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- Metals exploration company Caprice Resources (CRS) has issued its quarterly activities report for the period ending March 31, 2020
- The company reported drilling results from its Wild Horse Hill project, but experienced bureaucratic issues at its Northampton project
- Current COVID-related travel restrictions will impact Caprice’s ability to conduct field activities at these projects in the June quarter
- The company’s directors have agreed to accrue their salaries in order to help maintain company cash reserves
- Caprice Resources is down eight per cent of the market today, with shares trading for 11.5 cents each
Metals exploration company Caprice Resources (CRS) has issued its quarterly activities report for the period ending March 31, 2020.
In the first three months of 2020, Caprice made some progress on its Wild Horse Hill Project in the Northern Territory.
In the previous December quarter, the company conducted its maiden drilling campaign on the Cook Prospect of Wild Horse Hill. The initial testing of the Cook Prospect consisted of 10 RC drill holes, each measuring a maximum 150 metres in depth.
This year, the results of that initial program showed one significant intersection of 4 metres at 2.94g/t of gold. The result came from hole 19WH005, on the western margin of the proposed target area. No other significant intercepts came up outside of that hole.
These initial drilling results have moved Caprice to conduct a thorough desktop review of future plans for Wild Horse Hill.
In comparison, the company did not conduct any exploration activities at its Northampton project in March’s quarter. Instead, Caprice found itself tied up with bureaucratic red tape which hindered its activities at the WA site.
This year, the company submitted surface rights and access agreements to the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP). This would allow Caprice to start drilling and permitting approval activities at Northampton’s Historical Wheal Fortune lead copper mine.
While the company did receive the DMP’s approval, there were significant delays. As such, Caprice has noted that the delay will impact its planned work programs at Northampton.
The company also faced issues to do with land ownership of lots which the project is situated within. Thus far, Caprice has secured a signed access and mineral rights deed from Coolooloo Nominees. These are the current owners and occupiers of Lots 334 and 11,061, both of which the Wheal Fortune prospect sits on.
However, when the company lodged this agreement with the DMP to remove the restrictions, it hit an unexpected snag. The DMP first required a copy of the original grant of title (the Crown Grant) of both land parcels from Landgate.
As such, Caprice had to trace title searches all the way back to 1899, to confirm that the Crown owns the minerals. The company has since had the restrictions removed.
After this hassle, Caprice has consulted with its tenement manager and legal advisors, to continue its strategic review of some exploration licenses. There is increasing uncertainty about securing further agreements with the legal landholder. As such, the company will reconsider the commercial merit of allocating more funds to exploration on these licenses.
Looking to the future, Caprice has acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations. Current travel restrictions will make it difficult to conduct field activities at Wild Horse Hill and Northampton in June’s quarter.
To help maintain the company’s cash reserves during this time, Caprice Directors have agreed to the accrual of their salaries. The company is also assessing and evaluating other opportunities which may diversify its assets and improve shareholder value.
Caprice Resources is down eight per cent of the market today, with shares trading for 11.5 cents each.
