Castle Minerals Limited (ASX: CDT), a gold explorer with tenure positions in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Western Australia, has announced a transformational acquisition, securing a 90% interest in the high-grade Nielle Gold Project in northern Côte d’Ivoire. This strategic move places Castle within a well-endowed West African gold belt, approximately 50 kilometres north of the 5-million-ounce Tongon Gold Mine. The Nielle Project, a 212-square-kilometre tenement application, is situated within the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt, known for significant gold discoveries.
The Nielle Gold Project is reported to feature a compelling high-grade gold system, with numerous shallow, high-grade intercepts already defined across a more than 1-kilometre drilled strike within a broader 4.5-kilometre mineralisation corridor. Historical drilling results highlight this potential, including intersections such as 5 metres at 15.42 grams per tonne gold from 7 metres and 13 metres at 5.07 grams per tonne gold from 12 metres. Castle intends to rapidly advance Nielle towards a maiden Mineral Resource estimation, leveraging the existing dataset and a pipeline of drill-ready targets, with further drilling planned to extend mineralisation along strike and at depth.
The acquisition terms include an initial US$50,000 option fee, followed by upfront consideration of US$500,000 cash and US$500,000 in Castle shares, subject to shareholder approval. Further payments are tied to timeframes and the delineation of JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimates, along with a 2.0% net smelter return production royalty. Simultaneously, Castle is undertaking a portfolio optimisation, proposing the divestment of its Ghanaian gold assets for US$400,000 to an international exploration company to enable capital reallocation. Reflecting its evolving strategic focus, the company also plans to seek shareholder approval for a name change to TerraNova Metals Limited.
