by Greg Klein | August 31, 2017

Phase I surface drilling originally planned for 1,500 metres has wrapped up on 22 holes totalling 2,405 metres as Castle Silver Resources TSXV:CSR sees new polymetallic potential from a former mine near Ontario’s Cobalt camp. Drill core assays are pending but re-evaluation of five chip samples ranged from 0.72 grams per tonne to 7.03 g/t gold, averaging 3.7 g/t. The original assays for the same samples, reported last June, averaged 1.06% cobalt, 5.3% nickel and 17.5 g/t silver. The samples were selected from 200 kilograms taken just inside the adit.

Castle Silver had the samples evaluated for gold after an 82-kilogram bulk sample of vein material showed 5.7 g/t gold, as well as 46.3 g/t silver and 1.48% cobalt in results reported last month.

More bulk sampling will follow now that IOS Services Géoscientifiques has tested the property’s vein structures with Niton portable XRF technology. The results will help identify targets for bulk sampling and underground drilling after the former mine’s drift has been rehabilitated.

Using a 14.8% cobalt concentrate produced from recently sampled material, Castle Silver plans tests with its proprietary Re-2OX hydrometallurgical process to produce cobalt hydroxide samples. The company also intends to gauge Re-2OX’s potential to recover lithium and cobalt from Li-ion batteries.

“We’re seeing the potential for a variety of mineralization types within the Castle mine, well beyond just the high-grade silver that was recovered intermittently during the 1900s,” said president/CEO Frank Basa. “CSR is well funded to carry out its plans for a strong operational finish to 2017.”

Last month the company closed a private placement of $897,500, bringing the total since March to nearly $2.6 million.