North Broken Hill Group, which provides a substantial potential data pool to build into the model.
“Pleasingly, there are seven reverse circulation and diamond drill core samples that will be re-analysed for cobalt mineralisation, which should increase confidence in the final modelled outcome.
“With documented cobalt readings between >200ppm cobalt up to 9,500ppm cobalt from only 108 drill-holes processed, the board’s priority is to fast-track codifying all the data then produce an initial JORC 2012 compliant mineral resource estimate.”
Case for cobalt compelling
The ongoing upcycle for battery metals, driven by strong down-stream demand for electric vehicles, makes the case for cobalt increasingly compelling.
In addition, the NSW Government’s new critical minerals policy, which includes cobalt and specifically lists CCZ’s Broken Hill assets, provided extra impetus for the board to prioritise developing the BHA Project’s East Zone.
Notably, the state government’s strategic intent is to build a viable downstream industry for processing critical minerals (including cobalt) and establish a global supply hub in the state’s central west.
Geological modelling work
Recent forensic work has uncovered up to 6,182 drill-holes across the East Zone, which was undertaken by the reputable North Broken Hill Group.
A large portion of the drilling undertaken by NBH Group and other more recent explorers meets current QAQC requirements, implying there should potentially be a high degree of confidence from utilising this ample data to model a JORC 2012 compliant MRE.
Once the geology team completes codifying the data, then geological modelling work will commence.
In tandem, as there are seven reverse circulation and diamond core samples in storage, the geology team will re-assay these for cobalt and rare earth element mineralisation.
Potentially, this will increase the confidence in the final modelled result.
Overall, with encouraging results from the initial 108 drill-holes, the board is determined to accelerate developing the East Zone to produce a primary JORC 2012 compliant cobalt MRE.
Next steps
The company's next steps going forward are:
In NSW -
➢ JORC 2012 compliant MRE for the BHA Project East Zone; and
➢ Cangai ground gravity and magnetics survey.
In Queensland -
➢ Assay results for Arya Prospect; and
➢ Big One Deposit – JORC 2012 compliant mineral resource estimate.
In Zambia -
Complete geophysical report on the Mkushi Project; and
➢ Complete work on the inaugural drilling campaign for the Luanshya Project.