Alien Metals (UFO ), a London-based mineral exploration company, updated markets today on its Mexican concessions, San Celso and Donovan 2. (see Figure 1)

Alien Metals said it has received lab results from its preliminary drilling program at the two sites. Seven holes were drilled for a total of 611 meters - 3 holes at San Celso (201m) and 4 holes at Donovan 2 (410m).

                                              Figure 1: Location of Alien Metals' Projects in Mexico

The company said it found no significant intersections at San Celso from this initial programme. At Donovan 2, an "anomalous section" was found with a 1.87m interval in hole DONDD-A03, returning an assay of 0.33% Copper with minor associated Lead and Zinc from a depth of 9.43m to 11.3m. (see Figure 2 and Figure 3)

While these early results from Donovan 2 are somewhat underwhelming, with returns of 15-20% in the key areas, the "anomalous section" is encouraging as further copper mineralisation has been identified, Alien Metals said.

                                               Figure 2: Copper anomalies in drill hole DONDD-A03, July 2022

                                               Figure 3: Zinc anomalies in drill hole DONDD-A03, July 2022

Furthermore, drilling at Donovan identified a 34m zone of weakly anomalous zinc in hole DONDD-A04 (see Figure 4 and Figure 5), correlating with a similar zone in hole DON21-01 that the company drilled in 2021. Alien Metals says this could be an indication of a higher-grade orebody below, and the company is currently reviewing data to decide whether further programmes are warranted. It should also be noted that the nearby San Nicolas deposit was found at a depth of 200m, and Donovan 2's target zone could be deeper than tested so far.

                                                 Figure 4: Zinc anomalies in drill hole DONDD-A04, July 2022

                                                 Figure 5: Schematic interpretation of main geology around Hole DONDD-A04, July 2022

Alien Metals also explained that operations at San Celso have halted, as local stakeholders are currently not allowing access to its central license. Alien Metals had identified the central license as the priority target area for the site, but operations will not continue until future access can be secured.

Bill Brodie Good, CEO, expressed disappointment in the results, but remained optimistic: "Geologically, enough indicators are present for us to remain optimistic and they may provide vectors to a potentially larger zone of mineralisation. While we will continue to review the next phase of activity for these projects, the Company will continue to push forward with the Hancock Iron Ore Project and the Munni Munni Complex in Western Australia."

View from Vox

While today's results from Mexico are not what Alien Metals' investors had hoped for, results from DONDD-A04 are encouraging. The borehole has a zone of elevated zinc from 161-195m with a high value of 468 g/t Zn and an average of 176 g/t Zn in conjunction with elevated values for magnesium and manganese. These may be indications that a more economic body is closeby, either deeper or laterally. In 2021, a comparable elevated zinc zone in hole DON-01 was found, suggesting that weak mineralisation at this level could be a sign of a source deeper in the profile.

Moreover, as alluded in the CEO's comments above, Alien Metals has other valuable concessions, including the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project and the Munni Munni PGE Project in Western Australia.

Alien Metals is also increasing its stake to 90% in the Hancock Iron Ore Project in Western Australia, set to be highly profitable based on preliminary drilling. The company also announced recently its full acquisition of the Vivash Gorge iron ore project. With this addition, Alien Metals now has three strategically located iron ore projects within the Pilbara region of Western Austria.

The company also frequently evaluates projects outside Mexico and Australia. In the last two years, this has included West Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Overall, Alien Metals has had quite a busy FY22 so far. The company is well-financed, with a growing number of staff and acquisitions. Shares of Alien Metals have largely resisted the recent downturn in equities, remaining roughly flat YTD. On 31 December 2021, the company had total assets of US$13m (2020: US$9.4m) of which US$6.4m was cash (2020: US$5.4m).

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