Castillo Copper shares gained 8.4% to 0.89p in early morning trading on Wednesday, after the mining group announced the appointment of two contractors for its inaugural drilling campaign at the BHA project’s east zone in Q4.
The company confirmed the appointment of AllState Drilling, who will perform the campaign which comprises one diamond core and 17 RC drill-holes for 2,100 metres, with depths between 100 metres to 160 metres.
Castillo Copper also noted the addition of FieldCrew, who previously performed work at the NWQ Copper project in Queensland, Australia. FieldCrew will manage the day-to-day concerns of the drilling campaign.
Meanwhile, Castillo Copper reported Australia secured preferred status for the supply of critical minerals to the US’s electric vehicles battery program.
The mining group said it wanted to deepen its knowledge of the East Zone’s Rare Earth Elements (RRE) potential at the Sisters Prospect and Iron Blow targets.
The Sisters Prospect’s two planned RC drill-holes will be analysed for copper-cobalt gold and REEs, and the Iron Blow operation will have its additional drill-core samples tested to determine if there are further extensions to known mineralisation, following the prior discovery of REEs.
“The Board is delighted to have secured AllState and FieldCrew as key contractors for the upcoming drilling campaign. Notably, AllState is a highly reputable drilling group, while FieldCrew has done considerable fieldwork across the BHA and NWQ Copper Projects,” said Castillo Copper managing director Dr Dennis Jensen.
“In addition, with sentiment currently positive towards REEs, the Board is interested in boosting its understanding of the potential across The Sisters and Iron Blow Projects.”