Cloudbreak Discovery (LSE:CDL) and Alianza Minerals (TSXV:ANZ) (OTC:TARSF), operating under the umbrella of their newly formed strategic alliance, have announced their first acquisition.
The Klondike Property is located 25 km south of Naturita, Colorado, covering 843 hectares in the Paradox Copper Belt basin in San Miguel County, Colorado, comprising 72 Bureau of Land Management claims and a State of Colorado Exploration Permit with an exclusive right to a State Lease.
Jason Weber, President and CEO of Alianza, said: “The Klondike property is the first example of the ideas generated out of this alliance and demonstrates the potential we see for additional, bona fide copper prospects in this under-explored region.”
The alliance was formed on 15 June this year.
The area is known to have sedimentary-hosted copper deposits, but has seen no copper exploration since the 1960s, with subsequent exploration targeting uranium during the 1970s.
High grade copper mineralisation
Previous workings reported high-grade copper mineralisation, with 6.3% copper and 23.3 g/t silver in outcrop. A strong copper price, surging almost 100% since March 2020, has made more old workings viable: copper futures hit an all-time high of almost $4.9/lbs in the first week of May, pressured by slowing demand and a stronger dollar, though the price has since dropped 10% to around $4.3/lbs.
Kyler Hardy, President and CEO of Cloudbreak Discovery, added: “We know these rocks are prospective for copper mineralisation, as evidenced by other deposits in the belt and the active Lisbon Valley Copper Mine.”
Eleven of 15 samples reported from a limited historical prospecting and mapping programme returned assays ranging up to 6.3% copper and below detection to 85.4 g/t silver.
Disseminated copper-silver mineralisation has also been found in outcropping sandstones of Jurassic and Permian age, suitable for modern open pit mining with solvent extraction electro winning (SXEW) processing, similar to that used at the Lisbon Valley Mine, 50 km to the north-west.
Sedimentary-hosted copper deposits are an important contributor to world copper production, accounting for more than 20% of the world’s copper supply annually.
Listen: Podcast with Kyler Hardy, CEO of Cloudbreak Discovery
Exploration to commence imminently
Both styles of mineralisation will be investigated in upcoming work programmes, with the goal of refining drill targets in these units. Cloudbreak and Alianza expect to commence exploring on the property imminently. The area already has road infrastructure in place, giving immediate access.The alliance is targeting copper projects in the south-western US states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, with the aim of finding appropriate partners to develop them. Under the terms of the alliance, either company can introduce projects to the strategic alliance.
Projects accepted into the alliance will be held on a 50/50 basis but funding of the initial acquisition and any preliminary work programmes will be funded 40% by the introducing partner and 60% by the other party.
Alianza is the operator of Alliance projects unless the alliance steering committee determines that Cloudbreak would be a more suitable operator.
The initial term of the alliance is for two years and may be extended for an additional two years.
Cloudbreak Discovery, a natural resource project generator, working across a wide array of mineral assets, listed on the London Stock Exchange on 3 June. Cloudbreak, formerly known as Imperial X PLC, holds equity positions and royalties in a variety of projects in the natural resources sectors, primarily in North America and Africa.
Alianza uses joint venture funding and self-funded projects to explore and develop projects. The company currently has gold, silver and base metal projects in Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Colorado, Nevada and Peru.
