After  a relatively quiet winter season with no drilling news, hybrid prospect generator Alianza Minerals (ANZ.V, TARSF.US) is gearing up to getting ready for potentially up to 5 drill programs this year at their various projects. The optioned out (Allied Copper) Klondike and Stateline copper projects in Colorado, operated by Alianza, are both in the targeting phase now, with exploration permits expected in a few weeks.

Platinex Inc (PTX:CSE)(9PX:FRA) doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, as it has been adding more claims to the highly prospective and strategically located district-scale Shining Tree gold project and recently acquired W2 Copper-Nickel-PGE project, both located in mining-friendly Ontario.

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Fancamp Exploration Ltd. (TSXV:FNC)  currently has a very extensive exploration project and royalty portfolio, a huge cash and liquid equity position of C$25M and high-quality core investor base, and is at a pretty attractive entry point as it is trading at just a C$17.5M market capitalization.

After announcing a strong and potentially game changing drill result (60.4m @ 2.25% CuEq) at Sesmarias on January 25, 2022, followed by a C$1M private placement on February 8, 2022, Avrupa Minerals (TSXV:AVU)(OTC:AVPMF) managed to increase this amount, and raised C$1.25M on March 2, 2022.  

After completing the first 26 holes of their Phase 2 RC drill program at the California target, part of their Cervantes gold-copper project in Sonora, Mexico on January 26, 2022, Aztec Minerals Corp. (AZT: TSX-V, OTCQB: AZZTF) doesn’t seem to suffer a lot from the common and extensive lab delays, and continues to release excellent drill results after the first hole was returned just over a week ago.

Several weeks after Avrupa Minerals (TSXV:AVU)(OTC:AVPMF) announced the acquisition of four exploration properties in Finland, the company was happy to finally announce a significant drill result at the Sesmarias target, part of their flagship Alvalade project in Portugal. As they were looking for large mineralized intercepts for almost two years now, scanning the complex folded structure stepping out hole by hole, management was delighted to finally hit a mineralized intercept of no less than 113.8m in total.

1. Introduction

Some of the most interesting juniors are the ones that already have sufficient, solid drill results to delineate a very decent NI43-101 resource, but can grow them even larger, and have flown under the radar for a long time while quietly completing their drill programs.

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Platinex Inc (PTX:CSE)(9PX:FRA) is developing quite an attractive asset portfolio in Ontario, Canada. The company already owns the highly prospective and strategically located district-scale Shining Tree gold project and very recently acquired the W2 Copper-Nickel-PGE project. Additionally, Platinex holds numerous net smelter return (NSR) royalties in its portfolio.

At a point where the COVID-19 pandemic is playing out the Omicron variant, inflation is reaching levels not seen in decades, the Fed surprising the markets with a more hawkish stance than anticipated, with metal prices at very high levels although gold and silver seem to be consolidating and setting up for a breakout, The Critical Investor was asked again by Streetwise Reports to provide his top picks for the new year.

After a year of slow progress for Avrupa Minerals (TSXV:AVU)(OTC:AVPMF) and JV partner MATSA at the Sesmarias target, part of their flagship Alvalade project in Portugal, it is refreshing to see Avrupa somewhat diversifying away by acquiring four exploration properties in Finland, with some of them even having a historic resource.