Alianza preps 2023 exploration at Haldane

Alianza Minerals Ltd. Jan. 30 reported an outline of the drilling and exploration activities it has planned for the Haldane silver project in the historic Keno District in the Yukon.

Located about 25 kilometers (16 miles) west of Hecla Mining Company's Keno Hill silver mine, the 8,579-hectare (21,200 acres) Haldane property hosts a small historical mine that was first recognized for its high-grade silver mineralization more than 100 years ago.

Underground mining that began in 1918 produced roughly 24.7 metric tons of hand-sorted ore averaging 3,102 grams per metric ton (99.7 ounces per metric ton) silver and 59 percent lead on the south side of the Bighorn Creek veins.

From 1926 and 1927, a vein on the north side of Bighorn Creek produced 2.1 metric tons of hand-sorted ore averaging 4,602 g/t (148 oz/t) silver and 57.9% lead.

Despite this historical production, very little modern exploration has been carried out at Haldane.

"We are excited to get back to the field at Haldane as early as ground conditions will allow, to continue to expand the high grade West Fault discovery," said Alianza Minerals President and CEO Jason Weber. "We are also eager to return to the Bighorn discovery, where a single drill hole to test this target identified a new silver bearing vein structure."

After optioning the project in 2018, Alianza has made significant headway in the exploration of this historical silver property.

"Our 2020 program intersected the widest vein mineralization to date at Haldane," Weber said in May 2021.

Identifying the West Fault target in 2020, the company followed up the next year with a program that systematically tested the silver mineralization along strike and down dip.

With the good fortune of 2020, 2022 was another year of surprising discoveries with Bighorn, which Alianza plans to explore this year.

Drilling will target the extensions down plunge on the West Fault target where high-grade silver mineralization has been identified over an area of 100 meters by 90 meters in size and on two levels within the West Fault structure.

This will aim to build on previous intersections at West Fault, including 1.8 meters averaging 818 g/t silver, 3.47% lead, 1.03% zinc; and 3.14 meters averaging 1,315 g/t silver, 2.43% lead, and 2.91% zinc.

At least four holes are planned to test the extensions of this mineralization on 50-meter step-outs.

Drilling is also planned for the Bighorn target located roughly 3,000 meters northwest of West Fault. Identified from soil geochemical sampling that returned anomalous values for lead- and silver-in-soils, the only drill hole at this target returned 125.7 g/t silver and 4.38% lead over 2.35 meters from previously unrecognized vein structures.

Trenching and groundwork in 2022 was able to refine targeting at Bighorn, and additional drilling will test this target for its potential to host wide, high-grade silver mineralization.

"Only 27 holes have been drilled from surface on the entire Haldane property, testing only a small fraction of the 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of cumulative strike length of silver bearing structures we have identified to date," said Weber. "Alianza's drilling has only tested approximately 400 metres of cumulative strike length, leaving plenty of room for expansion of known mineralization and discovery of new high grade silver zones."

Aside from drilling, the company is planning airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys to help map lithologies, refine target structures (strike extensions and offsets), and potentially identify new target structures that may be silver bearing. This work would be followed up by trenching where applicable, and diamond drilling.