UK-based minerals exploration company Alien Metals has commenced the maiden drilling programme at Donovan 2 copper gold project in Mexico.
The drilling programme is funded and managed by Capstone Mining, pursuant to the earn-in agreement it has signed last year.
Under the terms of the earn-in agreement, Capstone has the option to acquire 65% interest in Donovan 2, through committed expenditure and cash payments totalling around $3.9m.
Also, the company is entitled to increase its stake to 80% in the project through free-carrying Alien to completion of a prefeasibility study.
Alien Metals CEO and technical director Bill Brodie Good said: “It is very exciting that Capstone is already drilling the first hole at Donovan 2 in such a short timeframe.
“Both parties are very encouraged by the results of the recent IP survey and the reprocessing and interpretation of all the historic data collected by Alien.
In late 2020, Capstone carried out works aimed at completing a detailed close spaced surface induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical survey across the majority of the tenement.
The works targeted both to add infill detail to the northern anomaly already defined by Alien and as an extension to historic geophysical work it has undertaken.
The completion of final reporting and interpretation at the project are now leading to the start of current the maiden drilling programme, said the company.
Capstone said that an initial 2,500m drilling programme is planned, as part of their required $450,000 expenditure commitment for 2021.
The drilling programme would initially test the Los Alomos target in the water well area, and then move to the Cerro de la Cruz target.
Furthermore, the drill planning was supported by the recent report submitted to Capstone following the Ground IP survey carried out by Condor Consulting, Lakewood, Colorado, USA, and historical exploration carried out by Alien.
Good added: “We now have three geophysical targets including the Los Alomos project. With the copper price at its highest for over nine years and continued demand, this positive news is very well timed and we are excited to see the results.
“We are delighted to have Capstone as a partner to drive this project forward and develop it with a great technical team. We look forward to updating the market as the drilling progresses and watching this project grow quickly into a significant entity.”
