Alien Metals (UFO ) confirmed to investors that drilling at the first hole of the maiden drilling program at the Donovan 2 copper gold project in Mexico (Figure 1) has now commenced.
The drilling, which is being funded and managed by Capstone Mining Corp as per the earn-in agreement signed last year, commenced on 25 February 2021 ahead of schedule.
The initial drill hole, DON21-001, targets previous UFO sampling work undertaken in an old water well which returned up to 3.3% Copper coincident with an IP geophysical anomaly.
Figure 1: Location of Donovan 2 Project, Mexico, March 2021
(Source: Alien Metals)
An Induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical survey across the majority of the tenement was successfully completed by Capstone back in December 2020. The final reporting and interpretation were completed and has led to the start of this maiden drilling program.
Capstone have planned an initial 2,500m drilling program as part of their required $0.45m expenditure commitment for 2021. Drilling will initially test the Los Alomos target in the water well area and then the Cerro de la Cruz target in the northwest area of the tenement.
Figure 2 below shows provisional hole locations over a chargeability map at 150m below surface generated from the recent IP survey carried out by Capstone. Capstone said these holes are all ready to be drilled now with an amended drilling permit already in place.
Figure 2: Location of provisional drill holes over Chargeability -150m depth, Donovan 2, February 2021
(Source: Alien Metals)
“It’s very exciting that Capstone is already drilling the first hole at Donovan 2 in such a short timeframe,” commented Bill Brodie Good, CEO & Technical Director of Alien Metals.
Brodie Good said UFO remains “very encouraged” by the results of the recent IP survey, highlighting that the Company now has 3 geophysical targets as well as the Los Alomos.
“With the copper price at its highest for over 9 years and its continued demand this exciting news is very well timed, and we are excited to see the results,” he also added to investors.
The Board of Alien said it continues to assess a range of mineral projects and opportunities, ‘with particular focus on exploration projects with near term news flow and value creation.’
Shares in Alien Metals have increased by over 65% in value since the beginning of October 2020. UFO has now kick-started its 2,500m drilling programme at the Donovan 2 copper gold project in Mexico ahead of schedule as copper prices hit a nearly 10-year high last week. The Company said it believes the project can “grow quickly into a significant entity.” which should generate a positive re-rating for the shares.
Reasons to Follow UFO
UFO’s portfolio of exploration stage assets includes volcanogenic massive sulphide style mineralisation (copper, zinc and lead), high-grade silver projects in Mexico and a 51% interest in two highly prospective iron ore projects in the Pilbara region in Australia.
The company said its portfolio may be expanded to include other minerals such as iron ore and lithium, and jurisdictions within Africa and Asia where its management has demonstrable expertise advancing assets in line with international reporting standards.
Expanding License Areas
In recent weeks, the company was granted a 208 km2 exploration licence by Ironbark Zinc surrounding the Citronen zinc-lead project, a high-grade metal project located in northern Greenland which is believed to be one of the world's largest undeveloped zinc-lead projects.
The minerals exploration and development company said the project holds a JORC resource of 131.1m tonnes @ 4.5% zinc and lead for 13bn pounds of contained zinc and lead metal.
The licence is valid until 31 December 2023 and continues UFO’s strategy of identifying counter-cyclical opportunities in first class mining jurisdictions with ‘excellent upside potential.’
"The Company and its advisers continue to assess new projects and identified an opportunity to secure an exploration footprint in northern Greenland on strike and adjacent to the world class undeveloped Citronen zinc-lead project,” said CEO, Bill Brodie Good.
IBK believes the projects offer an attractive entry into one of the world's premier silver belts and will soon start marketing them to a range of potential investors and project partners.
UFO said it will continue its efforts in exploring and developing the projects and simultaneously consider third party funding options to develop and mine the projects.
In other recent news, the company has also recently completed a detailed geological mapping and sampling programme at the Hamersley iron ore projects in Australia with field observations indicating that two of its prospects may be part of the same larger system.
The two projects, which have demonstrated “great potential” are located in the Hamersley Province which is known as one of the premier iron ore producing regions of the world.
Preliminary handheld XRF results are consistent with those observed in the 2019 field programme, with reported ranges of between 40% and 70% iron.
Alien Metals has now commenced preparing a Program of Works ("POW") for submission ahead of drilling.
Meanwhile, North American advisor firm IBK Capital has commenced the marketing process for the Company's San Celso and Los Campos silver projects which are located in Mexico.
The process for the silver projects follows the successful earn-in transaction with Capstone Mining announced earlier in October 2020 regarding UFO’s Donovan 2 copper-gold project.
Complementary Acquisitions
Alien Metals has executed an acquisition-led strategy headed by a high-quality geological team to build a strong portfolio of diversified assets including two recent acquisitions in 2019
These include the Brockman and Hancock Ranges high-grade iron ore projects and the Elizabeth Hill Silver projects both located in the Pilbara region, Western Australia.
In addition to progressing its portfolio of assets and following its strategic review of its portfolio of silver and precious metals projects in Mexico, Alien Metals has identified priority exploration targets within its 9 mining concessions which it is working to advance systematically.
The Company’s silver projects are located in the Zacatecas State, Mexico’s largest silver producing state which produced over 190m oz of silver in 2018 alone accounting for 45% of the total silver production of Mexico for that year.
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