Castle has an estimated 9.5 quarters of funding available ($5.3M Cash as at 31/03/22) - also a 4% precious metal royalty from the Julie West license that was sold to Azumah Resources - this is an important part of their gold project. The MD Stephen Stone has extensive experience within the international mining and exploration industry.
CDT has put an estimated commencement date for RC drilling at Kambale (which is also Ghana's only known graphite deposit of its size) for the June quarter. The project covers more than 10,000 sq. km and is located less than 8km from Wa (which means fully serviced grid power, sealed roads etc). As stated in the 'Kambale Graphite EM Survey Increases Size Expectations' ann from 31/03, the HLEM survey conducted by CDT shows a strong correlation between drill confirmed graphite mineralisation and zones of high conductivity. These same zones extend outside of the existing IR boundary and show considerable extensions into un-drilled areas. Similar structures coincide with known zones of higher grade material which implies that these zones may exist in the un-drilled areas that extend past the boundary. The drilling planned to commence in June is to confirm these boundaries and to infill the Inferred resource area.
The estimated commencement date for Geochem and aircore at Woodcutters (lithium) is also for June - subject to license grant and landowner agreements. As per the quarterly, an in-depth review by a specialist geochemist highlighted several areas of lithium and coincident indicator elements anomalism. The close proximity of these to several already mapped granite intrusions 'provides additional encouragement'. The project is also alongside a structural trend from the prospective pegmatite field that hosts the Bald Hill lithium deposit 25km to the northwest, AND parallel to the trend that hosts the Liontown Resources (LTR) Buldania lithium deposit which is 25km to the southwest. Also extremely close to the MIN owned operating mine in what is called the 'Western Australia Lithium Corridor'. CDT has already undergone a field orientation which is before a proposed mapping and rock chip sampling program.
On the topic of lithium, CDT also has the Wilgee Springs exploration license which encompasses an area that is considered prospective for lithium bearing pegmatites. Wilgee Spring lies within the same metamorphic belt and directly alongside the strike of the Greenbushes lithium mine... which is only the world's LARGEST, highest grade and lowest cost, hard rock, spodumene concentrate producing operation, supplying 21% of global lithium from a mineral resource of 178.5Mt at 2.0% Li2O. Greenbushes has the highest Ore Reserve grade of any hard rock lithium mine globally. As per the investor presentation, the next stage for Wilgee springs is estimated to commence in June subject to a license grant and landowner agreement.
Don't let this make you forget about Earaheedy. The catalyst for the likes of RTR and a key component for companies such as STK, LSR, BPM, BLZ etc. CDT's 870km sq. Earaheedy project comprises six exploration licenses and comprise the Withnell, Terra Rossa and Tableland sub-projects. The Withnell project (license granted) is directly adjacent to the ever-increasing Chinook-Magazine Zn-Pb project of Rumble Resources (RTR) and north of the STK Iroquois prospect. The results of these projects have propelled the market value of the company's involved and have considerably increased the expectation of mineral results from the Earaheedy region. "1994 diamond drilling by RGC Exploration intersected Zn-Pb anomalism at Castle’s Sioux prospect and confirmed 3.5km strike of similar stratigraphy to Chinook-Magazine-Iroquois prospects" (per investor presentation). Terra Rossa hosts at least six base metal prospects identified by surface sampling,RAB, aircore and RC drilling - The area is situated over similar stratigraphy to Rumble’s and Strickland’s reported base metal mineralisation, along with a deeper-seated target opportunity for shear hosted gold mineralisation within an underlying Greenstone belt. Estimated commencement for drilling at Earaheedy is ASAP pending Native Title access agreements which are being finalised.
Geochem and drilling at Beasley Creek (gold, base metals and lithium) has an estimated commencement of May/June/July - expect an announcement regarding this soon. The geochem sampling campaign over two high-priority gold targets with the purpose to define specific drill hole locations was postponed earlier due to extreme weather. The same work will be extended to two priority areas of recognised lithium anomalism. The gold targets comprise a consistent 600m zone with associated copper anomalism and a smaller anomalous gold zone with a multi-element association of sliver, bismuth, nickel, platinum and palladium. Sample values peaked at 137ppb Au and 1010ppm Cu.
The price of lithium has increased 68.83% since the beginning of 2022. The global lithium market size is expected to grow to USD $6.62B in 2028. The global graphite market was valued at USD $14.3B in 2019 and is expected to reach USD $21.6B by 2027. The rising production of steel using the electric arc furnace process is expected to increase the demand for graphite. China completely dominates the global Graphite market in terms of consumption and production capacity due to the demand from lithium-ion battery production, electronics, steel production, the solar industry and the nuclear industry. With rising geo-political tension and increased demand for energy independence within the EV-boom, the world is looking for substitutes outside of China.
Despite the noise on forums such as HotCopper and Twitter, the potential of CDT is undeniable. Whilst it would be ideal to have a drilling announcement released tomorrow, CDT is clearly proactive and awaiting the acceptance of licenses / landowner agreements. I am personally confident with my investment in the hands of an experienced management team with solid geo backgrounds. The market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient. Cheers all
CDT Price at posting:
3.6¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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