Castillo said it had “exceptional” laboratory assay results that confirm a major copper discovery at Big One deposit which is within its 100 per cent owned Mt Oxide project.

It said a drilling campaign at Big One Deposit had confirmed two 40 to 44-metre wide, potentially economic, intercepts from surface, with grades of up to 16.65 per cent copper.

“The company believes there is now compelling evidence of a shallow, high-grade copper-cobalt system at Big One with the potential to scale further,” it told the ASX.

Copper prices are at a seven-year high, chiefly because it is a vital resource used in renewable energy projects.

Castillo managing director Simon Paull said results could be transformative for the Big One deposit.

“The assays build on historic high-grade economic intercepts at the deposit while also demonstrating the potential for significant further upside with mineralisation observed away from the main copper lode,” he said.

“There is now compelling evidence that Big One Deposit is a scalable, shallow, high-grade copper-cobalt system. This is particularly exciting at a time when global copper supplies are tight and growing demand is driving the copper price to new highs.”

Because of its high conductivity and efficiency, copper is used in wind turbine generators and in solar panels. At least 40kg of copper is used in electric vehicles and a wind turbine would use about 860kg.

The project still has some way to go before it becomes a mine but Castillo has started work to define the resource.

‘”As we await the next batch of assay results, we are very excited to build our understanding of the full scale and nature of the system at Big One,” Paull said.

Castillo’s ASX announcement said the mineralisation was spread out and secondary enrichment was apparent with several samples of more than 10 per cent of copper.

It has also discovered high cobalt grades and within the high-grade copper zone, there were anomalous readings for silver-arsenic-bismuth and very minor gold readings.

Castillo said the full assay results, which included the entire seven drill-holes completed in the first tranche confirmed the presence of at least two mineralised lenses and a low-grade halo around the main ore body.

“With a game-changing discovery of this nature at Big One Deposit, the board is now actively accelerating forward development plans,” Paull said.

“While there is a pause in drilling activities, due to the commencement of the wet season across northern Australia, a geophysics campaign is being formulated to identify new bedrock conductors (and potential test-drill targets).

“If the outcome of the geological modelling is positive, then the board expects to commence applying for a fresh mining lease. ”

Mt Oxide is a historical copper mining zone within the Mount Isa copper-belt district.