Explorer Alianza Minerals is bringing on board NYSE-listed Coeur Mining to take the road-accessible Tim property, in southern Yukon Territory, forward.
The property is located 12 km south of Coeur’s Silvertip mine.
“Tim looks to be a Silvertip analog, and the Coeur team is an obvious choice to move the project forward. It will be a great advantage to have Coeur’s geological expertise applied to the project,” commented Alianza president and CEO Jason Weber.
The 2020 exploration programme at Tim is expected to target high-grade silver/lead-zinc carbonate replacement mineralisation, similar to that found at Coeur’s Silvertip operation. Coeur’s tentative exploration plans are in line with those recently announced by Alianza, and will consist of detailed mapping, soil geochemical surveys and reopening old trenches, which date back to 1988.
In 2013, Alianza completed a focused work programme and re-evaluated a historical zone of silver/lead-rich carbonate replacement mineralisation originally exposed by mechanised trenching in 1988. Historical chip sampling across the zone returned 352 g/t silver and 9.12% lead across 4.00 m. In addition to this exposure, similar mineralisation was also reported in adjacent trenches 180 m and 250 m on either side of the central trench. This zone has never been tested with drilling. Alianza resampled the central trench in 2013, returning 3.7 m assaying 365 g/t silver and 7.5% lead from a channel sample.
Coeur can earn an 80% interest in the property by funding $3.55-million in exploration over five years and making scheduled cash payments totalling $575 000 over eight years. Coeur must also fund a feasibility study and notify Alianza of its intention to develop a commercial mine on the property on or before the eighth anniversary from the date of notification of the class 1 exploration permit.