Castle Minerals says it has “better defined” the location of the prospective conglomerate gold targets that have become all the rage in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Conglomerate gold refers to nuggets hosted in rock containing rounded gray quartz pebbles and other minerals. The world’s most productive gold region, South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin, is famous for its similar geological formation.

The news comes after panning at the company’s (ASX:CDT) Coolyia Creek and Beasley Creek projects revealed fine-grained gold from bulk samples of stream sediments draining the Hardey and Mt Roe conglomerates.

Investors liked the news, sending shares up as much as 25 per cent to an intra-day high of 2.5c on Tuesday morning.

Hardey and Mt Roe Basalt are volcanic rock formations in the Pilbara’s Fortescue Basin which are known to host gold mineralisation as well as copper, zinc and uranium.

These horizons are considered to be the most likely hosts for the widely sought ‘Witwatersrand-style’ gold in the Pilbara.

Witwatersrand refers to the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa — a geological formation that houses the world’s biggest known gold reserves, producing 2 billion ounces or about half of gold ever mined.

Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) shares over the past year.
Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) shares over the past year.

Conglomerate-hosted gold became all the rage after Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) and Canadian partner Novo Resources uncovered what was described as “watermelon seed nuggets” south of Karratha in July last year.

Analysis of the nuggetty gold later determined it was conglomerate-hosted.

Castle’s mapping of the Mt Roe conglomerate confirms that the structure extends for about 4km within the Coolyia Creek project

At the Beasley Creek project, the Hardey and Mt Roe conglomerates stretch for roughly 4.4km.

“With the prospective conglomerates extending over many kilometres at both projects, this recent sampling and the accompanying detailed mapping will enable Castle to better define localities for eventual bulk sampling of the conglomerates themselves for in-situ gold mineralisation,” boss Stephen Stone told investors.

At the Beasley Creek project, Castle previously reported that it found 62 small gold nuggets proximal to the Mt Roe and Hardey conglomerates.

Stockhead is seeking further comment from Castle Minerals.

Featured Companies

You might be interested in