Alien Metals completes Phase 2 drilling program at Hamersley Iron Ore Project
(UFO ) said it has now completed its Phase 2 drilling program on the Hancock tenement which forms part of the Hamersley Iron Ore Project located in Western Australia.
The company said the program was targeting three main Direct Shipping Ore (“DSO”) zones identified in the maiden drill program, which intersected high grade DSO mineralisation.
The drilling program, which was targeting three main prospects, the Sirius Extension and ridges C and E of the Western Ridges area while also continuing to develop knowledge and the potential of the project as a whole, led to the discovery of a new target at "Krill Back".
The tenement now has five known prospects, including the Sirius Extension, Kalgan, Western Ridges (C-D-E), Southern Ridge and Krill Back, with a large part still underexplored.
Phase 2 drilling was completed with 40 Reverse Circulation ("RC") holes for 2,175m. To date, excellent handheld portable XRF ("pXRF") results have been discovered across all targets.
Figure 1: 2nd Phase Targets and Prospects, Hancock Tenement, Hamersley Iron Ore Project, June 2021
At the Sirius Extension prospect, which is located in the north-east corner of the tenement, significant pXRF results were measured in the field, including 23m @ 60.5% of Iron (Fe) from 1m in hole AM21RC002 003, and 28m @ 60.5% of Fe from 10m in hole AM21RC002 008.
Phase 2 successfully drilled all planned holes, which should enable the Company to generate a maiden JORC compliant resource initially on the Sirius Extension Prospect, it highlighted.
Alien said the relation of grade in the holes from the current combination of lab and pXRF results relates to the visible geology and trend of the interpreted high-grade ore body. As a result, Alien said it has confidence in the pXRF readings as a guide to final laboratory results.
Figure 2: Drilling intercepts summary - (Final laboratory and pXRF readings), Sirius Extension Prospect, Hancock Tenement, Hamersley Iron Ore Project, June 2021
Following the discovery of the Ridge C DSO zone identified in maiden drilling, Alien planned to further its understanding of the area and test the extent and continuity of the DSO zone.
The group saw significant pXRF results at the Ridge C prospect including 9m @ 62.8% Fe from 13m in hole AM21RC002 027, and 10m @ 61.4% Fe from 7m in hole AM21RC002 028.
Significant pXRF results were also seen at Ridge E including 11m @ 65.5% Fe from 2m in hole AM21RC002 036, 11m @ 64.5% Fe from 7m in hole AM21RC002 032, 10m @ 63.1% Fe from 13m in hole AM21RC002 035 and 8m @ 62.4% Fe from 9m in hole AM21RC002 033.
While Alien has focused its exploration efforts in the northwest and north-eastern areas of the tenement, it has highlighted to investors that there remains ‘significant potential to identify further areas of DSO grade iron ore beds across the rest of the tenement.’
"Being able to retain the same drill rig and crew for this critical second phase of drilling, particularly when there is such a high level of demand in WA, was a great coup for us and we are delighted to have completed this second phase so quickly after the first. With the early observations from geological logging and the pXRF monitoring, we are very hopeful the results will confirm our interpretation,” said Bill Brodie Good, CEO & Technical Director.
Alien highlighted that it now hopes to be in a position to produce a maiden inferred resource on the Sirius Extension prospect and subsequently plan some further pinpoint drilling “in order to develop potential additional resources on one or several of the western ridges.”
It said it plans to further explore Ridges C and E while advancing exploration on the highly prospective and pretty much non-exploited remaining extensive ridges it has outlined.
"Looking ahead, we are now considering a very early-stage strategic review to determine the potential for this project to become a standalone economic operation, and to understand the work streams required to advance this,” commented Brodie Good on Alien’s next steps.
"With iron ore prices remaining robust and the consistently good results we are seeing from our exploration, the team is increasingly encouraged by the potential of Hamersley,” he said.
Alien said it continues to work with the relevant parties to complete the necessary Heritage surveys on the Brockman tenement so it can carry out a maiden drilling program there.
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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 also follows Alien’s recent execution of a conditional Share Sale Agreement which increased its effective interest in the Hamersley Iron Ore Direct Shipping Ore Project.
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 prices, Alien believes its iron ore projects will deliver significant value.
Reasons to Follow 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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