Castile Resources Limited (ASX: CST) has been awarded two exploration grants totalling A$162,660 from the Australian Northern Territory Governments’ Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations (GDC) Programme.
The GDC programme is a competitive grants programme funded by the NT Government’s A$9.5M per annum Resourcing the Territory programme and is administered by the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS).
Co-funding of Exploration Drilling at Pathfinder 35
The first grant of A$85,660 will be used to co-fund Hole 23P35DD001 at Pathfinder 35 which is a proposed diamond drilling hole designed to test a co-incident gravity-magnetic anomaly for significant Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) mineralization.
In addition, drilling will extend the depth of known geology in the Pathfinder area to at least 500m improving the understanding of the Rover mineral field stratigraphy.
Co-Funding of Passive Seismic Programme
The second grant of A$77,000 will be used to fund a Passive Seismic Programme that embraces new technology that provides a low cost alternative to conventional seismic reflection techniques, removing the requirement for expensive active seismic sources.
The program consists of two parts; firstly undertaking a proof of concept trial over the known Rover 1 IOCG deposit and then a roll-out to untested co-incident magnetic-gravity anomalies.
The initial trial will allow for validation and calibration of passive seismic geophysical techniques against known geology such as depth to basement and location of subsurface high density/high velocity material (IOCG alteration zones).
Once validated, the array will be moved to the Pathfinder area, south of Explorer 142 to test three coincident magnetic-gravity anomalies identified from detailed gravity data collected over the area in 2022.
Being able to successfully model depth to basement and IOCG alteration will be used to refine the gravity and magnetic forward models and increase the success of subsequent exploratory drilling.
“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded over A$160,000 by the Northern Territory GDC to co-fund our 2023 field season exploratory programmes,” Managing Director, Mark Hepburn, said.
“The Rover Mineral Field remains vastly underexplored and we are keen to get into further greenfields exploration at our Pathfinder 35 prospect. The co-funded hole will target an interpreted IOCG structure that has been developed from the detailed gravity survey completed over the Pathfinder area in 2022.
“The drill target at Pathfinder 35 is located approximately 18 km from the proposed infrastructure for our flagship pre-development asset, Rover 1. This aligns any potential discovery with our “hub and spoke” strategy for the Rover Mineral Field.
“The new technology we are using for our Passive Seismic Programme is a very exciting breakthrough for our exploration capability and lowering the cost of testing large areas.”
For further information please visit: https://www.castile.com.au/
