Alien Metals Ltd (LON:UFO) is about to commence two consecutive underground sampling programs on its core silver projects in Mexico, San Celso and Los Campos. The company is also completing final legal due diligence to acquire the rights to a strategic adjacent permit east of the current San Celso project area.
It couldn’t come as a better time as far as the market backdrop is concerned.
After a considerable lag during which time the coronavirus panic weighed on everything, the gold-silver ratio is at last beginning to narrow again. And, with gold still riding high at well over US$1,700 an ounce, the direction of travel for silver couldn’t be clearer.
The metal has risen by more than 10% over the past few weeks, and is up by more than 30% on where it was in late March, when the coronavirus panic was at its height.
The recent rise has also meant that silver is now trading at where it was 12 months ago too, and that is reinforcing sentiment that the metal is once again the place to be.
Alien’s projects have plenty of historical geological work to indicate that there is real potential on the ground, and technical director Bill Brodie Good is upbeat about what will happen next.
“I am very pleased that we are able to progress with field work at our Mexican silver projects,” says Brodie Good.
“Having obtained the detailed information for the 2006 underground sampling work at San Celso, we are now able to clearly see the exceptional grades, continuity and outline of the two historic mines. The San Celso sampling program is designed to verify historic work as well as target, if possible, zones not tested in 2006 to complete a full picture and understanding of underground workings and help finalise planned drill hole locations. The Los Campos underground sampling program is an initial exploratory program to ascertain the condition of the underground workings and hopefully be able to get some initial samples and outline mapping of the core area of the historic mine on the Los Campos vein.”
Positive newsflow from the proposed work programmes could begin to build wider interest in the market in Alien’s projects.
If so, the company won’t be alone in attracting the attention of silver-focussed investors.
Silver companies like Endeavour Silver Corp (NYSE:EXK) (TSX:EDR), Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) (TSX:WPM), Coeur Mining, Inc (NYSE:CDE), and First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSX:FR) have all been in the spotlight.
Although the global pandemic has put a damper on the markets overall, the safe-haven status of gold and silver has injected new life into the precious metals market and these companies are ready for their time to shine. What’s more, with economies now beginning to open up again, silver’s use as an industrial metal is no longer serving as a drag on sentiment.
Read More: The silver price is really beginning to move, which is good news for Alien
