Capital Metals begins auger drilling at southern Sri Lanka licence

Sri Lanka-focussed natural resources company Capital Metals announced on Tuesday that the auger drilling programme at its southern exploration license EL199 has started.

The AIM-traded firm said it had engaged the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) in Sri Lanka to undertake the drilling programme.

It said the programme would be a combination of infill and resource extensions, aiming to confirm previous drill work and test with extension and step-out drilling.

That, it said, would assist it in delineating the key areas for any mining license applications over EL199, and build out its resource estimate.

Drilling was permitted under exploration licenses, with the company planning to drill 500 auger holes, which would take about three weeks.

The company said its newly-appointed technical manager Richard Stockwell was overseeing the drilling campaign, and ensuring quality assurance protocols were adhered to.

An older dune sequence, which appeared to contain a high-value mineral assemblage, had been identified by Stockwell, and would be tested during the current programme.

Recent, strict lockdown protocols in Sri Lanka, including the movement of people, had now come to an end.

Additionally, the firm noted that the Sri Lankan government had announced the resumption of state services, including public services, provincial councils, and local government, which had enabled the GSMB to travel to the project site to begin the drilling campaign.

“It is great to finally see our consultant team back at the project site area in order to begin our auger drilling campaign,” said chief executive officer Michael Frayne.

“Less than 10% of the project has been drilled to date and one of our key tasks is to build out the resources estimate from our current resource of 17.2 million tonnes at 17.6% total heavy minerals.”

Frayne said the campaign would assist the company in order to start planning for mining license applications over its southern license area.

“We are encouraged that Sri Lanka’s strict Covid-19 protocols are now being relaxed and government departments are returning to work, and trust this results in the timely approval of the environmental impact assessment.”

At 0912 BST, shares in Capital Metals were up 5.63% at 11.25p.