Alien Metals recommences drilling at Hancock Iron Ore Project

Highlights

• Reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme totalling ~1400 m aimed to increase geological confidence in the existing JORC compliant inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 10.4 million t at 60.4% iron (Fe) (see announcement dated 22 September 2021) to commence in coming days.
  • Alien's technical team planning to potentially upgrade a portion of the inferred resource to the indicated category at the Ridge C and E deposits.
• RC programme 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 650 m in seven holes, to further support MRE confidence levels, as well as to provide material for early metallurgical and commutation testing as part of ongoing mining studies.
• Hand held XRF readings expected in the coming weeks from 60+ rock chip samples collected during recent field reconnaissance programme.

Bill Brodie Good, CEO and Technical Director of Alien Metals, commented: “Following on from our initial maiden JORC resource and positive scoping study work, we are delighted to be going back out into the field at Hancock to undertake this important infill drilling at the Western Ridges orebodies. Additionally, we will also undertake new exploration drilling to commence our expansion of the resource potential of the project. Having Three Rivers Drilling back to do the RC drilling is very positive, and we are excited to carry out diamond core drilling as well, both from the resource update and mining study development perspective.

“This work will develop alongside Lloyd Edmunds' operational development work (see announcement dated 19 October 2021) and the company is excited to continue to push this significant project forward.”

With the planned drilling programme factored in, the company has just completed a quick field reconnaissance programme on the Hancock tenement to commence marking and preparation of the planned drill holes, as well as some surface mapping and sampling of extensions to the ridges C and E. New target work on initial sections of what have been defined as ridges F, G and H will also take place. All 60 samples taken will be prepared at Intertek Genalysis, which will involve crushing and then grinding to a powder. The resulting powder samples will be tested with a pXRF to get indicative iron content, to help the finalisation of drilling locations once the drilling starts on the new targets. With an estimated 10 – 12 week turnaround for the laboratories to process any samples in Western Australia, the company deems this method acceptable to aid in finalising this drilling phase.

All samples generated from the drilling will be dispatched to Intertek Genalysis at Maddington, Western Australia (WA), and analysed for their Basic Iron Ore Package Analysis with XRF finish, which includes elements Fe, aluminium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorous, sulfur and silicon. 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 will use the industry standard of inserting 5% Certified Reference Material (CRM) samples, 5% Certified Blank Samples (Blanks) and 5% duplicate samples at source. The CRMs will be sourced from Geostats Pty Ltd, Perth, WA, a global leader in the manufacture and sale of CRMs and Blanks.

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 getting the necessary permission to drill within the tenement.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/11112021/alien-metals-recommences-drilling-at-hancock-iron-ore-project/