Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) has acquired 150km² of graphite-prospective field in southwest Western Australia via the purchase of a granted exploration licence hosting the historical Kendenup graphite workings, along with the application for adjacent open ground encompassing the Martigallup graphite occurrences.
The combined project is comprised primarily of freehold farmland, and is served by the nearby centre of Mt Barker, and the Port of Albany which sits 62km to the south.
“The acquisition of the Kendenup graphite project in Western Australia’s southwest is highly complementary to Castle’s growing battery metals interests”
Speaking on the deal, Castle Minerals Managing Director Stephen Stone said: “The acquisition of the Kendenup graphite project in Western Australia’s southwest is highly complementary to Castle’s growing battery metals interests comprising the Kambale graphite project and the Wilgee Springs and Woodcutters lithium projects.”
“We can see a lot of upside at Kendenup and are very keen to progress this project as rapidly as possible and as we are all of our battery metals projects, with several work programs about to commence or as soon as various licences have been granted.”
The historical Kendenup mine workings, which sit on a 16-block granted licence, include a 15m-deep vertical shaft along with 20m of level development onto an east-west striking array of veins, lenses and seams of graphitic material. The company notes that the data is from 1913, and additional unknown work may have been carried-out.
Map of the combined Kendenup Graphite Project displaying historical workings and VTEM anomalies over regional magnetics and geology. Image: Castle Minerals LimitedThe Martigallup application area, which sits across 37-blocks, was subject to soil sampling and a low-level VTEM geophysical survey by Windward Resources during base-metal exploration, with a number of anomalies defined and further refined via fixed-loop ground EM survey. The target was tested by two diamond holes, which intersected zones of graphite with minor sulphide mineralisation.
The anomaly is interpreted as sitting along strike from the Kendenup workings, and may in fact be an extension of the graphite-hosting horizon.
The application area also encompasses the untested Martigallup graphite occurrences, which appear in the Mindex database
Castle reports that it plans to rollout a staged, multi-phase exploration program at the project including reprocessing and reinterpretation available geophysical datasets, re-logging and assaying diamond drill core for graphite, followed by expanded VTEM work and drill testing once access agreements are in place.
