Alien Metals says its Elizabeth Hill silver mine will reopen
(UFO ) confirmed to investors that it has now commenced work at the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project in Western Australia as part of its effort to reopen the underground mine.
In recent weeks, the Group identified ‘strong’ anomalies of copper, nickel and PGM (platinum, palladium and gold) mineralisation from trenching and rock chip sampling at Elizabeth Hill.
At the time, Alien said the results validated its view that Elizabeth Hill hosts the potential for a much larger mineralised (VMS-style) system along with the silver deposit. As a result, it told investors that it would follow up with a field program to expand the potential of these targets.
Now, the Elizabeth Hill project will be the only pure silver mine in Western Australia set to re-open, the London-listed company informed investors, and the reopening of the existing underground workings is expected to provide access to the unmined orebody in the workings.
The original underground mining team has been commissioned and the equipment is en-route to Elizabeth Hill with the Company having purchased mining headframe, machinery and equipment to reopen and access the silver mine that has been closed for over twenty years.
The reopening will also allow Alien to undertake detailed mapping and sampling of the orebody at Elizabeth Hill to better understand the potential extensions of the project.
Addressing shareholders, the Company outlined that there would be an opportunity to update the silver resource directly from underground while the reopening will also enable ‘significant opportunity’ to expedite drilling of the polymetallic mineralised halo from underground.
Alien Metals highlighted that initial assay results from the most recent drilling programme at Elizabeth Hill, which intersected visual Ag-Cu-Ni mineralisation, are expected this month. In the meantime, initial planning for technical work at the silver mine is now underway, it noted.
Commenting, Bill Brodie Good, Chief Executive Officer & Technical Director of Alien Metals, told investors: “We have been very fortunate to both find and secure the services of personnel with previous experience of the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project. That local knowledge will be incredibly valuable during the re-opening activities of the underground mine at Elizabeth Hill.
Ultimately, going back underground presents us with a fantastic opportunity to work on the remaining resource and increase our knowledge and geological understanding of the project.”
Last week, Alien Metals said it had registered a new wholly owned subsidiary as a vehicle for the Hamersley Iron Ore Project in a move that will enable it to fast track its iron ore projects.
The Hamersley Iron Ore Project in Australia includes the Brockman iron ore project and the Hancock Iron Ore project where Alien has now recommenced a Phase 3 drilling programme.
IOCA’s creation - Iron Ore Company of Australia - follows a recent initial scoping study at Hancock from Mining Plus which added “invaluable confidence” to the iron ore project.
At Hancock, a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program totalling ~1,400 meters aimed to increase geological confidence in the existing JORC compliant Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 10.4Mt @ 60.4% Fe has now commenced, Alien informed investors.
IOCA’s technical team is planning to potentially upgrade a portion of the Inferred resource to the Indicated category at the Ridge C and E deposits. The RC program is designed to also test extension mineralisation on the existing ridges as well as untested ridges to the south.
In addition to the RC drilling, a diamond drill rig is planned to drill up to 650m in 7 holes, to further support MRE confidence levels, as well as to provide material for detailed metallurgical and communitition testing as part of ongoing mining studies, the company explained.
In addition, IOCA is also commencing discussions with potential offtake partners for its high grade iron ore products while Alien Metals said it is engaging early with the necessary government agencies to enable good and timely cooperation as the project develops.
IOCA said it is “encouraged” by the strong interest in higher grade iron ore projects as markets look to reduce their environmental footprints via utilising >60% of iron feedstock.
Brodie Good said the Group is pushing Hancock to be ‘shovel ready’ as soon as possible and that Alien Metals remains “extremely confident” about the prospects for its iron ore projects.
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