It is rare in today’s metals & mining markets to find a junior explorer that is as geographically and minerally diversified in its property holdings as
Alianza Minerals Ltd. (ANZ) (
TSX-V.ANZ,
OTC:TARSF,
Forum). Then again, few mineral exploration companies are as progressive thinking in developing its unique business model as Alianza. And what sets the Company apart from most others in the early-stage exploration space is its “Hybrid Prospect Generator” construct.
Here’s how it all works:
The phrase “Prospect Generator” is most often used to describe a junior mining exploration company that employs a particular business model to
de-risk the exploration approach. A Prospect Generator will stake and/or acquire prospective mineral rights to an area that they believe has significant ore-bearing potential.
As an early-stage exploration company, prospect or project generators work to find and develop sound economic base and precious metal deposits. The long-term goal of the Company is to advance new projects by joint venturing alongside enthusiastic partners with the goal of making major discoveries. As part of the Hybrid Model, ANZ also pursues its own self-funded exploration programs on projects which do not have a partner yet, exemplified by the work at the Haldane project. This gives its shareholders and investors
maximum exposure to exploration success.
At the helm of the Company is Chief Executive Officer Jason Weber – a geologist with over 25 years of experience in the minerals exploration industry. Prior to joining Alianza, Mr. Weber held senior positions with junior companies based in Vancouver and has been involved in all stages of exploration from grassroots prospect generation to resource definition.
Active in the exploration industry, Jason is currently President of the Society of Economic Geologists Canada Foundation and is a past Chair of the British Columbia Geological Survey’s Technical Liaison Committee. Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Sciences from UBC and is a registered Professional Geoscientist with Engineers and Geoscientists BC.
Stockhouse Editorial recently reached out to the CEO to check in on the latest company happenings and what’s in store for Alianza and its shareholders moving forward.
SH: To start off, Jason, can you update our investor audience and your Alianza shareholders on any new company developments, especially in the wake of COVID-19?
JW: We have been fortunate to have the ability to conduct exploration on our projects throughout the pandemic even though they are located in both Canada and the United States. Our US-based crews have been able to safely execute programs in Nevada and Colorado throughout the summer and fall, and our Canadian crews are up on site in the Yukon at them moment, drilling at our Haldane Silver Project in the Keno Hill District.
SH: What initially drew you to Alianza?
JW: Alianza is the combination of two companies – Tarsis Resources and Estrella Gold. Tarsis was founded on projects in Yukon Territory with Estrella having projects in Peru. Mark Brown, who was the Chairman of both companies, and I had been looking to work together for some time, so when the opportunity to join Mark at Estrella presented itself, I jumped at the chance to work with him. Shortly after that, we combined the two companies to form Alianza, which was completed in the summer of 2015. We pared down the joint project portfolio and brought in some exciting new projects, advancing them and finding partners to help us move them along. Now today we have an exciting gold and silver portfolio with a pipeline of projects at the drill stage or being readied for drilling in 2021.
SH: In recent and exciting news, the Company has just launched a new drill campaign at Haldane Silver Project in the Yukon’s Keno Hill District. Can you walk us through the project? There looks to be a lot to it!
JW: Haldane is one of those rare, underexplored projects in a mining camp with a long history. The Keno District has produced high-grade silver for over one hundred years but the Haldane Property, at the district’s western edge, has only had 17 surface holes drilled - we are drilling number 18 right now! Its history parallels that of the rest of the district, with some of the original showings discovered about the same time as the original silver discoveries at Keno. Sporadic work in the 1915-1930s, the mid-1960s and more recently, the 2000s, focussed on some of the original discoveries and the underground workings established there. Minor production of high-grade silver and lead at targets such as the Middlecoff and Johnson zones includes a reported 24.7 t of 3,102 g/t silver and 59% lead at the Middlecoff Zone. Our work took a step back and investigated the entire property with modern techniques, identifying new targets, resulting in the discovery of the Bighorn Zone, a new vein system 3 km from the known showings, in our 2019 drill program. This was exciting in that it proved our concept that the Haldane may be host to more silver veins than just what the old-timers found and that there was plenty of room (and targets) to identify economic concentrations of silver. Today, we are targeting extensions of high-grade silver extracted in the early 1900s, as well as new veins at the West Fault and Bighorn targets which were discovered recently. Our current program will consist of six holes, three each at the West Fault and Middlecoff targets, to test the extensions of silver mineralization down dip and along strike on these veins. A second phase program will follow in 2021, with at least a similar-sized program at our recently discovered Bighorn Zone and other targets.
SH: You’ve also recently released results of your final four holes of the ten-hole reverse circulation drilling program at the Horsethief Gold Property in Nevada. And can you tell us a bit about the results?
JW: Unfortunately, the results from Horsethief were disappointing. Together with our partner, Hochschild Mining, we really felt we had a great opportunity for discovery at Horsethief. The work we did helped develop some compelling targets that were only anomalous in gold, but highlighting a large system of alteration. We still don’t have all the geochemical results back so we don’t know the full story, but this outstanding geochemistry may point us to some portions of the system that may be more productive. Once we get those results and have an opportunity to review them with Hochschild we can determine the next steps at the project.
SH: In September, you launched a follow-up exploration program at Twin Canyon Gold Project, Colorado. Any updates for shareholders and would-be investors here?
JW: Twin Canyon has come together extremely well for us. Our initial approach was to investigate the claim package to determine whether the sedimentary rocks present had potential to host widespread gold mineralization. The property is centred on the Charlene Mine, really a small underground development operated by a family in the 1980s. They reported recovering “several thousand ounces” of gold from the workings, where sampling has returned grades of 15.77 g/t gold from grab samples and 8 g/t over 3 metres from continuous chip samples. Our 2020 soil sampling and prospecting did in fact identify a wider area of potentially gold-bearing sandstone surrounding the mine, so additional claims were staked. Our work through the fall has focussed on developing target areas for drilling and preparations for drill permit application. Even though this is a very early stage project for us, we are excited as it could represent a new style of gold exploration target in southwest Colorado.
SH: Although described briefly in the introduction of the article, for listeners and investors who might not be familiar with your Hybrid Prospect Generator business model, can you walk us through it in a bit more detail and what are its core benefits?
JW: The description in the introduction sums it up nicely – we are trying to expose our shareholders to as many discovery opportunities as possible, hopefully through multiple drilling campaigns each year. As this can be capital-intensive, partnering our projects allows us to concurrently move multiple projects forward. By funding other projects ourselves, we can be flexible and work those when we would otherwise be inactive on partnered projects. We also get access to the expertise our partners bring to the table, such as at our Tim Silver Property in southern Yukon, where we have partnered with Coeur Mining. Coeur has the Silvertip Mine 12 km south of the project. They can bring their knowledge of the Silvertip deposits and apply that to Tim – a big advantage in exploring this area for more silver deposits.
SH: A CEO often wears many hats. What’s been your primary role with the Company since you started and your corporate vision moving forward?
JW: It was pretty lean times when we started Alianza, so Mark Brown (Chairman) and I looked after all of the day-to-day aspects of the Company, with our CFO, Winnie Wong looking after the accounting and regulatory requirements. That means that, with the help of some great contract crews, I have looked after all the technical aspects of project generation, acquisition, exploration and finding partners to advance our projects. On top of that, Mark and I have looked after the marketing and fundraising too, plus everything else that needs to get done to move the Company forward! In August of this year, we brought on Rob Duncan as our VP Exploration. Rob will be instrumental in allowing Alianza to be even more active and better execute our business model and help shape our strategic path forward.
SH: And lastly, Jason, with markets a bit soft right now, what can you tell our investor audience regarding the current valuation of your stock and why you believe it’s a good value buy right now?
JW: There is so much uncertainty in the markets right now, but I think that will change as we are entering a season that is normally very positive for gold and silver. With our recent financing, we are fully funded to complete the fall drilling at Haldane, plus a second phase in 2021, so we will be very active through this period. With the potential for additional partnerships and new acquisitions, the outlook is very positive for Alianza, especially when backstopped by what I think will be a strong precious-metals market. I think we will look back at this fall as having been a great buying opportunity in the sector in general, and even more so for active companies like Alianza.
(Click image to play video)
For more information, visit
alianzaminerals.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.