Alien Metals completes Phase 2 drilling at Hancock

The programme targeted three main direct shipping ore (DSO) zones identified in the maiden drill programme, which intersected high grade DSO mineralisation.

Highlights

• Phase 2 drilling completed in June 2021, with 40 reverse circulation (RC) holes for 2175 m.
• Excellent hand held portable XRF (pXRF) results across all targets.
• Sirius Extension, which adjoins the Sirius iron ore project held by Brockman Mining (124 million t at 60.32% iron [Fe]) resource drill plan completed with significant pXRF readings including 23 m at 60.5% Fe and 28 m at 60.5% Fe.
• Ridge C including 9 m at 62.8% Fe, 10 m at 61.4% Fe and 10 m at 60.4% Fe has initially defined strike of over 800 m.
• Ridge E including 11 m at 65.5% Fe, 11 m at 64.5% Fe, 10 m at 63.1% Fe and 8 m at 62.4% Fe for over 1300 m strike length.
• New target ‘Krill Back’ identified southeast of the Sirius Extension.
• Laboratory results to follow once available.

Bill Brodie Good, CEO and Technical Director of Alien Metals, commented: "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.

"We now hope 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. We plan to further explore Ridges C and E while advancing exploration on the highly prospective and pretty much non-explored remaining extensive ridges we have 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.

"We are also working with the relevant parties to complete the necessary Heritage surveys on the Brockman tenement so we can carry out a maiden drilling programme there as well.

"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 Iron Ore Project, and we look forward to updating the market further as we continue to drive these projects up the value curve."

The drilling targeted 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. This 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 (Ridges C-D-E), Southern Ridge and Krill Back, with a large part of the tenement still under-explored.

All samples generated were dispatched to Intertek Genalysis at Maddington, Perth, WA, and analysed for their Standard Iron Ore Package Analysis with XRF finish, which includes elements Fe, aluminium (Al), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S) and silicon (Si).

Quality assurance/quality check (QA/QC) carried out was based on inserting on average 5% Certified Reference Material (CRM) samples and 5% duplicate samples.

Sirius Extension Prospect

The Sirius Extension prospect is located in the north-east corner of the tenement and borders the Sirius DSO project owned by Brockman Mining to the east (124 million t at 60.32% Fe). A limited drill programme at the prospect by Volta Mining in 2014 intercepted DSO mineralisation. Based on this and recent work done by Alien, the company identified the strike-length of the Sirius Extension prospect to be approximately 450 m and the mineralisation remains open at depth. Significant intersections from the maiden drilling at the Sirius Extension prospect included 103 m at 61.79% Fe which finished in DSO grade iron ore from hole AM21RC001 048, and 73 m at 59.72% Fe from the nearby hole AM21RC001 047 which also finished in DSO grade ore.

The Phase 2 programme successfully drilled all planned holes, which should enable the company to generate a maiden JORC compliant resource initially on the Sirius Extension Prospect.

Significant pXRF results measured in the field during Phase 2 recent drilling at the Sirius Extension prospect include 23 m at 60.5% Fe from 1m in hole AM21RC002 003, and 28 m at 60.5% Fe from 10 m in hole AM21RC002 008. Eight out of the 11 holes drilled at the Sirius Extension prospect intersected a minimum of 20 m at >55% Fe. Significantly, the relation of grade in the holes from the current combination of laboratory results and pXRF results also relates to the visible geology and trend of the interpreted high grade ore body as well hence the company has confidence in the pXRF readings as a guide to final laboratory results.

Western Ridges Prospects

The Western Ridges prospects current focus was ridges C, D and E. The maiden drilling targeted all three prominent ridges, which led to the discovery of Ridges C and E DSO zones where the already reported excellent results from the ridge targets include 26 m at 54.3 % Fe from surface at hole AM21RC001 006, 13 m at 61.5 % Fe from 2 m depth and 12 m at 60.5% Fe from 4 m at Ridge E hole AM21RC001 033.

The second round of RC drilling targeted these known high-grade areas, and enabled the company to successfully intersect high grade DSO material in all nine holes along Ridge E.

Ridge C Prospect

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. Results from the initial drilling included 26 m at 54.3 % Fe from surface in hole AM21RC001 006 (including 13 m at 61.5 % Fe from 2 m depth). Hole AM21RC001 019, which lies 225 m east of '006', intersected 2 thinner DSO beds 2 m at 61.54% Fe from 14 m and 5m at 55.0% Fe from 3 m.

Significant pXRF results measured in the field during recent drilling at the Ridge C prospect includes 9 m at 62.8% Fe from 13 m in hole AM21RC002 027, and 10 m at 61.4% Fe from 7 m in hole AM21RC002 028. Hole AM21RC002 025, 90 m northeast of AM21RC001 006 where the initial discovery was made, intersected 10 m at 60.4% Fe from 8 m, this, alongside the other results suggest that DSO grade iron ore is laterally continuous along strike for approximately 850 m.

Ridge E Prospect

At Ridge E, Alien used results from the maiden drilling program to better target interpreted zones of DSO grade iron ore. This resulted in all holes along Ridge E successfully intersecting DSO grade iron ore.

Significant pXRF results measured in the field during the recent phase of drilling at the Ridge E prospect include 11 m at 65.5% Fe from 2 m in hole AM21RC002 036, 11 m at 64.5% Fe from 7 m in hole AM21RC002 032, 10 m at 63.1% Fe from 13 m in hole AM21RC002 035 and 8 m at 62.4% Fe from 9 m in hole AM21RC002 033.

Maiden and follow up drilling along Ridge E intersected 11 holes DSO grade material, the average intersection across these holes is 9.3 m, with an average grade of 62.03% Fe from the handheld pXRF. This DSO zone extends from hole AM21RC002 029 to AM21RC002 036, which is approximately 1400 m strike, and which remains open in both directions.

Satellite imagery suggests the prominent elevated ridge including Ridge E extends for a further 8.5 km to the east within the tenement. This easterly extent of the Hancock tenement is completely unexplored to date but will be the target for next stage work by Alien.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/21062021/alien-metals-completes-phase-2-drilling-at-hancock/