Alien Metals (AIM:UFO) (AIM: UFO), a minerals exploration and development company, said its joint venture partner West Coast Silver (ASX: WCE) has released a quarterly update showing fresh high-grade results at the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project in Western Australia.
Subsequent to the quarter, diamond drilling returned 3 metres at 524 g/t silver from 183 metres, including 1.5 metres at 1,039 g/t silver, confirming a new high-grade zone beneath and south of the historical workings.
The intersection ties together historical high-grade intercepts into an approximately 50-metre north-south mineralised trend, opening a priority target at depth.
Final reverse circulation assays also extended near-surface silver mineralisation beyond the April resource estimate, including 44 metres at 26 g/t silver from surface and 41 metres at 23 g/t silver from 1 metre.
That April estimate, West Coast Silver's inaugural JORC-compliant resource, totalled 141,000 tonnes at 617 g/t silver for 2.795 million ounces of contained silver above a 20 g/t cut-off.
A 32-hole, 2,710-metre reverse circulation program completed in May extended mineralisation north and west of the resource area, with several holes ending in mineralisation.
One diamond hole also intersected massive sulphides grading 2.73% nickel, 0.93% copper and 0.7 g/t palladium, raising the possibility of a nickel-copper-palladium mineralisation style at the project.
West Coast Silver outlined a growth plan targeting conversion of inferred resources to indicated status, metallurgical testwork and staged economic evaluation, alongside a district-scale geophysical survey across roughly 4 kilometres of the Munni Munni Fault Zone, part-funded by a A$114,312 Western Australian government grant.
The company held cash of approximately A$3.0 million at 30 June.
Alien holds a 30% interest in Elizabeth Hill and 30.5 million shares in West Coast Silver, an approximate 8.7% equity stake.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
West Coast Silver's latest drilling at Elizabeth Hill has extended a high-grade silver zone to ~50 metres strike length and uncovered a new deeper target, while near-surface results push the resource footprint wider. The April JORC resource of 2.795 Moz silver now sits within a larger mineralised envelope, and the discovery of nickel-copper-palladium massive sulphides hints at a polymetallic system. For Alien, which holds 30% of the project and 8.7% of WCE, this validates the JV thesis and materially improves the asset's scale and optionality ahead of the planned resource upgrade and economic evaluation.
The Elizabeth Hill resource is growing in both grade continuity and footprint, and the polymetallic intersection raises the possibility of a richer deposit than a silver-only play. However, Alien's upside is capped by its 30% carried interest and minority stake in WCE; value realisation depends on West Coast Silver's execution of metallurgical work, resource conversion, and economic studies—all still ahead.
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