Alien Metals (UFO ) said initial drilling at San Celso and Donovan 2 - two high-grade silver and copper-gold projects in Zacatecas - has intersected encouraging zones of alteration to date.
The minerals exploration company said it has intersected a 78m sulphide bearing zone containing alteration and disseminated sulphides at its Donovan 2 copper-gold project.
Bill Brodie Good, CEO & Technical Director of Alien Metals, said these results are “highly promising” for the potential presence of a VMS type mineralised system at Donovan 2.
[Source: Alien Metals]
Four holes (DONDD-A01 to DONDD-A04) were drilled for 411m with hole A04 returning a 78m thick zone of intense alteration and visible sulphides, including pyrite and arsenopyrite.
Meanwhile, at the company’s San Celso project in Mexico, three holes (SCDD-A01 to SCDD-A03) were drilled for 201m along the western strike of the main historic mines.
Alien commenced its inaugural drilling programme at San Celso earlier this year. As part of the programme, three diamond holes were drilled on the western end of the vein targets to test this area, while understanding the drilling conditions prior to moving to the central targets.
Due to the inadequate quality of core at San Celso, Alien moved the drill rig to Donovan 2 to understand if it was the ground or the drilling that caused issues at San Celso, it explained.
[Source: Alien Metals]
To date, a total of 611 metres have now been drilled; the company said the rig is now on standby due to the continued poor core recovery from both project areas pending results.
At San Celso, three holes were drilled for 201m along the western strike of the main historic mines. All three holes intersected zones of alteration, calcification and silicification associated with possible mineralised zones similar to the historic mineralisation identified on the permit.
Hole SCDD-A01, targeting the extension of the Christinatis vein, drilled through a 2m cavity that appears to be historic workings. Alien said the unexpected cavity is “highly encouraging,” as the group interprets this as a positive sign for additional silver mineralisation in this area.
Core recovery in the targeted zones, however, were found to be below expectations, it said.
As a result, Alien has submitted samples to the local laboratory for analysis. A review of the drilling method is in progress to increase effective core and sample recovery in future drilling.
[Source: Alien Metals]
Pictured: Cross Section of Hole DONDD-A04 at Donovan 2 on May 2022, which returned a 78m thick zone of intense alteration and visible sulphides, including pyrite and arsenopyrite.
Results from the group’s initial drilling will help define the follow-up drilling options at both Mexican-based projects whilst continuing with the planned Los Campos drilling campaign, Alien noted. It added that RC drilling is being considered as an alternative to core drilling.
Alien has submitted 436 samples to Actlabs in Guadalupe, Zacatecas State, for analysis of 38 main elements, including gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, as well as other trace elements.
“We are very pleased to see this initial drilling at San Celso and Donovan 2 intersect showing encouraging zones of alteration. “The team continues trenching and sampling activities at priority zones at San Celso, Donovan 2 and Los Campos,” commented Brodie Good.
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After a Covid-induced delay of two years, the company informed investors at the end of March 2022 that it had finally commenced the next round of exploration on its three Mexican assets.
After fostering a relationship with the local Mexican community during the pandemic, Alien was able to push ahead with what it considers to be a significant next stage of exploration.
The company believes this next stage is crucial for the further development of these projects, as maintaining the social licence to operate is vital to Alien’s approach to mineral exploration.
Alien also took the decision in February to combine the three programmes into a single, larger programme, to enable it to reduce overall costs and complete the programme more quickly.
It also expects the strong market dynamics for silver and copper, coupled with the projects’ geological potential, to provide shareholders with “very strong leverage” to any success.
Today’s update from Alien Metals is based on its internal assessment of observations to date whilst formal drilling results are awaited at its Mexican-based silver and copper-gold projects.
Initial drilling at the San Celso and Donovan 2 intersect has shown “encouraging zones of alteration” with drilling returning some particularly strong disseminated sulphide intersections at Donovan 2 which may indicate the potential presence of a VMS type mineralised system.
Results from the company’s initial drilling are expected to help define the follow-up drilling options at both projects whilst continuing with the planned Los Campos drilling campaign.
Meanwhile, RC drilling is also being considered by Alien as an alternative to core drilling.
Drilling at San Celso is targeting the mineralised vein systems previously exploited for their high-grade silver where head-grades in excess of 1,000 g/t silver were historically reported.
Drilling at Donovan 2 will target a potentially significant copper zone that has been associated with a previously reported sample of 3.34% Cu taken in the Los Alamos water well.
As Alien Metals continues trenching and sampling activities at priority zones at San Celso, Donovan 2 and Los Campos, investors can expect the assay results to arrive in due course.
Elsewhere, Alien recently identified further high-grade ridge targets at the Hancock Iron Ore Project, which forms part of the group’s Hamersley Iron Ore Project in Western Australia.
Bill Brodie Good, Chief Executive and Technical Director of Alien Metals told investors that ongoing exploration across the Hancock Project continues to deliver “outstanding results.”
The Group said it was “very pleased” with the continued positive exploration work and that it will continue to develop all these targets and new untested ground “in the coming months.”
Most recently, Alien reported its final assay results from the inaugural drilling programme at its Elizabeth Hill Silver Project which confirmed the “exceptionally high-grade tenor of the silver mineralisation, with additional excellent intersections within the historic orebody,” it reported.
Following these encouraging results, a plan for follow-up drilling is now underway to further test the potential repeat mineralisation and the larger envelope present at the project site.
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