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Alien Metals says initial test leaching results encouraging at Elizabeth Hills silver tailings project

Published: 07:57 26 May 2021 BST

Alien Metals Ltd -

Alien Metals Ltd (LON:UFO) said initial results from test leaching at the Elizabeth Hills silver tailings project in Western Australia showed high levels of silver recovery.

The initial metallurgical test work was undertaken to determine the proportion of the silver content that is amenable to leaching, with the results assisting in the planning of a more formal test work campaign.

The average silver recovery to solution was 91.7%, whilst the highest and lowest recoveries were 95.2% and 88.0% respectively. These results indicate that silver recovery by leaching may be a viable processing method, it said.

“Initial results from 6 samples that have been subject to test leaching by ALS Perth are very encouraging and have returned high levels of silver recovery,” the company said.

Alien, which has an exclusive arrangement to potentially buy the silver tailings project, has extended the exclusivity period with the project owner Wombat Resources Pty Ltd for a further 45 days to allow for the backlog of work from laboratories in Perth due to the current high workloads they are experiencing. This extension will allow Alien to undertaken further assessment over the potential retreatment and recovery of the silver tailings as talks continue regarding the potential acquisition of the project.

READ: Alien Metals enters exclusive arrangement to buy silver tailings project at Elizabeth Hill

The partly retreated tailings came from the original silver mine operations at Elizabeth Hill.

Alien's preliminary assessment indicates that there remains about 16,000 tons of silver tailings on site. Historic reports refer to grades above 1,000 grammes a tonne (33 ounces a tonne) silver in the original tailings due to inefficient processing practices of the ore during historic mining, it noted.

"We have been aware of the potential of the historic silver tailings at Elizabeth Hill for some time,” said chief executive Bill Brodie Good.

“Knowing that the Elizabeth Hill silver mine's historic operations were somewhat inefficient and being a very high-grade project with abundant native silver in the orebody we felt that, despite previous reprocessing activities, there is likely significant value remaining in the silver tailings.”

"These initial metallurgical results are really encouraging and have given the management confidence that, with further test work, the silver tailings hold potential for economic recovery.

“With the continued strength in the silver price, currently around US$28/oz, we see potential for the project to be a significant source of income," he added.

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on 8/11/22