Drilling - ASX:CMM

Lexington hits 6m at 57.38g/t and 7m at 40.01g/t; Orion South 21.83m at 9.54g/t

Capricorn reports September quarter drilling at the Mt Gibson underground prospects: 88 holes (26,668 m) at Lexington and Hornet, and 45 holes (10,575 m) at Orion South. The best intervals are high grade, including 6.0m at 57.38 g/t Au at Lexington and 21.83m at 9.54 g/t Au at Orion South, and they sit below current reserve pit and stope designs. No new resource is stated; a maiden Inferred Lexington underground estimate is expected later this quarter.

26 Oct 2026, 8:27 am (price sensitive) - Capricorn Metals announced: "Further High-Grade Results at Lexington" (61 pages) - read the original

73Drill
Score

73StrongPositive

Best intercept344.3 g-m6m @ 57.4g/t Au from 616m Excellent

Disclosure2 flags1 serious issue

Cash runwaySelf-fundinglatest Appendix 5B

Day-1 reaction+3.6%+0.7% vs the XGD

Gold on the dayA$5,709US$4,008/oz

What investors must know

88 holes (26,668 m, diamond and RC) were drilled at Lexington and Hornet in the September 2026 quarter, plus 45 holes (10,575 m) at Orion South.
Lexington's standout intervals are 6.0m at 57.38 g/t Au from 616m and 7.0m at 40.01 g/t Au from 401m, with 29.5m at 6.65 g/t from 760.5m.
Hornet's 3.0m at 89.88 g/t Au from 120m lies beneath the current reserve pit outline, and 14.5m at 1.44 g/t from 278m is a wider, lower grade interval.
Orion South returned 21.83m at 9.54 g/t Au from 371m, and drilling now defines more than 1,600m of prospective strike.
Mineralisation continues below reserve pit and stope designs and is open along strike and at depth, but the release states no new resource or reserve.
Widths are down-hole only, and the tables mix 1 g/t and 0.5 g/t cut-offs with different internal waste rules, so the intervals are not fully like-for-like.
Lexington's maiden Inferred underground Mineral Resource Estimate is expected later this quarter, and further assays are expected in Q2 FY27.

The drill intercepts, normalised

Best hit344 gram-metresExcellent6m @ 57.4g/t Au from 616m in CMRC2555D

LowModestGoodReally goodExcellentStellar

Excellent - a genuinely strong hit by any ASX standard.

How every hole did - one block per hole, coloured by its best hit

Excellent 4
Really good 6
Good 7
Modest 27
No significant hit 126

17 of 170 holes reached 'good' or better (4 excellent, 6 really good, 7 good); the other 153 were modest, low or nil.

The holes, side by side - schematic, best hole first

Each line is a hole drilled from the surface (top); each block is a reported interval at its down-hole depth, sized by its width and coloured by its rating. The holes are side by side for comparison, not at their real positions, and are drawn only as deep as their deepest reported interval. Hover a block for the numbers; the 32 other holes are in the table below.

Every interval, in numbers

Every interval as metal-metres: width x grade (gram-metres for gold, %-metres for copper). Gold bands are Stockhead's rule of thumb: over 50 good, 100-200 really good, 200-500 excellent, beyond that stellar (and under 10, low). Top share is how much of an interval comes from its richest sub-interval - the smearing check.

Hole	From	Width	Grade	Metal-metres	Rating	Top share	Notes
CMRC2555D	616m	6m	57.4 g/t Au	344.3 g-m	Excellent		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1 (1 g/t, minimum 1m, 5.5m...
CMRC3143D	401m	7m	40.0 g/t Au	280.1 g-m	Excellent		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1. Open pit table (0.5 g/t)...
CMRC2552D	120m	3m	89.9 g/t Au	269.6 g-m	Excellent		Hornet highlight in text. Appendix 1. Open pit table (0.5 g/t) lists...
CMRC2635D	371m	21.8m	9.54 g/t Au	208.3 g-m	Excellent		Orion South highlight in text. Appendix 1b (2m internal waste, the...
CMRC2612D	761m	29.5m	6.65 g/t Au	196.2 g-m	Really good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1. Open pit table lists 31.29m...
CMRC3145D	294m	3.4m	56.0 g/t Au	189.2 g-m	Really good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1.
CMRC2648D	175m	9m	18.5 g/t Au	166.2 g-m	Really good		Not in the text. Figure 5 label gives the same interval. Appendix 1b...
CMRC2539D	289m	6.8m	20.2 g/t Au	137.3 g-m	Really good		Orion South. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the same interval.
CMRC2412D	501m	14.5m	8.44 g/t Au	122.4 g-m	Really good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1.
CMRC2619D	260m	41m	2.65 g/t Au	108.7 g-m	Really good		Text gives 32.0m at 3.25 g/t from 260m for this hole, which is not in...
CMRC2538D	160m	10.7m	9.13 g/t Au	98.1 g-m	Good		Orion South. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the same interval.
CMRC2412D	364m	20m	4.69 g/t Au	93.8 g-m	Good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1.
CMRC2558D	518m	32.5m	2.64 g/t Au	85.8 g-m	Good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1.
CMRC2537D	238m	5.1m	15.4 g/t Au	78.6 g-m	Good		Orion South. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the same interval.
CMRC2622DW1	556m	23.3m	3.14 g/t Au	73.3 g-m	Good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1.
CMRC2642DW1	584m	34.8m	2.10 g/t Au	73.1 g-m	Good		Lexington highlight in text. Appendix 1.
CMRC2619D	242m	6.4m	9.21 g/t Au	58.9 g-m	Good		Appendix 1.
CMRC2541D	241m	4.5m	13.0 g/t Au	57.9 g-m	Good		Orion South. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the same interval.
CMRC2538D	176m	1.6m	32.7 g/t Au	52.3 g-m	Good		Appendix 1b. Separate interval in the same hole as the 10.74m at 9.13...
CMRC2536D	264m	10m	5.18 g/t Au	51.8 g-m	Good		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2587	107m	5m	9.71 g/t Au	48.6 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2630D	92m	6m	8.08 g/t Au	48.5 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2536D	356m	3m	15.4 g/t Au	46.3 g-m	Modest		Orion South highlight in text (3.0m at 15.43 g/t). Appendix 1b.
CMRC3122	170m	16m	2.88 g/t Au	46.1 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2608D	489m	5.0m	9.18 g/t Au	46.0 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2610D	505m	28m	1.60 g/t Au	44.8 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2524D	490m	10.1m	4.36 g/t Au	44.1 g-m	Modest		Orion South highlight in text. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the...
CMRC2628D	400m	18.8m	2.35 g/t Au	44.1 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2540D	312m	7.8m	5.47 g/t Au	42.6 g-m	Modest		Orion South highlight in text. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the...
CMRC2622D	646m	17.1m	2.49 g/t Au	42.6 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2533D	422m	13.5m	3.10 g/t Au	41.8 g-m	Modest		Orion South. Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label gives the same interval.
CMRC2574	228m	11m	3.46 g/t Au	38.1 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2608D	328m	10.1m	3.68 g/t Au	37.2 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2622D	617m	12.6m	2.84 g/t Au	35.6 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2535D	66m	9m	3.89 g/t Au	35.0 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC3143D	351m	20.7m	1.68 g/t Au	34.7 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2557D	842m	2.6m	13.5 g/t Au	34.5 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1. Figure 5 label not checked.
CMRC2625D	750m	2.8m	12.2 g/t Au	34.3 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2535DW1	268m	7.3m	4.41 g/t Au	32.0 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2628D	364m	19m	1.67 g/t Au	31.7 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2618D	64m	4m	7.42 g/t Au	29.7 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2536DW1	260m	7.9m	3.60 g/t Au	28.4 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b. Figure 5 label shows 7.90m at 3.60 g/t from 260.43m...
CMRC2553D	319m	12.2m	2.33 g/t Au	28.4 g-m	Modest	50%	Hornet highlight in text (CMRC2553D). Appendix 1.
CMRC2543D	89m	1m	28.1 g/t Au	28.1 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1. Single-metre high-grade interval.
CMRC2640DW1	528m	2.9m	9.76 g/t Au	27.8 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2616DW1	459m	7m	3.90 g/t Au	27.3 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2535D	30m	6m	4.43 g/t Au	26.6 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2555D	630m	11.3m	2.36 g/t Au	26.6 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC3138DW1	373m	1.1m	21.6 g/t Au	24.2 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2548D	19m	4m	5.99 g/t Au	24.0 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1.
CMRC2592	41m	5m	4.78 g/t Au	23.9 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2605D	51m	9m	2.65 g/t Au	23.9 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC2634D	72m	7m	3.34 g/t Au	23.4 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1b (2m internal waste).
CMRC3136D	499m	7.6m	3.08 g/t Au	23.4 g-m	Modest		Appendix 1. Azimuth is blank for this hole in the collar table.
CMRC2552D	278m	14.5m	1.44 g/t Au	20.9 g-m	Modest	60%	Hornet highlight in text. Appendix 1.
incl. CMRC2553D	319m	4m	3.57 g/t Au	14.3 g-m			Including sub-interval stated in text only (4.0m at 3.57 g/t from...
incl. CMRC2552D	283m	3.5m	3.55 g/t Au	12.4 g-m			Including sub-interval stated in text only (3.5m at 3.55 g/t from...

Checked against the PDF. Every interval above is printed in the announcement itself - each width and grade was found, together, in the PDF's own text.

Holes reported: 170 of 88 drilled
Metres drilled: 26,668
Drilling: Combined diamond (NQ2 core on RC pre-collars) and RC, Topdrill rigs
Cut-off grade: Lexington and Orion South underground: 1 g/t Au, minimum 1m. Appendix 1c open pit: 0.5 g/t Au, minimum 1m.
Max internal dilution: Lexington: 5.5m (text and Appendix 1). Orion South: 2m (text and Appendix 1b). Open pit (Appendix 1c): 2m.
True widths: Not stated - intervals are down-hole
Hole spacing: Hole spacing is not stated in the release. Table 1 gives RC spacing of 50m N x 50m E to 25m N x 25m E for resource work at MGGP. Lexington is extension drilling below and along strike of the reserve outline, about 600m north of Orion South. Orion South drilling is infill and extension of the principal lodes, plus a steep Western Lode position.
Depth: Intercepts run from about 260m to more than 840m down-hole. Vertical depths are not stated and the tables give no hole depths. The tables list collar RL and dip, so depths could be worked out, but the release does not do so. Holes_reported (about 170) is counted from the Appendix 1c list, which contains every hole in Appendices 1 and 1b.

Against the project's earlier holes

Against DrillScore's earlier intercepts (best 25, 31 Jul 2026), this release is stronger at the top end. The 6.0m at 57.38 g/t and 3.0m at 89.88 g/t exceed the highest grade in that history list (4m at 41.09 g/t), and the 7.0m at 40.01 g/t sits just below it. Width and total metal cannot be compared on the same basis because the history list uses its own cut-offs and the release does not say which holes were reported before.

Against similar explorers

The top hits are very high grade for an underground program, and the 6.0m at 57.38 g/t and 3.0m at 89.88 g/t are at the top end of what explorers usually show. Most tabled intervals sit between 1 and 5 g/t. On the rough gram-metre guide the best Lexington hits look well above 'good', but DrillScore's code will score them. A single high-grade hole is common for explorers, so the wider, repeatable intercepts matter more.

Gram-metre calculator - gram-metres explained - the leaderboard

Disclosure checks - the ASX's own focus areas

Drill-hole table (collars, dip, azimuth, depth, every intercept)
caution
JORC Table 1, Section 1 - sampling techniques and data
pass
JORC Table 1, Section 2 - reporting of exploration results
pass
Competent person statement
pass
No metal equivalents - grades as assayed
pass
Balanced reporting - low and high grades both shown
The text quotes 6 Lexington, 3 Hornet and 4 Orion South highlights. The tables list only holes with significant intercepts, with no nil holes and no hole depths. The release does not say which holes are new, so the 88 holes drilled this quarter (plus 45 at Orion South) cannot be matched to the roughly 170 holes in the tables. Low-grade and nil results are not summarised.
fail
No visual estimates - assays only
pass
Down-hole widths only
Down-hole intervals can overstate how thick the mineralisation really is.
caution

Red flags and notes

Results look selectively reported

The text quotes 6 Lexington, 3 Hornet and 4 Orion South highlights. The tables list only holes with significant intercepts, with no nil holes and no hole depths. The release does not say which holes are new, so the 88 holes drilled this quarter (plus 45 at Orion South) cannot be matched to the roughly 170 holes in the tables. Low-grade and nil results are not summarised.

Drill-hole table is incomplete

Some holes, collar details or nil results are missing from the drill-hole table.

Down-hole widths only (true widths not stated)

Only down-hole widths are reported. Table 1 says drilling is at about 60 degrees to the west into a steep east-dipping lode, so intercepts are described as roughly perpendicular in most cases, but no true widths or conversion factors are stated.

Holes in the tables may include earlier drilling

Appendix 1c lists about 170 holes, against 88 Lexington-Hornet and 45 Orion South holes drilled in the quarter. The release does not mark which holes or intercepts are new, so earlier results may be repackaged as new.

Two internal waste rules in one release

Appendix 1 applies up to 5.5m internal waste to every hole, including Orion South holes that the text says use 2m. Appendix 1b uses 2m. The same style of result therefore gets different interval lengths depending on which table it sits in.

Text and table disagree for CMRC2619D

The text gives 32.0m at 3.25 g/t from 260m. Appendix 1 gives 41m at 2.65 g/t from 260m for the same hole. Two Hornet including intervals (4.0m at 3.57 g/t and 3.5m at 3.55 g/t) appear only in the text. The table figures are used here.

Drill-hole table incomplete

The tables have no hole depth column and do not list holes with nil results. Holes drilled (88 and 45) cannot be matched to the holes listed, so nil results cannot be checked.

Why these matter: JORC Table 1 - metal equivalents - balanced reporting - visual estimates

How the price reacted

The result against the marketStrong result - the market shrugged

DrillScore 73 (top 13% of drill results), and on day 1 the stock moved +0.7% against the gold index (XGD).

Every result vs its reaction

From the last close before the market could trade on it ($12.39 on 23 Oct 2026), with day-1 volume 1.2x the 20-day average.

Day 1+3.6%+0.7% vs the XGD

Day 5+5.9%+0.9% vs the XGD

Day 20waitingnot traded that long yet

CMM's past price-sensitive news

After 9 earlier announcements, CMM rose on day 1 3 times and fell 6 times - an average move of +1.1%.

28 Oct 26-0.2%
2 Oct 26-0.4%
22 Sep 26+1.0%
26 Aug 26-2.4%
25 Aug 26+0.2%
13 Aug 26-1.5%
13 Aug 26-1.5%
30 Jul 26-0.2%
24 Jul 26+15.1%

DrillScore has no price reactions on record for CMM's earlier price-sensitive news. Between the release and now, the share price moved from A$12.39 to A$13.63 (about +10%). That is close to the ASX gold index move (XGD +11.3%), so the move looks more like sector-wide gold strength than a stock-specific reaction. This describes past movement only and says nothing about future prices.

Past reactions describe what happened, not what will. How prices react to results

The historical pattern

What share prices did after past results like this one, from DrillScore's own records. It describes the past: it isn't a forecast for CMM and it isn't advice.

Results scored like this'Strong' results No clear lean

After 5 other drill results rated 'Strong', stocks moved -0.1% by day 1, +0.1% by day 5 and -0.2% by day 20 against the XGD on average.

Day 1: -0.1%
Day 5: +0.1%
Day 20: -0.2%

5 results, against the XGD

CMM's own record8 earlier announcements No clear lean

After its earlier announcements, CMM moved +1.1% by day 1, +0.5% by day 5 and -1.9% by day 20 against the XGD on average.

Day 1: +1.1%
Day 5: +0.5%
Day 20: -1.9%

8 results, against the XGD

The market it landed inXGD -12.8% in 20 days Leaned up

In the 20 trading days before this release the XGD gold index moved -12.8% (falling). After 34 past gold announcements released into a falling gold index, stocks moved +1.8% by day 1, +4.1% by day 5 and +11.4% by day 20 on average - before taking the market's own move out.

Day 1: +1.8%
Day 5: +4.1%
Day 20: +11.4%

34 results, raw moves

A strand leans up or down when its day-5 average is 1% or more either way. Each is shown on its own and never added up into a prediction: small samples swing, and every result is different. The full backtest - how it's worked out

The market it landed in

Market	On the day	Now	Since
Gold (US$/oz)	US$4,008	US$3,886	-3.0%
Gold (A$/oz)	A$5,709	A$5,737	+0.5%
Copper (US$/lb)	US$6.48	US$6.09	-6.0%
AUD/USD	0.7020	0.6774	-3.5%

Gold in US dollars fell about 3% from the release (US$4,007.9/oz to US$3,886.3/oz). Gold in A$ rose 0.5% to about A$5,737/oz because the Australian dollar fell about 3.5% (US$0.702 to US$0.6774). Spot in A$ is far above the A$2,200/oz reserve price and the A$2,800/oz optimisation price cited in Figure 5, and above the A$1,648/oz June quarter AISC in DrillScore's history, so the margin at spot is wide. The release does not contain a new economic study, so this is context only. Sector mood was mixed: the ASX gold index (XGD) rose 11.3% and GDX gained 1.8%, while GDXJ eased 0.3%, copper miners (COPX) fell 5.3% and silver fell 8.5%. US yields rose 0.17 points and the US dollar index rose 1.6%, both of which weigh on gold in US dollar terms.

Against CMM's own history

DrillScore's earlier intercepts (best 25, 31 Jul 2026) peak at 15m at 14.61 g/t (219 g-m as scored) and 4m at 41.09 g/t. This release's 6.0m at 57.38 g/t and 3.0m at 89.88 g/t are higher-grade single intervals than any in that list. Cash was A$504.8m at 30 June 2026 with no debt, and the database records A$535m at 30 September 2026. No capital raising is on record, so this release carries no dilution signal. The Mt Gibson PFS (27 July 2026) shows about 260koz a year, and this drilling extends the underground base beyond it.

Risks & caveats

Down-hole widths only. True widths are not given, so the true thickness of the lodes is not yet known.
The best grades come from short intervals (for example 3.0m at 89.88 g/t and 6.0m at 57.38 g/t). A few metres drive much of the result.
No resource exists yet for Lexington. The Inferred estimate depends on drill density, assay confirmation and the modelling choices still to be made.
Deeper Hornet assays are still pending, so the Hornet picture is incomplete.
The release mixes cut-offs and internal waste rules and does not say which holes are new, so the reader cannot compare like with like.

What's next

Maiden Inferred underground Mineral Resource Estimate for Lexington - later this quarter (Oct to Dec 2026, Q2 FY27)
Further assay results across the Mt Gibson deposits, including deeper Hornet drilling - Q2 FY27 (Oct to Dec 2026)
Commissioning of the on-site core processing facility at MGGP - planned November 2026

Questions worth asking

Which holes and intercepts in Appendices 1, 1b and 1c are new in this release, and which were reported earlier?
Why do the internal waste limits differ between Appendix 1 (5.5m), Appendix 1b and the Orion South text (2m), and which rule will the Lexington maiden resource use?
What are the true widths and hole spacings for the Lexington and Hornet intercepts, and how many holes in the program had nil results?
Why does the CMRC2619D text (32.0m at 3.25 g/t from 260m) differ from the Appendix 1 table (41m at 2.65 g/t)?
What tonnes, grade and classification (Inferred or Indicated share) will the Lexington maiden underground resource report, and when?

What it means

For someone following CMM, this release adds underground ounces to the Mt Gibson story. The best Lexington, Hornet and Orion South intercepts are high grade and sit below current reserve designs, which supports the case for more underground ore. The evidence is still early: assays only, no new resource, down-hole widths, and a set of tables that mixes cut-offs and does not say which holes are new. The next useful checkpoints are the Lexington maiden Inferred estimate and the Q2 FY27 assays. This is general information, not personal advice.

General information only - not financial advice. DrillScore's analyses are produced automatically by an AI model (Claude, by Anthropic) from the company's own ASX announcement and public market data, and scored by a fixed formula (how it works). They can be wrong or incomplete, don't consider your objectives or circumstances, and are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything. Always read the original announcement and consider advice from a licensed adviser.

Decoded 15 Nov 2026, 8:17 am by claude-haiku-5-5 - confidence: medium. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

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