Drilling identifies extensions to Hancock Project

RNS Number : 1379Y
Alien Metals Limited
12 January 2022
 

 

 

Trading Symbols

AIM: UFO

FWB: I3A1

12 January 2022

 

Alien Metals Ltd

("Alien" or "the Company")

 

Drilling identifies extensions to Hancock Iron Ore Project

 

Follow the link to view the announcement in full including all figures: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1379Y_1-2022-1-11.pdf

 

Alien Metals Ltd (LSE AIM:UFO), a minerals exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update on findings and results on its Phase 3 drilling programme at the Company's Hancock Iron Ore project, part of its Hamersley Iron Ore Project, Western Australia, further to its announcement of 11 November 2021.

 

Highlights

· Extensions to existing Inferred Resources have been identified in the recently completed Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling programme

46 RC holes for 1,146m were completed prior to the end of 2021, targeting extensions to known deposits and infill drilling on existing Resource of 10.4Mt @ 60.4% Fe

· As part of the ongoing development studies, the Company also collected a bulk sample of about 1,000 Kg of high-grade material for initial metallurgical test work

· The previously designed diamond drill programme commenced on Monday, 10 January 2022

The 7 hole, 650m programme is designed to further increase the confidence in the JORC 2021 Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate, as well as to provide additional material for early metallurgical and commutation testing as part of ongoing mining studies

· The Company has also delineated new drilling targets from laboratory XRF results of 60 rock chip samples collected during the recent field reconnaissance programme

· On the Company's Brockman tenement, management is pleased to announce the successful completion of the Heritage and Ethnological Surveys that will enable exploratory fieldwork to commence shortly

· Further updates will be provided when the results of the drill programme are available

 

 

Bill Brodie Good, Chief Executive Officer & Technical Director of Alien Metals, commented: "Progress on the Company's Iron Ore Company of Australia (' IOCA') project continues to advance rapidly. The completion of the RC programme, bulk sample and new rock chip sampling before the start of the wet season was a terrific effort by the team and a great outcome for investors. Due to continued availability pressures from the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions within the state of WA, the diamond core drill rig was delayed, but we are pleased that it has now started. The identification of additional untested mineralised ridges is a very exciting development and we look forward to drill testing these over the coming months and identifying even more to develop."

 

 

As announced on 11 November 2021 (the "Announcement"), the RC drilling that was completed at the end of 2021 comprised a total of 46 holes for 1,146m, with just over half of the drilling taking place on Ridges C and E. This drilling focused on identifying extensions of the JORC resources along strike as well as. Of the 28 holes drilled on Ridge E, 18 drill holes were designed to increase the geological knowledge within the current resource as well as testing a further 650m along strike while 4 holes were drilled to update the Ridge C resource with a couple of initial test holes extending the strike potential by a further 350m at Ridge C.

A further 4 exploratory holes in the newly defined Ridge F and 6 in Ridge G were also drilled to complete this drill programme. 

Additional Rock Chip Sampling Programme

At the same time, the team took the opportunity to undertake a quick field reconnaissance programme on the untested Ridges F, G and H, which resulted in 60 rock chip samples being taken. These were submitted to ALS Perth* for industry standard sample preparation including crushing and  pulverising with then a meltdown of an ensuing homogenous part of the sample into a bead for analysis for total iron (Fe2O3).

The results returned a significant new 800m long high grade anomaly on the part of Ridge H samples, 800m of about 5-6 km strike length, as well as a lower grade but still significant trend of similar strike length on Ridge G as well (see Figure 4 below). As the Company has stated, these initial results identify the presence of further high grade iron ore within the tenement and still leave numerous kilometers of ridges remaining to test and work up.

Drill Results

All samples generated from the drilling will be dispatched to ALS Perth*. Further announcements will be made when the results are received, anticipated to be in 10 to 12 weeks' time.

Samples will be analysed for their Basic Iron Ore Package Analysis with XRF finish, which includes Fe, Al, Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S and Si. This is the same as the analysis and laboratory used in all Alien's analysis work on these projects to maintain consistency and comparability between all analyses.

For QA/QC purposes, Alien used the industry standard of inserting 5% Certified Reference Material (CRM) samples, 5% Certified Blank Samples (Blanks) and 5% duplicate samples at source. The CRMs were sourced from Geostats Pty Ltd, Perth, WA, a global leader in the manufacture and sale of CRMs and Blanks.

 

 

Table 1: Summary high grade rock chip sample results, Phase 3 drilling recon programme, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

Sample No

Location

Easting

Northing

Fe2O3

Fe %

UFO_TP001

Ridge H

777057

7426167

82.81

57.92

UFO_TP007

Ridge F

776019

7427378

84.69

59.24

UFO_TP009

Ridge H

776915

7426213

74.12

51.84

UFO_TP010

Ridge H

777167

7426127

77.85

54.45

UFO_TP011

Ridge F

777186

7426725

71.36

49.91

UFO_TP012

Ridge F

777098

7426717

70.54

49.34

UFO_TP013

Ridge F

777092

7426758

65.48

45.8

UFO_TP042

Ridge E Eastern

776462

7428690

78.36

54.81

UFO_TP046

Ridge H

777264

7426088

87.27

61.04

UFO_TP047

Ridge H

777343

7426027

65.31

45.68

UFO_TP051

Ridge H

776820

7426220

89.17

62.37

UFO_TP052

Ridge H

776733

7426263

76.37

53.42

UFO_TP053

Ridge H

776626

7426295

79.12

55.34

UFO_TP056

Ridge G

776750

7426860

80.58

56.36

UFO_TP059

Ridge G

777026

7426816

69.67

48.73

 

Note 1: Full results are included in the Appendix to this announcement

Note 2: to calculate the Fe% content from Fe2O3 industry standard is to divide by 1.4298

 

 

Brockman

Maiden drilling on the Brockman tenement is still a priority, with a follow up field mapping and sampling programme planned prior to finalising a drilling programme, along with obtaining the necessary permission to drill within the tenement. The completion of the Heritage and Ethnological Surveys that will enable exploratory fieldwork to commence shortly were completed at the end of last year and the Company is working through the draft reports to finalise and have them officially registered.

Further updates will be provided in due course as appropriate.

* not Intertek Genalysis, as previously stated, due to sheer volume of samples causing excessive analysis turnaround at Intertek at the moment. It should be noted that ALS are a global leader in Iron Ore analysis as are Intertek, so the Company feels this will not detract from the quality of the results

Figure 1: Location of Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

 

Figure 2: Location of completed RC drill hole locations, Phase 3 drilling Ridge C and E, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

Figure 3: All RC drill hole locations, Phase 3 drilling, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

 

Figure 4: Rock chip samples and Fe analysis, October 2021 reconnaissance programme, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

 

Figure 5: Eastern edge of existing defined orebody, Ridge E, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

Figure 6: Drill rig on Ridge F looking north east at new iron ore ridges, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

Figure 7: Newly defined iron ore ridges north east of Ridge F, Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.alienmetals.uk, or contact:

 

Alien Metals Limited

Bill Brodie Good, CEO & Technical Director

(via St-James' Corporate Services, Company Secretary)

Tel: +44 20 7796 8644

 

Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nomad)

James Biddle / Roland Cornish

www.beaumontcornish.com

Tel: +44 (0) 207 628 3396

 

Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited (Joint Broker)

Andrew Thacker / James Pope

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3657 0050

 

WH Ireland Ltd (Joint Broker)

Harry Ansell / Katy Mitchell

Tel +44 (0) 207 220 1666

 

Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR)

Sarah Hollins / Annabel Atkins / Matthew McHale

alienmetals@yellowjerseypr.com

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512

 

Notes to Editors:

Alien Metals Ltd is a mining exploration and development company listed on AIM of the London Stock Exchange (LSE: UFO). The Company's focus is on precious and base metal commodities, with its operations located in proven mining jurisdictions and it has embarked upon an acquisition-led strategy headed by a high-quality geological team to build a strong portfolio of diversified assets.

 

In 2019, the Company acquired 51% of the Brockman and Hancock Ranges high-grade (Direct Shipping Ore) iron ore projects and a conditional agreement to increase its interest to 90% in May 2021 while in 2020 acquired 100% of the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project, which consists of the Elizabeth Hill Historic Silver Mine Mining Lease and the surrounding Munni Munni North Exploration Tenement.

 

In November 2021 the Company also entered into a Binding Heads of Agreement with ASX listed Platina Resources Limited to acquire its 30% joint venture interest in the Munni Munni Platinum Group Metals and Gold Project in the West Pilbara, Western Australia. In December 2021, the Company further entered into a Binding Heads of Agreement with ASX listed Artemis Resources Limited to, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, acquire its 70% joint venture interest in the Munni Munni Platinum Group Metals and Gold Project in the West Pilbara, Western Australia. The Australian projects are located in the world-renowned Pilbara region of Western Australia.

 

The Company also holds two silver projects, San Celso and Los Santos, located in 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. The Company holds a Copper Gold project in the same region, Donovan 2.

 

The Company was also awarded an Exploration Licence in Greenland in late 2020, which surrounds the world class Citronen Zinc-Lead deposit.

 

In addition to progressing and developing its portfolio of assets and following its strategic review of its portfolio of silver and precious metals projects, Alien Metals has identified priority exploration targets within all of its projects which it is working to advance systematically. 

 

 

 

Competent Person

The information in this announcement which relates to Exploration Targets, Exploration Results and the Scoping Study has been approved by Mr. Allen Maynard, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geosciences ("AIG"), a Corporate Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy ("AusIMM") and independent consultant to the Company. Mr. Maynard is the Director and principal geologist of Al Maynard & Associates Pty Ltd and has over 40 continuous years of exploration and mining experience in a variety of mineral deposit styles. Mr. Maynard has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Exploration Targets, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (JORC Code). Mr. Maynard consents to inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Glossary:

Mineral Resource - A concentration or occurrence of solid or liquid material of economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, grade (or quality), and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.  The location, quantity, grade (or quality), continuity and other geological characteristics of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge, including sampling.  Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.

Inferred Mineral Resource - that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling.  Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological grade (or quality) continuity.  It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.  An inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence that that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resources and must not be converted to an Ore Reserve.  It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.

Reverse Circulation Drilling - Often referred to as RC drilling, is a method of drilling which uses dual wall drill rods that consist of an outer drill rod with an inner tube. These hollow inner tubes allow the drill cuttings to be transported back to the surface in a continuous, steady flow. Drill results using this method with adequate QA/QC can be used in Mineral Resource Calculations

DSO - Direct Shipping Ore

XRF - X-ray fluorescence, used for elemental analysis and chemical analysis, particularly in the investigation of metals in the resource industry.

QA/QC - Quality Assurance/Quality Control - This is the combination of quality assurance, the process or set of processes used to measure and assure the quality of a product, and quality control, the process of ensuring products and services meet consumer expectations. In this case an independent verification of the laboratory analysis result.

Deleterious Elements - Elements that can be detrimental to the overall product, such as Phosphorus.

Fe - Iron

Al - Aluminium

Ca - Calcium

K - Potassium

Mg - Magnesium

Mn - Manganese

Na - Sodium

P - Phosphorus

S - Sulphur

Si - Silica

Mt - Million Tonnes

BIF - Banded Iron Formation

Cap - the upper portion of the deposit, at surface and enriched in clay material and organics

 

Appendix

Sample No

Target

Easting

Northing

Fe2O3

Fe

UFO_TP001

Ridge H

777057

7426167

82.81

57.92

UFO_TP002

Ridge H

777015

7426176

61.18

42.79

UFO_TP003

Ridge H

776968

7426205

48.11

33.65

UFO_TP004

Ridge G

776862

7426800

48.38

33.84

UFO_TP005

Ridge G

776874

7426843

56.30

39.38

UFO_TP006

Ridge F

776027

7427340

58.22

40.72

UFO_TP007

Ridge F

776019

7427378

84.69

59.24

UFO_TP008

Ridge F

775869

7427323

61.65

43.12

UFO_TP009

Ridge H

776915

7426213

74.12

51.84

UFO_TP010

Ridge H

777167

7426127

77.85

54.45

UFO_TP011

Ridge F

777186

7426725

71.36

49.91

UFO_TP012

Ridge F

777098

7426717

70.54

49.34

UFO_TP013

Ridge F

777092

7426758

65.48

45.80

UFO_TP014

Ridge F

777265

7426733

42.56

29.77

UFO_TP015

Ridge F

777204

7426671

45.37

31.73

UFO_TP016

Ridge E

773166

7429110

62.23

43.53

UFO_TP017

Ridge E

773104

7429089

47.57

33.27

UFO_TP018

Ridge E

773027

7429078

45.99

32.17

UFO_TP019

Ridge E

772970

7429083

45.85

32.07

UFO_TP026

Outcrop

773948

7428683

37.34

26.12

UFO_TP027

Outcrop

774046

7428640

39.45

27.59

UFO_TP028

Outcrop

774125

7428595

52.07

36.42

UFO_TP029

Outcrop

774191

7428544

56.89

39.79

UFO_TP030

Outcrop

774245

7428599

41.30

28.89

UFO_TP031

Outcrop

774083

7428689

24.52

17.15

UFO_TP032

Ridge E

774970

7428422

59.83

41.85

UFO_TP033

Ridge E Eastern

775286

7428357

52.35

36.62

UFO_TP034

Ridge E Eastern

775199

7428418

46.28

32.37

UFO_TP035

Ridge E Eastern

775269

7428506

42.47

29.71

UFO_TP036

Ridge E Eastern

775597

7428577

40.72

28.48

UFO_TP037

Ridge E Eastern

775811

7428619

54.38

38.04

UFO_TP038

Ridge E Eastern

775911

7428699

35.22

24.63

UFO_TP039

Ridge E Eastern

776079

7428710

41.59

29.09

UFO_TP040

Ridge E Eastern

776185

7428698

50.73

35.48

UFO_TP041

Ridge E Eastern

776328

7428700

45.78

32.02

UFO_TP042

Ridge E Eastern

776462

7428690

78.36

54.81

UFO_TP043

Ridge E Eastern

776590

7428735

40.48

28.31

UFO_TP044

Ridge E Eastern

776766

7428711

38.49

26.92

UFO_TP045

Ridge E Eastern

776866

7428667

59.39

41.54

UFO_TP046

Ridge H

777264

7426088

87.27

61.04

UFO_TP047

Ridge H

777343

7426027

65.31

45.68

UFO_TP048

Ridge H

777431

7425975

32.40

22.66

UFO_TP049

Ridge H

777517

7425937

28.45

19.90

UFO_TP050

Ridge H

777623

7425910

30.43

21.28

UFO_TP051

Ridge H

776820

7426220

89.17

62.37

UFO_TP052

Ridge H

776733

7426263

76.37

53.42

UFO_TP053

Ridge H

776626

7426295

79.12

55.34

UFO_TP054

Ridge H

776517

7426360

51.89

36.29

UFO_TP055

Ridge H

776416

7426388

32.32

22.61

UFO_TP056

Ridge G

776750

7426860

80.58

56.36

UFO_TP057

Ridge G

776955

7426792

44.40

31.06

UFO_TP058

Ridge G

777364

7426705

57.58

40.27

UFO_TP059

Ridge G

777026

7426816

69.67

48.73

UFO_TP060

Ridge G

776976

7426821

33.46

23.40

 

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