Maiden Drilling targets identified at Hamersley Iron Ore Projects
Follow the link to view the announcement in full including all figures: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6447D_1-2020-10-29.pdf
Alien Metals Ltd (LSE AIM:UFO) (“Alien Metals” or the “Company”), a minerals exploration and development company, is pleased to advise that further to the RNS dated 9th October 2020, the Company’s technical team is able to report on the successfully completed detailed geological mapping and sampling programme at the Company’s Hamersley Iron Ore Projects.
Highlights :
– Detailed geological mapping and sampling completed over four of the five priority prospects
o Field observations indicate that the BHP 19 and BHP 20 prospects may be part of same larger system
o Additional prospective iron ore units mapped at the Brockman Iron project
– Programme has been successful in validating previously announced Maiden Exploration Targets across both projects
– 95 samples were taken across the projects, with assay results expected late October 2020
o Preliminary Handheld XRF results are consistent with those observed in the 2019 field programme, with reported ranges of 40-70% Fe
o High-grade sample locations extend previously mapped prospective areas which are outside of those incorporated into the Company’s maiden Exploration Target
– Final results from sample assays and detailed mapping to assist with preparation of maiden drilling campaign
– Alien Metals has commenced preparing a Program of Works (“POW”) for submission ahead of drilling
Chief Executive Officer, Bill Brodie Good said : “The findings from the recently completed field programme are extremely pleasing and further validate the Company’s exploration targets. The field work has expanded upon the previous site visit, with the validation of recent research and the potential increase in projected DSO mineralisation within both tenements. It should be noted that the field team advised how busy both areas were in terms of neighbouring companies working in the region which further encourages us to push on with both projects.
“The Company’s technical team is compiling and finalising the geological mapping across the Hamersley projects which will give us valuable information ahead of maiden drilling programmes. With over 90 samples collected from only four prospects in a short field programme, we are very encouraged and look forward to some comparable analytical results of the XRF readings to complement the visible interpretations made by the team. We are already considering the follow up program to cover the fifth target not reached yet which in itself still has great potential.”
The two projects are within the Hamersley Province of Western Australia, known as one of the premier iron ore producing regions of the world. The Brockman Project (E47/3953) is located in the west Hamersley Province, 100 kilometres (“km”) northwest of the Rio Tinto iron ore mining town of Tom Price, and 90km west of the Tom Price to Dampier mine railway. The Hancock Ranges Project (E47/3954) is located in the east Hamersley Province, 15km north of the BHP iron ore mining town of Newman, and 20km west of the Newman to Port Hedland mine railway.
In the Brockman Project area mapping was concentrated on the areas within the lease closest to the historic BHP 19 and 20 deposits to further understand and test the potential of these 2 prospects. Sampling concentrated on the Banded Iron Formations (“BIF”) as this was considered to represent the primary iron potential of the tenement. Whaleback Shale was also sampled in areas where iron banding was prominent and Canga (detrital ore) sampling was also done but to a limited extent. A total of 64 samples were collected between these 2 prospects over 4 days of detailed traverses and mapping.
In summary the main outcome of the work has delineated that the Dales Gorge Member of the Brockman Iron Formation is the prominent iron bearing unit found in this area with associated transported Canga units and constitutes the host for the high-grade iron ore. Detrital river derived iron bearing sediments (“CID”) were also identified and it is felt that both the Canga and CID units also host potential resource tons as well as the in-situ BIF units. Importantly, the main exploration work being carried out by Rio Tinto directly south of the tenement is on the Canga and CID units further to their development of the major Caliwingina project already in production to the south in the same units.
All samples generated have been despatched to Intertek Genalysis at Maddington, WA, to be analysed for their Basic Iron Ore Package Analysis with XRF finish, which includes elements Fe, Al, Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S and Si. This is the same as the analysis used in the 2019 due diligence site visit and it will maintain consistency and comparability between these analyses. Prior to sending the samples to the laboratory the Alien team tested then with a handheld XRF unit to get provisional grade readings to aid in the initial interpretation work. These readings are only a guide however from the similar analysis done in late 2019 the handheld XRF readings were within +/- 8% of the final laboratory results, so these represent an excellent first pass estimate of grades of the samples taken.
