Alien Metals provides Donovan 2 exploration update

Bill Brodie Good, CEO and Technical Director of Alien Metals, commented: “In our view, Donovan 2 is still a highly under-explored asset and one that, we believe, offers a great deal of exploration potential. Following the recent termination of the earn-in agreement with Capstone Mining, we have been hard at work reviewing the exploration they undertook, as well as reviewing all of our own historic exploration work. We are now finalising the next stage exploration programs for the project.

“We believe that some of the geophysical targets at Donovan 2, along with the geological target at Los Alamos, have not been adequately tested. Along with reinterpretation of the geophysical data and surface geochemical work, we want to ensure we have optimised target generation to follow up with our systematic maiden drilling programme. We are undertaking a review and validation of Capstone's drilling, which could provide more information to use in target generation. The recent new samples taken by Alien from the old water well at Los Alamos further reinforces our belief in this project and its potential.”

Capstone Mining Inc has provided Alien with all of the technical data generated during their drilling programme, as well as a final report outlining their findings. The company has now reviewed all of this data (the geophysics of which were announced by Alien on 10 June 2021), other than the drill core, and is in the process of moving the drill core from the Capstone facility in Zacatecas to a newly rented warehouse facility close to Donovan 2 and the San Celso permits at Rancho Nuevo. This facility will give Alien a secure and dry storage facility, as well as an area to process future drill core from all of its current projects. The company is pleased to be able to support the local community in this development.

The original high-priority targets identified by Alien prior to Capstone's involvement remain untested. The more detailed IP survey at the end of 2020 mostly highlighted the detail of these known targets.

The exploration signatures of the San Nicolas deposit (Teck Mining) are within the typical radius of repeat VMS orebody locations and further research indicates that some Mobile Metal Iron (MMI) surface geochemical sampling over the eastern area is warranted. Therefore, a plan for about 55 samples on a north-south grid has been finalised and work has started. The San Nicolas deposit is associated with geophysical properties, which is a combination of high chargeability and low resistivity, which is where the MMI programme is planned to be focused.

The MMI technique is an exceptional surface geochemical method for detecting potential mineralisation in a 'blind' environment such as Donovan 2 where there is no surface expression of the underlying rocks, and the company understands this technique was used very successfully at the San Nicolas project in its early stages of development in conjunction with an area of high chargeability and low resistivity geophysical signature. Alien is therefore using the same information for this targeting program of the MMI at Donovan 2.

2 of the 4 samples taken in early June 2021 from inside the water well at the Los Alamos target area returned greater than 1% copper, adding further confirmation that there is significant mineralisation present within its extension, with the source of mineralisation still to be found.

Alien is reviewing the value of getting the combined geophysical data generated at Donovan 2 to date by all parties reprocessed and reinterpreted by an independent group specialising in geophysical interpretation who have experience of Mexican geology and geophysical responses as well. A comparison of geophysical work is already comparing the San Nicolas project to Donovan 2 with possible synergies being used as targeting tools for these phases of work such as the MMI programme initial target area.

Following the results of Capstone's drilling programme, Alien's original drilling plan remains largely unchanged. This is due to the Capstone drilling consisting of single holes in different locations that targeted very specific geophysical targets while Alien had planned and still do plan to carry out a more systematic 'heel to toe' style of drilling across geophysical and geological targets, to ensure each target area is properly covered by drilling with no gaps. The company is finalising an initial 4-to-6 hole programme for approximately 800 m to target the Los Alamos and Cerro de la Cruz targets once a review of the current drilling permit status is completed, the MMI results are received and reprocessing of the geophysics are completed to ensure the company has used every available piece of data to maximise confidence in the drilling programme.

Capstone will arrange for a revocation of the transfer agreement and Alien will revert to being the project operator, retaining a 100% interest in the Donovan 2 Copper-Gold project.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/14072021/alien-metals-provides-donovan-2-exploration-update/