Alien Metals (UFO ), London-based mineral exploration company, revealed audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021 (FY2021), detailing the company's progress across its projects in Western Australia and Mexico, balance sheet improvement, and ambitious expansion plans.
Ongoing projects in Australia
In 2021, Alien Metals finalised its acquisition of the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and carried out inaugural drilling in Q4 2021. In January 2022, the company revealed initial results from full-scale operation, which showed an impressive 9m @ 8,326g/t silver from 15m, and 24.8m @ 829g/t silver from 2m.
Additionally, in March 2022 Alien confirmed full acquisition from Artemis Resources and Platina Resources of the Munni Munni Platinum Group Elements (PGE) Project. Contiguous to the Elizabeth Hill project, it hosts one of the biggest undeveloped PGE resources in Australia. A JORC 2004 estimate implied 24Mt @ 2.9g/t Platinum Group Element (PGE) and gold for 2.2Moz PGE. The historic resource hosts 1.14Moz palladium, 0.83Moz platinum, 152Koz gold and 76Koz rhodium. Alien was also granted a new exploration license for Munni Munni North, a separate project covering 117 km2 that shows promise based on past sampling.
Alien has also branched into iron mining in Australia, setting up a wholly owned subsidiary Iron Ore Company of Australia in November 2021. Its initial investment is the Hancock Ranges Project where it currently holds a 51% stake with a conditional agreement to increase interest to 90%.
Hancock's historical exploration has revealed 60.28% Fe @ 126m from the surface (hole 14SERC004). Alien carried out two drilling programmes in 2021 for a total of 91 holes and 5,551m. This drilling revealed 10.4Mt at 60.4% Fe from 3 separate deposits. A third drilling programme was started at the end of 2021.
Initial estimates for Hancock put projected cost FOB of US$60/t to mine and a total maximum Capex of US$30m. Thus, the project is set to be highly profitable as high grade iron ore reached US$230/t in 2021, and demand is expected to remain high. Moreover, Alien believes there is more high grade iron to be identified on the site as only 20-25% of the tenement has been explored to date.
Ongoing projects in Mexico
In Zacatecas, Mexico, Alien Metals owns 12 concessions and is in the process of acquiring one more. The company has carried out exploration work on a portfolio covering 1,500 hectares, ahead of maiden drilling programmes. This includes two silver projects:
- Los Campos (500 hectares), containing two known veins, both mined historically and already developed to depths exceeding 100m. Geological work has uncovered additional veins.
- San Celso Project (88 hectares), containing two veins, confirmed with high mineralisaion from exploration work carried out in 2019 and 2020.
Additionally, Alien owns the 750-hectare Donovan 2 copper project, in close proximity to other wholly owned projects within the company's portfolio. Alien is currently planning exploration work on the site.
Zacatecas, Mexico is a primary focus for Alien, where they have built up relationships with government, communities, and stakeholders over the past decade. Zacatecas' precious and base metals belt is Mexico's largest producing ore region, and is where Alien's concessions are located.
Alien frequently evaluates projects outside Mexico and Australia. In the last two years, this has included West Africa, Europe and Latin America.
Finances and outlook
While Alien Metals' losses widened in 2021 to US$2.3m, resulting in a loss per share of 0.065c (20% higher YoY), which was expected given the company's ambitious expansion schedule and the effects of the pandemic. Investors responded well to the findings at Hancock, and today's announcement resulted in shares up 3.70% at noon in London.
The company is well-financed, with a growing number of staff and acquisitions, and expected to have an even busier 2022. 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). Current and total liabilities were US$0.8m (2020: US$0.3m).
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