Alien Metals (UFO ) has recovered significant widths of direct shipping ore (DSO) grade intersections at the Sirius Extension Project, which iss part of the Hancock Iron Ore Project.
The global minerals exploration and development firm obtained the DSO iron ore grade from the second phase of Reverse Circulation resource drilling at the Sirius Extension Project which forms part of the Hancock Project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The second phase of drilling was designed to in-fill the maiden drilling at the Sirius Extension Project, which adjoins the Sirius iron ore project held by iron ore group, Brockman Mining.
All intersections from the Sirius Extension Project ‘clearly point’ to a contiguous DSO grade deposit with best initial results from the second phase drill program, Alien said. This includes, inter alia, 47m at 61.50% of iron, 78m at 61.20% of iron and 25m at 61.50% of iron.
Figure 1: Location of Hancock Iron Ore Project, Western Australia
[source: Alien Metals]
The results recovered from this second phase follows initial ‘encouraging’ results from the firm's drilling program back in May 2021, as well as ‘significant’ final results which were received in June which confirmed the significant potential of the project and wider licence area.
Addressing shareholders, Alien said it is confident that the current drill spacing is sufficient to enable the delineation of a maiden JORC resource to be calculated. It said the laboratory results received to date have further confirmed the excellent potential of the Sirius prospect.
As a result of ‘continued strong results’ from the Sirius Extension Project, Alien said it has commenced maiden resource estimation work and mining studies. The Company informed investors that initial results from these studies are anticipated in the September quarter.
Figure 2: Summary drilling results to date, Sirius Extension, Hancock Tenement, August 2021
[source: Alien Metals]
In addition, further drilling at the Western Ridges Project is being planned as a third phase program and it is management's expectation that this will deliver a zone to contain a potential second resource.
Bill Brodie Good, CEO & Technical Director of Alien Metals said: "Our Hancock Iron Ore Project is shaping up to be a significant development opportunity for Alien. We have now defined DSO grade iron ore over a strike length of 350m at the Sirius Extension Prospect alone and we now have nearly all the data to calculate a maiden JORC resource at Sirius."
In parallel to this work Alien has already engaged specialist mining consultants, Mining Plus, to deliver a high-level scoping study for the Sirius Extension prospect. Mining Plus has extensive experience with similar DSO grade projects that have recently transitioned from explorer to producer in Western Australia; this provides valuable data as a benchmark for Alien and will provide robustness to the financial model, even at this preliminary stage.”
“In addition to the Sirius Extension project and the yet to be resource drilled Western Ridges, significant potential still remains at Hancock, with only 15% of the tenement tested to date."
John Battista, Principal Mining Consultant, Mining Plus, said: "Based on our conceptual study-level work to date, the Hancock project has the potential to be developed into a niche direct-shipping iron ore producer in the heart of the world-famous Pilbara region of Western Australia."
View from Vox
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.
With Alien having acquired a more meaningful stake in the Hamersley project (from 51% interest to over 90%) in addition to the continued high price of iron ore and high demand Alien said it expects to drive Hamersley forward while continuing to deal with the necessary paperwork for maiden drilling on the highly prospective Brockman Licence further west.
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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