Alien Metals Ltd (LON:UFO), a minerals exploration and development company, has announced its subsidiary company Iron Ore Company of Australia Pty Ltd has executed a Heritage Agreement with the PKKP Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC associated with its exploration licence at its 100% owned Vivash Gorge Project, in the Pilbara Region, Western Australia.
Highlights:
· IOCA has entered into the HPA with PKKP AC for its exploration licence E 47/3071. The purpose of the HPA is to facilitate IOCA’s exploration of the Licence co-operatively with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people while ensuring best practice protection of their cultural heritage.
· The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People are the Common Law Holders over native title determination that spans the Vivash tenement.
· The HPA is the first step in the Company’s engagement with PKKP Traditional Owners in relation to the Vivash Project and their endeavours for long-term collaboration, cooperation and agreed protection measures for areas of cultural importance to the PKKP people and, inter alia, to provide the basis for the Company undertaking the required heritage surveys.-
· Execution of the HPA allows IOCA to begin engaging with PKKP AC to arrange heritage surveys as part of planning exploration campaigns at the Vivash Prospect looking for potentially new prospects of Iron Ore resource.
Troy Whittaker, Alien Metals Chief Executive Officer commented:
“The Company and its Board would like to thank the PKKP Aboriginal Corporation and its Board of PKKP Directors for their support in execution of the HPA.
“The Vivash Gorge prospect is an important part of the Company’s strategy to develop and expand its Iron Ore operations in the Pilbara Region, Western Australia. Execution of this HPA allows the Company to unlock this strategic tenement that sits within close proximity to proven large scale production mines like Fortescue’s Eliwana and Rio Tinto’s Brockman 4.”
Further Information
Figure 1: Location of the Company’s Iron Ore Projects, Western Australia
Figure 2: Vivash Gorge Tenements
Vivash Gorge
Vivash Gorge covers ~47km2 of highly prospective ground within the vicinity of proven resources. Detailed geological mapping has been completed by previous explorers, providing the Company with good base geological maps to build on. No prior exploration work has been conducted on the central area of the tenement, which will be the focus of the Company’s exploration. Neighbouring Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) has defined high grade DSO iron ore mineral resources of:
· 28Mt @ 58.8% Fe which abuts the eastern tenement boundary, with close proximity drilling returning high grade results which include 70m @ 60.5% Fe from surface (and only 60mtrs east of the IOCA tenement boundary), and
· 96Mt @ 58.7% Fe within short proximity to the northeast of the tenement boundary.
Importantly, these deposits sit within the same stratigraphy that is contained within the Vivash Gorge tenement and the resource at Vivash Gorge SW (non IOCA) appears likely to continue into the Vivash Gorge tenement (see figure three). As a result, the Company believes that the area has the potential to host high grade iron ore.
Figure 3: FMG Historical drilling in the vicinity of Vivash Gorge
