Castle eyes drilling of first Meekatharra gold target

ASX-listed junior explorer, Castle Minerals has now pinpointed a maiden gold drill target at its Polelle project immediately east of WA’s Meekatharra gold mining district after completing soil sampling work that infilled previous wide-spaced auger sampling. The company is also approaching drill-ready status on base metals anomalies at the property.

Perth-based Castle says the recent infill program comprising 827 soil samples led to the definition of an 800m-long gold anomaly associated with the northern end of an interpreted splay structure running sub-parallel to the Albury Heath shear zone.

The shear zone takes in Westgold Resources’ Albury Heath gold deposit that hosts an inferred resource of 528,000 tonnes grading an average 2.09 grams per tonne for 35,479 ounces, adjacent to the eastern boundary of Castle’s Polelle tenements.

Castle’s previous auger sampling along the splay structure pointed to coherent gold anomalies extending north-south for 2km.

Management says although the soil and auger anomalies are subtle, they are considered reflective of the alluvial and colluvial covered regolith.

Data from earlier wide-spaced auger sampling by Castle indicates the splay-related anomalies may extend south for a further 2.2km towards the Lordy Bore prospect area where the splay is interpreted to join the Albury Heath shear zone.

According to the company, the convergence is supported by several anomalous rock chip samples grading up to 4.91 g/t gold collected where the splay intermittently outcrops as a quartz vein breccia.

The recent soil and previous auger sampling results have also detected several areas of base metal anomalies.

Observable lead-zinc anomalies have been better defined in the north-eastern corner of the project area by the infill soil sampling. They are associated with basaltic rocks, which Castle says may suggest an association with a volcanogenic massive sulphide-style of mineralisation.

The auger sampling also highlights several areas of copper anomalism associated with shearing in mafic volcanic and intrusive rocks as well as anomalous nickel values associated with ultramafic rocks.

These will all be the subject of future exploration programs and emphasises the broad multi-metal prospectivity of Polelle, the company says.

Castle plans to drill the higher-priority gold and base metal anomalies pending field verification and a rig being secured.

Recent infill soil sampling has now defined a drill-ready target within an 800m gold anomaly associated with the Albury Heath splay structure. Wider spaced soil, auger and rock chip sampling indicates that anomalism could extend further south for several kilometres.

Mr Stone says exploration at Polelle has previously been hampered by its extensive and variable soil cover, “but that is also the opportunity”.

According to Castle, it is progressively unravelling the project’s prospectivity and systematically advancing several areas of gold and base metal anomalism up to drill status.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au