Castle Minerals Limited (ASX: CDT)('Castle', 'the Company'), advises that five priority-ranked lithiumin-soils anomalies have been confirmed by a geochemical sampling program at its Woodcutters Lithium Project which lies between the Bald Hill lithium mine, operated by Alita Resources Limited1 , and the Buldania lithium deposit owned by Liontown Resources Limited2 ('Woodcutters Project' or 'Project')(Fig 1).
The 937-sample program was designed to cover a 10km north-west trending zone in the northern margin of Castle's two granted licences (EL15/1846 and EL15/1847). These encompass an area of 482km2 which is largely soil covered, with minimal outcrop
Castle Managing Director, Stephen Stone commented 'We are very pleased to have defined five priority lithium-in-soil anomalies in our maiden program at the Woodcutters Project in an area which lies on the same structural trend as the Alita Resources Ltd owned Bald Hill lithium-tantalum mine, 25km to the north-west.
The extensive 482km2 Woodcutters tenure is almost entirely soil covered so this recent work enables us to focus in on specific zones within the most favourable geological terrane. A geological crew will be on-site shortly to field assess the priority anomalies and to search for and sample any exposed pegmatites that may be associated with these. They will also assess several other anomalies Castle has identified through the analysis of a multi-element assay dataset generated by a third party that was exploring for gold.'
The selected zone is considered to be a favourable geological setting for lithium mineralisation. It is largely underlain by Eastern Goldfields Greenstone metasediments and is close to the contact between these and Archean granites, the most likely source of any lithium mineralisation if it is present. The area also contains several anomalous zones of coincident lithium and lithium indicator elements (rubidium, beryllium, caesium and tin) that were highlighted in a detailed review commissioned by Castle of a historical multi-element soil sampling assay dataset.
This was collected by AngloGold Ashanti ('AGG')5,6 (2009-2010) which was exploring for gold (Refer ASX release 23 February 2022). The multi-element signatures of these anomalous zones appear to be consistent with possible hard rock lithium mineralisation associated with lithium-caesium-tantalum ('LCT') type pegmatites. The AGG auger sampling was undertaken along access tracks on a general grid arrangement which varied from 100m x 1000m to 200m x 1000m. Almost 80% of Castle's licence area was sampled. In addition, mapping published by the GSWA4,7 shows pegmatites in the sampled area but it is not known if these were actually observed in the field or inferred from aerial photography. There is no record of these having been sampled, even for gold. The lithium anomalism also appears to correlate well with a northwest-trending structure that can be traced towards the Bald Hill mine, 25km north-west. At a regional scale, the Woodcutters Project, the Bald Hill mine, the Buldania lithium deposit2 25km to the southwest and the Mineral Resources Limited owned Mt Marion mine3 100km to the north-west, all lie within what is broadly termed the 'Western Australia Lithium Corridor'.
Program details
Castle's recent sampling was undertaken on a closer-spaced 200m x 200m grid. A total of 21 anomalies of variable priority were identified by a detailed statistical review of the newly acquired multi-element assay data. Lithium assays ranged up to 85ppm with a 90th percentile statistical value of 53ppm defining the anomalism. Prioritisation of anomalies also recognised good pathfinder-element support (in particular beryllium, caesium, niobium and tantalum) using a weighted-sum approach and the presence of other anomalous values nearby. One anomaly was assigned a Priority One status and four anomalies a Priority Two status. These anomalies range from approximately 300m to 500m long. The assay data has yet to be fully assessed in the context of using soil geochemical data to locate buried lithium bearing pegmatites as the understanding of the mobility of lithium through the soil profile is not well understood. It is also important to note that the standard multi-element associations and ratings applied relate mainly to hard rock data, as opposed to soils
Next steps at Woodcutters
Commence a detailed field evaluation of the five priority anomalies and sample any outcropping pegmatites that can be identified in their vicinity.
Evaluate the several other broad 'historical' lithium anomalies in the central part of the Project area.
These are not situated on the interpreted lithium corridor but are still considered to have some prospectivity.
Contact:
Stephen Stone
Tel: +61 (0)418 804 564
About Castle Minerals Limited
Castle Minerals Limited is an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: CDT) listed and Perth, Western Australia headquartered company with interests in several projects in Western Australia and Ghana that are prospective for Battery Metals (lithium and graphite), base metals (zinc, lead and copper) and gold. The Earaheedy Basin project comprises the Withnell, Terra Rossa and Tableland sub-projects with the Withnell licence strategically located adjacent to the evolving World-Class ChinookMagazine zinc-lead project of Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX: RTR) and north of the Strickland Metals Limited (ASX: STK) Iroquois prospect. The Terra Rossa licences have additional prospectivity for copper. The Beasley Creek project is prospective for gold and lithium and lies on the northern flanks of the Rocklea Dome in the southern Pilbara. The Success Dome project lies in the Ashburton structural corridor midway between the Paulsen's and Ashburton gold deposits and is prospective for gold and base metals. The Polelle project, 7km southeast of the operating Bluebird gold mine near Meekatharra, hosts a mainly obscured and minimally explored greenstone belt prospective for gold and possibly base metals whilst the Wanganui project is prospective for down-plunge high-grade gold shoots. The Wilgee Springs project, along strike from and within the same metamorphic belt as the world-class Greenbushes lithium mine 25km to the south, is prospective for spodumene bearing pegmatites as is the Woodcutters project, 25km south east of the Bald Hill lithium mine and 25km north west of the Buldania lithium deposit. The Woomba Well project will also be evaluated for lithium bearing pegmatites. The Great Southern Graphite project comprises granted licences encompassing the historical Kendenup graphite workings and the adjacent Martagallup graphite occurrences and one application covering a graphite occurrence at Mt. Barrow. In Ghana, West Africa, Castle's substantial and contiguous tenure position in the country's Upper West region encompasses large tracts of highly prospective Birimian geological terrane, the host to many of West Africa's and Ghana's multi-million-ounce gold mines. The emerging flagship Kambale Graphite Project lies within the Ghana tenure. Castle retains a 4% net smelter precious metal royalty over the Julie West licence, a key component of Azumah Resources Limited's Wa Gold Project, Upper West region, Ghana.
Cautionary Statement
All of Castle's projects are considered to be of grass roots or of relatively early-stage exploration status. Other than for the Ghana projects, there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource. No Competent Person has done sufficient work in accordance with JORC Code 2012 to conclusively determine or to estimate in what quantities gold or other minerals are present. It is possible that following further evaluation and/or exploration work that the confidence in the information used to identify areas of interest may be reduced when reported under JORC Code (2012)
Forward Looking Statement
Statements regarding Castle's plans, forecasts and projections with respect to its mineral properties and programs are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that Castle's plans for development of its mineral properties will proceed. There can be no assurance that Castle will be able to confirm the presence of Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves, that any mineralisation will prove to be economic or that a mine will be successfully developed on any of Castle's mineral properties. The performance of Castle may be influenced by a number of factors which are outside the control of the Company, its Directors, staff or contractors
Competent Persons Statements
The scientific and technical information in this Report that relates to the geology of the deposits and exploration results is based on information compiled by Mr Stephen Stone, who is Managing Director of Castle Minerals Limited. Mr Stone is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'.
CASTLE MINERALS LIMITED 