DISC: Slightly frustrated long-term holder of CCZ here and in SMSF.

What had set CCZ apart for me several years ago was the clarity of their focus and intent as well as the prospects in their assets. It lined up for me and there was a clear plan. That all seemed to go to worms a little the last 18 months or so and there was a brief foray in Lithium which they then let go (no doubt causing lots of distraction internally). All roads now lead to cobalt.

That's a little too cynical as this Broken Hill asset has always been in the mix and if there's cobalt in those holes great. And I accept that this is the nature of these small explorers to take advantage and be flexible.

Here's the summary of the announcement today about a potentially significant cobalt resource.

Compelling new assays enhance potential for significant cobalt system at Broken Hill

Compelling new assays uncovered at the Fence Gossan and Ziggy’s Hill Prospect within the Defined Target Area provide incremental evidence there is potentially an extensive cobalt system apparent within the BHA Project’s East Zone

The new cobalt assays, especially from Fence Gossan, are relatively shallow (from surface to circa 100m) and include several standout intercepts

Notably, they align with earlier results at the Tors & Reef Tank Prospects – the assays will be codified then factored into the block model and JORC compliant mineral resource estimate

In addition, diamond drill-core from five holes (>180m) – including The Sisters and Iron Blow Prospects – have been dispatched to the laboratory to test for cobalt, zinc and platinum-group elements (PGE):

o Assays relating to The Sisters (drill-holes BH1 & BH2) are significant as they will feature in the block model & JORC MRE

o The assays for drill-holes RH3, DD80_IB3 & DD80_RW4/1 should provide a greater understanding of the zinc and PGE potential across the north-west part of the tenure, particularly Iron Blow

Castillo Copper’s CEO Dr Dennis Jensen commented: “The Fence Gossan Prospect assays are outstanding and provide the Board with increased confidence there is potentially a significant underlying cobalt system within the BHA Project’s East Zone. In addition, the Board looks forward to receiving the assays for >180m of diamond core from five drill-holes, as it will clarify, firstly, the cobalt potential at The Sister Prospect; and, secondly, if the north-west quadrant is prospective for cobalt, zinc and PGE mineralisation.”

CCZ seemingly successfully pumping up the tyres this morning via Hot Copper reporting on their announcement of a glimpse of high grade cobalt-zinc potential at their Broken Hill holding.

Castillo Copper’s CEO Dr Dennis Jensen commented: “The preliminary results from analysing The Sisters Prospect’s diamond core has delivered Castillo Copper an excellent outcome. We now have compelling evidence, subject to final assays, there is high-grade cobalt-zinc mineralisation apparent and a prime target for future test drilling. Furthermore, the Board believes that, once all the assays are in from The Sisters Prospect, there will be sufficient data to potentially prove up a primary global cobalt mineral resource estimate that complies with the JORC 2012 Code.”

As I have mentioned previously, I had become a little bullish on CCZ based on what I saw as a clear strategic focus and positive execution around that focus in the 24 months or so until a couple of months ago when they jumped on the Li train. It seems they're getting positive news from earlier exploration on their Li options. Now today a positive announcement on their exploration at their Big One deposit. Somewhat concerning though for my Muddled mind is that they seem to be losing strategic clarity (despite announcements to the contrary).

Castillo Copper’s Managing Director Simon Paull commented: “Following a visit to the NWQ Copper Project by CCZ’s chief geological consultant, which yielded fresh perspectives, the Board’s objectives for 2022 comprise geologically modelling an inaugural JORC compliant resource for the Big One Deposit, continued drilling at the Arya Prospect and fully assessing the Eldorado target’s exploration potential. Notably, the case for the Big One Deposit remains compelling given the drilling campaigns to date have intersected significant copper mineralisation. In addition, the Board is positive on the exploration potential of the Litchfield & Picasso Lithium Projects and looks forward to finalising due diligence upon receipt of assays.”

***

o Based on fresh insights, post CCZ’s chief geological consultant visiting the Big One Deposit, the Board has prioritised geologically modelling an inaugural JORC compliant resource plus a third infill drilling campaign – for the following reasons:

? Recent and historical drilling campaigns have intersected relatively shallow copper mineralisation1 (Figure 1); and

There is a significant bedrock conductor2, north of the line of lode, which is larger and of different character than the IP anomaly drilled in 2020, that is yet to be drill-tested

DrillingwillcontinueattheAryaProspect,whilefurtherexploratory work will be undertaken to fully assess the potential of the Eldorado Prospect to host copper mineralisation

o Havingreviewedpeer29Metal’s(ASX:29M)CapricornCopperMine3 (Figure 2), which has multiple ore sources, the Board believes adapting this model for the NWQ Copper Project is prudent:

? The exploration objective moves to identifying and potentially developing several satellite deposits (commencing with the Big One Deposit) within the tenure, which aggregated delivers a bundled scalable platform

o In addition, the Board will review the timeline to secure a mining lease plus consult with potential off-take partners in the Mt Isa region to understand the logistics / costs to process third-party ore

Further to a release a few days ago on the likely high potential of Li at the Picasso prospect (summary below), CCZ announced today that it was extending it's option to acquire the two recent Li prospects it has extended into.

CCZ’s Board has advised the Vendor Group it is extending the 90-day option period to acquire the Litchfield and Picasso Lithium Projects1:

? Notably, over 650 surface assays for the Litchfield Lithium Project (Figure 1; NT)1, which is contiguous to Core Lithium’s (ASX: CXO) strategic Finniss Lithium Project (JORC compliant ore reserves: 7.4Mt @ 1.3% Li2O)2, remain in process queues at the laboratory

? Analysing and interpreting these assay results should potentially enable CCZ’s geology team to determine if lithium mineralisation is contiguous between the Lichfield and Finniss Lithium Projects

CCZ’s Managing Director, Simon Paull, commented: “The Board has advised the Vendor Group that it is extending the option period to acquire the Litchfield & Picasso Lithium Projects due to ongoing delays in receiving key assay results for both projects. Encouragingly, however, the Board is pleased with the due process undertaken to date and believes both assets have considerable potential to host lithium mineralisation. The Board looks forward to receiving these assays and concluding due diligence shortly thereafter.”

And here a summary of the Picasso release:

Field trip identifies 10km zone of pegmatites at the Picasso Lithium Project

CCZ’s Managing Director, Simon Paull, commented: “The geology team’s visit to the Picasso Lithium Project delivered encouraging news, confirming that a 10km zone of pegmatites is apparent in the tenure’s north- east quadrant. The Board’s preliminary conclusion, based on due diligence undertaken to date, is the Picasso Lithium Project is prospective for lithium mineralisation and delivers significant incremental exploration potential.”

***

o CCZ’s geology team spent several days at the Picasso Lithium Project – mapping and collecting samples – focusing on the high-density corridor 1, resulting in the following determinations:

• ? A circa 10km zone of pegmatite occurrences was confirmed in the north-eastern part of the tenure (Figure 1), which significantly exceeds government mapping; and
• ? The observed pegmatites are potentially related to lithium mineralisation which enhances prospectivity of the tenure’s north-eastern quadrant

Further to the recent diversification into Lithium announcements, CCZ continuing to build some support for this through another announcement about positive due diligence ont he geology of the Litchfield site:

Follow up site visit to the Litchfield Lithium Project in the Northern Territory, arranged by the Vendor Group’s geological consultant, has highlighted significant pegmatite outcropping (Figure 1 & 3) along the western boundary:

? This is contiguous to Core Lithium’s (ASX: CXO) Finnis Lithium Project1 which has JORC compliant ore reserves (7.4Mt @ 1.3% Li2O) 1

o With satellite imagery verifying the geology in the Litchfield Lithium Project (NW quadrant) is comparable to CXO’s ground, CCZ is awaiting assay results on 657 surface samples (taken along the NW boundary) to determine the potential for contiguous mineralisation:

? Encouragingly, the site-visit geological reports noted the areas sampled mostly comprised metamorphic rocks linked to the Burrell Creek formation – a host rock for the regional occurrences of pegmatites (Appendix A)

o Meanwhile,theBoardhasbeenadvisedbytheon-siteteamattheArya Copper Prospect in the Mt Isa copper-belt that prep work is nearly complete, which will enable drilling to commence shortly thereafter

CCZ’s Managing Director, Simon Paull, commented: “Initial due diligence at the Litchfield Lithium Project is off to an excellent start, with demonstrable photographic evidence of pegmatite outcropping along the western boundary. The Board now awaits the outcome of assay results which will determine the potential for contiguous mineralisation with CXO’s Finniss Lithium Project. In the meantime, our team’s efforts are now focused on commencing the inauguraldrilling campaign at the Arya Copper Prospect in the Mt Isa copper belt.”

Disc: held

Further to the announcement last week about diversifying into Lithium... announcement today about initial geo surveys...

is it just pedantic me or does anyone else get nervous when announcements go to the ASX that obviously havent been proof-read?

Preliminary due diligence by CCZ’s geology team has verified assay results from historical geochemical sampling, undertaken Anglo Gold1, across the Picasso Lithium Project and adjacent tenure, detected multiple elevated lithium surface readings (Figure 1):

The surface occurrences aligned with pegmatite outcropping mapped by the Geological Society of Western Australia (GSWA) confirmed 69 mapped pegmatites2.

A preliminary site visit by a geological consultant, organised by the Vendor Group, took numerous photographs of pegmatite outcropping and collected over 30 samples from within the tenure (east quadrant) which have been sent to the laboratory for analysis

The geologically consultant noted there was multiple occurrences of pegmatite outcropping within the tenure, with the potential to host lithium mineralisation, providing numerous targets for integrated exploration

The Picasso Lithium Project is accessible via the Evre Highway and proximal to Liontown Resources’ (ASX: LTR) Buldania Project (Appendix A) which has a JORC compliant resource at 14.9Mt @ 0.97% Li2O3

CCZ’s Managing Director, Simon Paull, commented: “Straight out of the gates, the preliminary due diligence has hit a high note at the Picasso Project, with multiple historical surface occurrences being confirmed and photographic evidence there is significant pegmatite outcropping with the potential to host lithium mineralisation. The Board is delighted with these initial findings and looks forward to receiving the assays results back from the laboratory.”

Disc:  Held here and in SMSF

CCZ gets a positive reaction from the market today after announcing the acquisition of option on two exploration leases highly prospective for Lithium as below (just a summary here).  

One of the things I've liked about CCZ recently has been their clean focus on developing copper assets so this causes that bit of purist in me to have a bit of a wobble.   The opportunist though thinks woohoo, get on the lithium bndwagon... Muddled as always

Option secured for 90-days to acquire – subject to successful due diligence – two highly prospective lithium projects in prime locations:

1) Litchfield Lithium Project (Figure 1; NT) is contiguous to Core Lithium’s (ASX: CXO) strategic Finniss Lithium Project which has JORC compliant ore reserves (7.4Mt @ 1.3% Li2O), with production slated to commence in 2H 20221:

Analysing satellite imagery2 shows potential for lithium pegmatite bodies to be apparent along Litchfield’s north-west boundary; this is the primary exploration target area

2) Picasso Lithium Project (Norseman region, WA) is proximal to Liontown’s Resources’ (ASX: LTR) Buldania Project, with a JORC compliant resource at 14.9Mt @ 0.97% Li2O3, and has mapped pegmatites4 that potentially host lithium mineralisation

CCZ has ample funds on hand to develop core projects moving forward; meanwhile, the drilling campaign at the Arya Prospect is about to commence

CCZ’s Managing Director, Simon Paull, commented: “Acquiring prospective lithium projects, which complement the copper assets, arguably provides CCZ a strong comparative advantage moving forward. In focusing on developing copper and lithium projects, the Board is positioning CCZ to potentially create significant incremental value from the transition towards renewable energy sources and accelerating demand for electric vehicles globally.”

Disc: I hold a significant number of shares in my SMSF, even at today's close of .036, I am nicely ahead.

Announced today preliminary survey results on holdings in Zambia.  The breadth of its geographic holdings (Zambia, Broken Hill, Cangai and Mt Oxide/Mt Isa) and more deliberate focus in the last couple of years have piqued my interest in CCZ.  Early days, small, speculative etc but small signals their resource profile is increasingly positive.

Large targets under 6km copper strike at Luanshya Project in Zambia

o Work on the Induced Polarisation (IP) survey across the Luanshya Project in Zambia’s copper-belt – focusing on a 6km strike delineated from previous soil sampling campaigns1 – is progressing to plan, with eight lines now complete

o Pleasingly, multiple high chargeability targets have been identified within three interpreted lines that potentially indicate the presence of sulphides

o Reconciling the IP survey findings with the previous geochemical results confirmed the high chargeability targets are directly coincident – this significantly enhances the probability for a discovery

o Assuch, CCZ’s geology team inZambia can now formulate the inaugural drilling campaign and, pending the outcome of discussions with service providers, potentially commencing work in the fourth quarter of 2021.

o The IP survey, which is being conducted by Geophex Surveys (a Zambian based geophysics consultancy2), will soon finish up at Luanshya then progress to the Mkushi Project

o Further updates on progress in Zambia will be forthcoming as developments materialise

o Meanwhile, the second drilling campaign at the Big One Deposit has concluded – the laboratory, which is processing a huge number of samples from many explorers across the Mt Isa region, is expected to return all assays shortly:

This will enable the geology team to progress work on formulating the next drilling campaign at Big One.

o In addition,all key service providers are on track to commence mobilisation at the Arya Prospect during September 2021, targeting several well-defined bedrock conductors

***

Castillo Copper’s Managing Director Simon Paull commented: “Our exploration efforts at the Luanshya Project are bearing fruit, as we now have multiple high-quality targets to test-drill along the 6km copper strike. Moving forward, the Board’s goal is to commence the inaugural drilling campaign during the fourth quarter. This will place Castillo Copper in a strong position strategically, with development work progressing concurrently on prime projects in the Zambia and Mt Isa copper-belts.”