Alianza Minerals (ANZ) - Exploring High-Grade Silver District in Yukon

Alianza Minerals Ltd. is a junior exploration and development company focused on its various base and precious metals assets across the globe. The company’s asset portfolio consists of properties in Nevada, the Yukon, British Columbia, Colorado, Peru and Mexico.  The business model of the company is primarily to prefer joint ventures. The company’s flagship Haldane silver project is however a 100%-owned project.

Matthew Gordon spoke with Jason Weber the president and CEO of Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: ANZ) to discuss the company’s most recent activities. 

Company Overview

The Haldane silver project is located within the Keno Hill silver district in the central Yukon, within the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun. The property is under-explored and produced over 200 million ounces of silver between 1913 to 1989.  The mineralization of the project is a northerly trending structure consisting of quartz-siderite gangue. The company commenced with a second phase drill program of the project’s West Fault in 2021, which showed highlights of 3,267 g/t silver, 5.80% lead and 7.02% zinc over a 2.1 m intercept.

Alianza Minerals Ltd. started as a prospect generator from which it moved into exploration. The company believes that its joint venture approach which encompasses the majority of its operations enables it to have exposure to the advancements of various operations as well as to the inherent high growth potential associated with mineralisation discoveries at properties, without the traditional development costs and risk commonly involved.

The company plans on raising approximately USD$ 2 million in equity in the coming year which will enable it to further explore its Haldane silver project. The company aims to further explore the project’s West Fault target as well as recently identified targets through the planned exploration drilling. The drilling program will commence as soon as the company concludes with its equity raise, and is subject to drill rig availability.

Management

The company is led by Jason Weber, who serves as President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Director. Weber is a geologist by training and has more than 25 years of experience in the minerals exploration industry. He was the CEO of Kiska Metals Corporation before joining Alianza Minerals Ltd., where he was involved in the exploration and development of the Whistler gold-copper porphyry project in Alaska. Kiska Minerals Corporation was formed through the merging of Geoinformatics Inc. and Rimfire Minerals Corp., in which Weber was CEO and President at the time of the merger. He has been involved with various junior exploration companies as both a director and advisor.

Winnie Wong is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and is a Chartered Accountant. Wong is the Vice President of Client Services at Pacific Opportunity Capital Ltd., a firm the Company has retained to provide financial management and accounting services. She started her career with Deloitte and Touche after graduating from Queen’s University. Wong earned her chartered accountant (CA) designation whilst working at Deloitte and Touche. Wong has vast experience in the financial operations of a publicly-traded company and serves as the CFO and Corporate Secretary for various TSX-V listed companies.

Rob Duncan serves as the Vice President of exploration for Alianza Minerals Ltd. Duncan has been involved in mineral exploration for more than 30 years and has been involved with various companies, including Rio Tinto and Inmet Mining. Duncan has held senior management positions at various junior mining companies in various geological locations and various mineral deposits. He has been involved with exploration in the North American Cordillera, the Canadian Shield and Eastern Europe as well as with various mineralisation forms of gold including orogenic gold, porphyry copper (gold), VMS, intrusion-related gold, and epithermal gold-silver systems.

Mark T. Brown is the Executive Chairman of the company’s board. Brown is a chartered accountant (CA) and obtained the designation in 1993 whilst working with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Vancouver B.C., Canada. Brown has been involved in the financing, regulation and reporting of various companies and has also served as controller of two operating mines in Northern Canada and South America. He is the president of Pacific Opportunity Capital Ltd. a financial consulting and merchant banking firm active in venture capital markets in North America.

Marc G. Blythe, Craig Lindsay and Sven Gollan serve as directors. Blythe holds a bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering that he obtained from the Western Australian School of Mines. He is a third-generation prospector and holds a Western Australian First Class Mine Manager’s Certificate of Competency. Lindsay has more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance, investment banking and business development primarily focused on the Western United States. Lindsay was a Vice President in the Corporate Finance and Investment Banking Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers as well as the founder, CEO and president of Otis Gold Corp. which was acquired by Excellon Resources Inc. in 2020. Gollan has been an investment and private banker in Germany and Austria for more than 16 years. He has been with FruchtExpress Grabher since 2015 and is currently involved with FruchtExpress Norge, the Norwegian Branch of FruchtExpress.

The management team is tasked with advancing the company’s assets which consist of primarily joint ventures as well as its flagship, 100%-owned Haldane silver project.

Company business model

Alianza Minerals Ltd. is primarily a project generator and early-stage exploration company. The company aims to find and develop economically viable base and precious metal deposits. The company prefers to advance its projects by mainly creating joint venture agreements in which the company mitigates its risk whilst exposing its shareholders to the initial increase in stock valuation associated with the discovery of a significant mineral deposit at a property.

The asset portfolio of the company consists of properties in Nevada, Yukon, British Columbia, Colorado, Peru and Mexico. The most advanced projects of the company are the Klondike and Stateline projects in Southwest Colorado, the Tim property located near Watson Lake in the Yukon, the Twin Canyon project located in the La Plata District of Colorado and the Haldane silver project located in the Keno Hill Mining District of the central Yukon.

The Klondike Joint Venture

The Klondike and Stateline projects of the company form both part of the copper alliance it holds with Cloudbreak Discovery PLC. The Klondike project of the company is an 843-hectare large land package that is road accessible and holds 76 unpatented mining claims as well as a State of Colorado Exploration Permit and an exclusive right to a State lease. The company announced in late 2021, that Allied Copper Corp. was granted the option to acquire 100% of the Klondike property. The option agreement entails Allied Copper Corp. spending CAD$ 4.75 million on exploration expenditures over a period of 4 years, with a minimum of CAD$ 500,000 to be spent before the agreement’s first anniversary. The option agreement further entails Allied Copper Corp. making CAD$ 400,000 in cash payments towards Cloudbreak Discovery PLC. and Alianza Minerals Ltd. The option agreement will also involve the issuing of 7,000,000 shares of Allied Copper Corp. towards Cloudbreak Discovery PLC. and Alianza Minerals Ltd. on a pro-rata basis dependent on each company’s interest prior to the second anniversary of the option agreement. Allied Copper Corp. will also issue 3,000,000 common shares purchase warrants to Cloudbreak Discovery PLC. and Alianza Minerals Ltd. on the third anniversary of the option agreement.

The Stateline Joint Venture

The second project from the copper alliance between Alianza Minerals Ltd. and Cloudbreak Discovery PLC, the Stateline Project, has also been optioned to Allied Copper Corp. The option agreement of the Stateline project is structured similarly to the option agreement of the Klondike project. The option agreement entails the spending of CAD$ 3,750,000 in exploration expenditures on the property within three years, with at least CAD$ 500,000 being spent prior to the first anniversary of the closing date. The option agreement further entails the issuing of 4,250,000 common shares of Allied Copper Corp. over a three-year period of which 500,000 are due on closing. Allied Copper Corp. must also make a total of CAD$ 315,000 in cash payments to Cloudbreak Discovery PLC and Alianza Minerals Ltd., with the companies retaining a 2% net smelter royalty which is not subject to a buy-down provision.

The Twin Canyon

The Twin Canyon project of the company is located in southwest Colorado, approximately 20 km from the town of Mancos. The project hosts gold in sandstone mineralisation and also hosts a series of underground workings dating back to the 1980s and 1990s. Alianza Minerals Ltd. is currently busy with the permitting of the project, which it believes may hold mineralisation of approximately 2 g/t to 3 g/t of gold. The company will initiate its search for a partner upon successfully obtaining the relevant permits, expected in H1 2022.

The Tim project

The Tim project of the company is located 72 km west of Watson Lake and 12 km northeast of the Silvertip mine owned by Coeur Mining Inc. in the Yukon. The project has been optioned to Coeur Mining Inc. with the option agreement including the exploration expenditure of CAD$ 3.5 million over a 5-year period, which will result in 80% ownership of the project. The option agreement will also include a total of CAD$ 575,000 in cash payments to Alianza Minerals Ltd. over 5 years. The company states that the true value of the project lies in that should the exploration of the property show economic mineral deposits, the operation may be initiated swiftly as the ore may be trucked to the existing infrastructure of Coeur Mining Inc. at its Silvertip mine.

Haldane silver project

The Haldane silver project of the company is a 100%-owned high-grade silver deposit which is located in the Keno Hill Mining District of central Yukon. The property holds a land package of 8,164 hectares and is according to Alianza Minerals Ltd. underexplored. The 2021 exploration program conducted by the company at the West Fault target of the project includes mineralisation highlights such as 3,267 g/t silver, 5.80% lead and 7.02% zinc over 2.1 m and 1,351 g/t silver, 2.43% lead and 2.91% zinc over 5.24 m. The mineralisation of the West Fault target remains open along strike, in both directions and down dip with only 200 m of the 1,000 m of the structure having been tested. The exploration has also indicated various high-grade mineralisation systems at the project.

Future plans

Alianza Minerals Ltd. will continue to advance the Haldane silver project on its own in the coming year. The company plans on raising funds in the summer of 2022 to enable it to launch an additional exploration program at the project by June 2022. The date at which exploration will occur is not set in stone and is dependent on the availability of drill rigs according to the company. The only criteria regarding the initiation of the exploration activities is that the company must still have enough time to accomplish its exploration milestones in 2022. The company aims to raise approximately CAD$ 2 million in the coming year to enable its planned exploration initiatives of the project. 

To find out more, go to the Alianza Minerals website