Alien Metals (UFO ) said it has initiated a second phase of drilling on the Hancock Licence which forms part of the Hamersley Iron Ore High Grade Project in Western Australia.
The minerals exploration and development firm said this second phase follows a recently completed maiden drilling program which the group described to investors as “excellent”.
Alien said it has just received the final set of maiden drilling results, adding that it is in the process of a final review and interpretation which is to be released ‘as soon as possible.’
Alien said it has ‘sufficient confidence’ from the analytical and geological results already available which enables it to return to the field and push on with an in-fill and extension drilling program where it has availability at short notice of the same drill rig and drill team.
The group’s focus for this round of drilling will be on completing drilling to potentially enable the Company to produce a maiden resource on the Sirius Extension Prospect.
The group explained that this would grant additional knowledge and further potential to the Ridge E Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) anomaly already defined while it will also enable it to test some newly identified DSO targets within the main area already drilled, including ridge C.
Should time and opportunity arise, Alien said some surface reconnaissance and mapping will also be done in areas to date untested to further expand on its knowledge of the project.
Figure 1: Hamersley Iron Ore Project, location of licences, Western Australia, May 2021
(Source: Alien Metals)
Figure 2: Detail of drill hole locations, Hancock Ridges A-E and Kalgan Prospect, Hancock Tenement, Hamersley Iron Ore Project, March 2021
(Source: Alien Metals)
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In recent weeks, Alien has received ‘encouraging’ initial results from its drilling program at the Hancock Iron Ore project, widening its understanding of the mineralisation of the area.
Today’s news follows the Alien’s execution of a conditional Share Sale Agreement which has increased its effective interest in the Hamersley Iron Ore Direct Shipping Ore Project.
With the company having acquired a more meaningful stake in the Hamersley project (from 51% interest to over 90%) in addition to the continued high price of iron ore and high demand Alien said it expects to drive Hamersley forward while continuing to deal with the necessary paperwork for maiden drilling on the highly prospective Brockman Licence further west.
Recently, Iron ore prices have risen to record highs with expectations building that benchmark prices could get to $200 a tonne which would beat the $194 hit more than a decade ago. As a result of the surging prices, Alien believes its iron ore projects will deliver significant value.
Shares in Alien Metals have increased by over 20% in value since the start of April 2021.
Reasons to 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 Licence 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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