Alien Metals (AIM:UFO) told investors that it has simplified and consolidated its interest in its 100%-owned Georgina Basin iron-oxide copper-gold project in Australia's Northern Territory.
The AIM-listed minerals exploration company said the Northern Territory Department of Mining and Energy has completed two amalgamations of granted tenure. Four exploration licences have been consolidated into two, EL34498 and EL34499, with no change to the company's ownership or the surface area held.
The simplified structure cuts admin costs associated with the assets, simplifies future renewal processes, and lets it plan work programmes across contiguous ground rather than splitting them between adjoining licences.
Additionally, it said project director Matt Healy has attended the first meeting with Traditional Owners in Tennant Creek, facilitated by the Central Land Council, concerning exploration licence applications EL32284 and EL32965.
Both applications sit on Aboriginal freehold land and cannot be granted until an access and exploration agreement is reached with the Wakaya Aboriginal Land Trust, a process required under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.
In terms of geology, Alien Metals said EL32284 is interpreted to contain rocks of the Warramunga Formation, the host sequence to the high-grade gold and copper deposits of the Tennant Creek mineral field, where prior work by SRK Consulting identified magnetic alteration, interpreted fluid pathways and associated gravity highs.
"This work continues to strengthen the foundations of our Georgina Basin exploration strategy," said Vince Fayad, chief executive officer of Alien Metals, adding that the Traditional Owner meeting is "an important step in progressing EL32284 and EL32965 toward grant, subject to the necessary agreements and approvals."
Healy separately reviewed historic drill core at the Northern Territory Government core library in Alice Springs, examining publicly documented holes NDIBK10 and CWDD004 to support target ranking across the project.
CWDD004, drilled by Middle Island Resources at its Crosswinds prospect, tested anomalies beneath a surface malachite occurrence where a 130-metre trench interval graded 0.75% copper, located 1.3km from the eastern boundary of Alien Metals' EL33375, a tenement where previous drilling intersected elevated copper, uranium, bismuth and silver.
The company said the core review will feed into its ongoing compilation of open-file drilling data ahead of the next phase of target ranking.
Alien Metals also confirmed that the submission timeframe for the 2027 BHP Xplor funding programme has been postponed from October to March 2027, and that it maintains its intent to apply.