Caprice Resources (ASX: CRS) has reported high-grade gold results from Phase 1 of its reverse circulation (RC) drill programme at the Island Gold Project in Western Australia. The drilling has intersected thick, high-grade gold mineralisation within previously unrecognised, cross-cutting “Break of Day” analogue targets.
Chief executive officer Luke Cox said the results demonstrated the mineralisation thickening and increasing grade down plunge compared to the near-surface gold mineralisation. He added that multiple stacked lodes were intersected, supporting the potential for a substantial maiden resource.
Gold mineralisation at the Island Gold Project occurs along a 5km strike between the New Orient Gold Mine in the north and the Skipper prospect in the south. It is hosted within banded iron formations (BIFs), which are known to control high-grade gold lodes in the Murchison Goldfields. Prior to Caprice’s drilling, exploration was limited to an average depth of 70 vertical metres. The recent drill programme intersected significant sequences of mineralisation, with results including:
- 28m at 6.4 g/t gold from 114m downhole at Vadrians Hill, including:
- 12m at 7.8 g/t from 114m, and
- 4m at 16.4 g/t from 130m.
- 27m at 3.0 g/t from 48m downhole, including:
- 4m at 4.9 g/t from 61m, and
- 5m at 6.9 g/t from 69m.
- 15m at 4.6 g/t from 112m downhole, including:
- 9m at 7.0 g/t from 113m.
- 9m at 2.8 g/t from 27m downhole at Baxter/Golconda, including:
- 3m at 5.8 g/t from 30m.
- 12m at 3.9 g/t from 90m downhole, including:
- 6m at 5.9 g/t from 94m.
- 8m at 1.5 g/t from 114m downhole, including:
- 2m at 4.6 g/t from 118m.
- 1m at 34.9 g/t from 130m downhole.
Gold mineralisation at the project is structurally controlled, with en échelon vein sets developed within the BIF host rock. These veins trend north-northwest and are controlled by a major cross-cutting structure, with additional mineralisation found in fold hinges plunging 45° to 60°.
The Phase 1 drill programme, completed in December 2024, comprised 10 holes for 1,554m, with assays now received for all holes. The Phase 2 drill programme, consisting of 30 holes for approximately 3,500m, commenced on 1 February 2025 and is expected to be completed this month, with assay results due from late March to early April.
Caprice continues geological interpretations and modelling at New Orient and across the broader Island Gold Project, with further drilling planned to expand on these results while advancing towards a maiden resource.
