Earaheedy Project
The 870km² Earaheedy base metals project comprises one granted exploration licence and six exploration licence applications covering prospective lithologies in the Earaheedy Basin which abuts the north-eastern margins of the Archaean Yilgarn block, Western Australia (view project map).
They have been grouped into the “Terra Rossa” and the “Withnell” sub-projects, which are situated at the western end of the basin, between 40km and 100km east of the De Grussa copper mine and ~120km north of Wiluna; and the “Tableland” sub-project, located in the southeast margin of the basin.
The applications are consistent with Castle’s strategy of positioning itself at low-cost in regions prospective for base and precious metals and which have generally not received much recent attention or the benefit of the latest available exploration tools.
The Withnell project area (granted licence) is immediately north of and, in part, appears to be along strike from the recent Chinook – Magazine zinc-lead discovery (Refer Rumble Resources Limited ASX:RTR releases 8 April 2021 and 19 April 2021) (see project map). An initial appraisal of historical reports and 1:100,000 scale GSWA mapping covering the Withnell licence area indicates that the west extremity and southern portion of the licence most likely encompass the Frere Iron Formation and its unconformable contact with the underlying, prospective Sweetwaters Well member of the Yelma Formation. Importantly, much of the historical exploration in the region occurred in the 1990s with a number of prospects delineated within the Sweetwater Well and overlying Frere Formation. The Withnell application was made on the basis that one such prospect, the Sioux prospect, appears to occur within the Withnell licence area. The exact location and nature of the Sioux prospect has yet to be verified in the field.
The four contiguous Terra Rossa applications are grouped immediately to the east of the dormant Thaduna copper deposit. They extend north-south for some 40km and host at least six base metal prospects appearing on the GSWA MINEDEX database.
The largely unexplored Tableland applications encompass Yelma and Frere Formation stratigraphic units and their associated unconformity which has been shown elsewhere in the basin to be prospective for both Mississippi Valley and SEDEX style base and precious metals mineralisation. Importantly, GSWA regional aeromagnetic data indicates a series of north-south and subsidiary northwest trending structures traversing the Tableland areas. These structures appear to be deep-seated and traceable through both the Archean and Paleoproterozoic terranes and may have created a viable framework for the migration of mineralised brines and hydrothermal fluids during early basin formation.
Castle has commenced the collation and critical review of publicly available historical data and is also evaluating work being undertaken by other companies now active in the region as a prelude to determining the prospectivity of its licence areas and the logical way forward for each of the licences.
The Company particularly notes that the Withnell licence is adjacent to licences hosting the recent Chinook – Magazine zinc-lead discovery (refer Rumble Resources Limited ASX:RTR releases 8 April 2021 and 19 April 2021) (“Rumble”).
Castle’s geologists undertook a field orientation site visit to Withnell and Terra Rossa during the December 2021 quarter to prepare for the first phase of exploration. With the Withnell licence granted, Castle is keen to commence drilling which is subject to the execution of an access agreement and site survey.
| Project | Licence | Status | Blocks | Area (km²) | Mineral Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Withnell | ELA69/3860 | Granted | 65 | 200 | Warburton |
| Terra Rossa | ELA52/3927 | Application | 70 | 218 | Peak Hill |
| Terra Rossa East | ELA52/3930 | Application | 34 | 106 | Peak Hill |
| Terra Rossa South | ELA52/3931 | Application | 39 | 121 | Peak Hill |
| Marymia | ELA52/3928 | Application | 70 | 218 | Peak Hill |
| Tableland | ELA38/3641 | Application | 18 | 6 | Mt Margaret |
| Tableland | ELA38/3641 | Application | 3 | 1 | Mt Margaret |