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Alianza Minerals (TSX-V: ANZ)(OTC: TARSF) CEO Jason Weber on Next-Steps for Yanac Copper Porphyry Project, Peru & Start of Phase-Two Drilling at Flagship Haldane Silver Project, Yukon, Canada
Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president & CEO of Alianza Minerals — Mr. Jason Weber. Jason, how are you today?
Jason Weber: Good, Gerardo! And how are you?
Gerardo Del Real: I am well… thank you for asking!
Copper at US$4.50 [per pound] is inspiring a lot of companies to do in-house reviews of projects that maybe have been overlooked or quality projects that just didn't have the market to actually be able to allocate any kind of budget towards, right?
And you have a project — the Yanac Copper porphyry project in Peru — that I've long liked. This is a project that I am familiar with since the Estrella days, right, the predecessor company. And I want to say as far back as maybe 2011… and you can correct me if I'm wrong, Jason… but this is a very, very prospective drill-ready copper porphyry project in Peru.
And you had some news on it this week. And I would love for you to give us an update. And then, of course, we'll talk the news about the field crews being mobilized to the Haldane Silver Project, which, of course, is exciting news for everybody.
Jason Weber: Yeah, absolutely. As you know, Estrella and Tarsis Resources combined to form Alianza. But back when I took over Estrella, Yanac was one of the key projects in the portfolio. And having visited the project a few times, I really liked the prospects for it.
As you said, it is a promising drill-ready copper porphyry. Very well located, too. It's just inland from the coast. It's got infrastructure nearby. It's at low elevation for Peru; it's about 1,200 meters above sea level — a lot of things going for it.
But there was one piece of data we were missing. And we knew that there had been a program — a very small drill program — that had been done in the 2004 to 2006 range. We could see old drill pads. We could see evidence of drill cuttings. We could see that it was a reverse circulation drill program. But we could never get our hands on the data.
So since 2014, when I came on, I've been looking for it. And through various acquisitions in Peru, the data ended up going from Phelps Dodge to Freeport who took Phelps Dodge over. And then, an individual bought a bunch of the data from Freeport. And so we finally tracked this individual down, and we were able to get the data from him.
So it's great for us because we know there's a porphyry system there. We know that on-surface it looks really interesting. And now, we have this drill data to back up that surface work.
I don't know that it tested the areas that we would have tested necessarily with our drilling. So it does add to the story. And we're just going through it right now to see how it will help and refine targets that we've identified.
Or maybe a better way of saying it: The 10 to 12 drill holes we've laid out… how would those change now based on this data that we've acquired? As you phoned me this morning, that's what I was working on… so it's at the forefront.
Gerardo Del Real: Well, you know, I'm not a geologist. So I'm sure, for the skeptic out there listening, saying, "Well, who cares if Gerardo has really liked this project since 2011… he doesn't know what he's talking about!" they would be mostly correct in that sense.
I'm no geologist but I do know this: Anytime I read that JOGMEC (which is the Japan Oil, Gas, and Metals Corporation) and Phelps Dodge and Freeport all have had an interest at one point in this project — I think that speaks to the quality of the project and the potential of the project.
And it doesn't mean that it works out. But surely, surely it means it's been vetted by people much smarter than I, right?
Jason Weber: Yeah… and some people would say that's a negative in that, "Oh well, the big guys have looked at it… there's nothing there." But I think context is really important here. And this project was drilled around the time that Freeport was acquiring Phelps Dodge. So I think that they were looking for oxide copper deposits near-surface and didn't see that and were able to move on, walk away from it.
We think the target here is actually at-depth or continues to-depth underneath the hillside that the alteration and mineralization we see at-surface where it sits against in this valley. So I think that that drilling wouldn't have tested that target. And we think that there's some great potential for that porphyry system to exist underneath the hillside there.
And that would be the main focus of any drilling that we think would take place next there. And so this acquisition of this data really now allows us to market this project more fulsomely to a prospective partner. So that's what we'll be doing now that we've got this; we can go full steam ahead on finding a partner to take that next step.
Gerardo Del Real: And just to be clear… that is the approach: finding a partner, right, as drilling preparations now have commenced for the Haldane Silver Project. And, of course, you had some incredible intercepts last drill program.
One intersected 16.15 meters averaging 311 grams per tonne (g/t) silver; true width on that was 8.72 meters that also brought in 0.89% lead and 1.13% zinc. That had a high-grade core of 818 g/t silver, 3.47% lead, and 1.03% zinc over 3.3 meters.
Robust numbers! Walk me through what preparations look like and when the drill will be turning.
Jason Weber: Yeah. So cruiser onsite today; they're clearing snow off the road to access where we're going to build our camp. So that's the first step. Camp construction will start, if not today, tomorrow, or early this weekend.
As the camp is being built, they'll continue clearing the road into the drill site, and that'll allow the drill crew to mobilize onto site next week. And we'd hopefully be drilling by the end of the week, if we're lucky. If everything works out for us, we could have core in the box next weekend.
Gerardo Del Real: That's exciting! Keep me posted. Please come back as soon as you have something material to report. Anything else to add, Jason?
I know that the portfolio, obviously, is far from a one-trick pony. But I know that there's a lot of eyes on this drill program here to see if you're able to duplicate or add to those Phase One drill results.
Jason Weber: Oh, yeah. I mean, those were game-changer numbers for us in that we have shown at Haldane that we have ore grade thicknesses at the project. It proves our exploration thesis that if you find these silver-bearing veins — even if they're narrow — you can find where they blow out into bigger, wider veins that are going to be potentially economic to mine. So that was really important for us.
And so with that in mind, this program is going to focus on that West Fault zone where we had those great numbers that you quoted earlier on here. And that'll be the focus of the program; build on that, show that we can find more of this thick, higher grade mineralization that is going to be needed to build a mine in this part of the world.
And we know the Keno District can do it. We see it elsewhere; it's been in operation for over a hundred years. So we're really excited about the prospects of this next phase of drilling.
Gerardo Del Real: As am I. Jason, thanks for your time… look forward to having you back as I mentioned earlier.
Jason Weber: Absolutely! Thanks for having me on. It's always great to chat with you.
Gerardo Del Real: Thanks for the update. Stay safe out there.
Jason Weber: You too.