TIDMPXC
RNS Number : 5813U
Phoenix Copper Limited
07 April 2021
Phoenix Copper Limited / Ticker: PXC / Sector: Mining
7 April 2021
Phoenix Copper Limited
("Phoenix" or the "Company")
Awarding of Contracts for 2021 Drilling Programmes
Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM: PXC, OTCQX: PXCLF), the AIM quoted
North American focused base and precious metals emerging producer
and exploration company, is pleased to announce that Alford
Drilling (formerly AK Drilling) of Elko, Nevada has been awarded
the contracts for the 2021 Navarre Creek reverse circulation ("RC")
and the Red Star and Horseshoe diamond core drilling programmes.
Drillrite LLC of Reno, Nevada has been awarded the contracts for
the 2021 Empire deep sulphide drilling and for the drilling and
construction of hydrological monitoring wells.
Ryan McDermott, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"Work is progressing well with our Empire Mine development
programme and preparations continue apace for the commencement of
our exploration programmes as previously stated. I am, therefore,
pleased to announce that we have awarded the drilling contracts for
the 2021 field season to Alford Drilling and to Drillrite LLC.
Alford Drilling will complete the drilling programme at the
high-grade silver - lead Red Star and Horseshoe blocks, as well as
the Navarre Creek gold block, while Drillrite LLC will complete the
deep copper sulphide programme at Empire and the hydrological drill
programme to support the Empire Mine open pit project.
"The Red Star core drilling will be a follow-up to last year's
programme, but with the benefit of Dr David Rodgers' 2020 field
work and subsequent report, as well as the results of the planned
electromagnetic ("EM") survey scheduled for May/June of this year.
The Navarre Creek drilling programme will be a continuation of the
2020 exploration season using the surface sampling assay results
combined with the results of the planned EM survey also scheduled
for May/June, site conditions permitting. The Navarre programme
will be results oriented and may continue into 2022.
"Because we believe the results of the EM surveys at both Red
Star and Navarre will be critical for drill hole targeting, and
those surveys cannot be completed until the snow has melted, both
drilling programmes are expected to commence during Q3. We are
currently proposing to drill 1,500 metres at Red Star and
Horseshoe, and 3,000 metres at Navarre Creek.
"The deep sulphide and hydrological drilling at Empire are also
subject to site conditions; however, they are not dependent on the
completion of geophysical surveying and are therefore anticipated
to commence in late Q2. We anticipate drilling up to 4,500 metres
in the deep sulphides and approximately 1,500 metres of
hydrological drilling.
"The Company is executing these field-based programmes using the
results from the 2020 field season and utilising the funding from
the recent equity raise. As always, the Company is putting
shareholder dollars to work in well-organised field programmes that
increase the likelihood of adding shareholder value. I look forward
to sharing the results of our 2021 programme over the coming
months."
Red Star, Horseshoe and Navarre Projects
The Red Star deposit is located approximately 330 metres
north-northwest of the Empire open pit resource area within the
Empire patented claim boundary and was discovered during field
mapping and reconnaissance of the northern patented claim boundary
and adjacent Horseshoe Block. In May 2019, Hard Rock Consulting
estimated a maiden inferred resource at Red Star of 103,000 tonnes
grading 173.4 grammes per tonne ("g/t") silver, 0.85 g/t gold, and
3.85% lead, with minor copper and zinc. In 2020, 10 HQ-core holes
were completed at Red Star. Core holes RSD20-01 through RSD20-04,
and RSD20-06, returned assays of 116.9 g/t (3.76 ounces per tonne
("oz/t")) to 359.8 g/t (11.57 oz/t) silver and lead values from
1.17% to 7.79%, respectively. Further drilling was hampered by
ground cover hiding the skarn deposit, making this difficult to
follow. The present magnetic survey is intended to overcome those
difficulties.
The Navarre Creek claim block to the north west of the Empire
Mine was acquired in 2019 and attracted attention as the geology
appeared to be similar to volcanic hosted gold deposits on the
Carlin Trend in Nevada, home to several multimillion ounce gold
deposits. Of the 90 samples, 53 were above the detection limit for
gold with a high of 0.569 g/t, and 25 were above the detection
limit for silver. The gold grades in these initial geochemical
Navarre Creek samples are anomalously high and indicative of
higher-grade values in less weathered rocks below the surface
oxidised zone. These results are similar to the historic grades
encountered in the early exploration phases of the now multimillion
ounce deposits on the Carlin Trend in Nevada.
Empire Deep Sulphides
A copper-rich sulphide vein system was mined extensively
underground at the Empire deposit from 1901 until 1942, and then
sporadically from the late-1940s to the late-1970s. Smelter records
from pre-WWII indicated copper grades shipped from the mine
averaged 6% to 8% copper and contained lesser amounts of gold,
silver, lead, zinc, and tungsten. Phoenix completed two deep
diamond drill holes below the open pit oxides at Empire in late
2017 that confirmed the presence of higher-grade sulphide
mineralisation in the skarn structures at depth. Both of the core
holes intersected mineralised skarn and the analytical data from
both drill holes intersected numerous significant intervals of
copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, and tungsten throughout their
depths. The tungsten values were particularly interesting as they
positively reinforced the Company's consulting geologist's
predictions of the Empire system being the uppermost horizon of a
larger molybdenum-tungsten porphyry. In 2018 five drill holes
intercepted copper sulphide mineralisation below the Empire oxides.
One hole returned 5.53% copper, 7.67 g/t gold, and 120 g/t silver,
and was further north of any historical underground mining, whilst
another returned 5.19% copper adjacent to historical underground
workings. The gold and silver grades generally are major
considerations, ranging to 7.93 g/t gold and 256 g/t silver.
Long-term Hydrological Monitoring Wells
A network of between nine and 12 monitoring wells is planned in
the areas upgradient and downgradient of the proposed heap leach
pad and processing area. These wells will be constructed as
piezometers and used for long-term ground water elevation and
groundwater sampling points during the operation of the open pit
leach heaps to ensure water quality compliance. The borings will
also be used as condemnation holes to ensure that mineralised rock
does not exist below the processing area.
Drilling Contractors
Alford Drilling (formerly AK Drilling) of Elko, Nevada, USA, has
previously been responsible for all of the drilling work completed
to date on both the Company's Empire Mine and Red Star discovery.
Their website can be viewed at http://alforddrilling.com/home .
Drillrite LLC is headquartered in Reno, Nevada, USA. Their website
can be viewed at http://drillritenv.com.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
Contacts
For further information please visit
www.phoenixcopperlimited.com or contact:
Phoenix Copper Ryan McDermott Tel: +1 208
Limited Dennis Thomas 954 7039
Richard Wilkins Tel: +44 7827
290 849
Tel: +44 7590
216 657
SP Angel (Nominated David Hignell / Caroline Tel: +44 20
Adviser) Rowe 3470 0470
----------------------------------- ---------------
Brandon Hill Jonathan Evans / Oliver Stansfield Tel: +44 20
Capital (Joint 3463 5000
Broker)
----------------------------------- ---------------
WH Ireland (Joint Harry Ansell / Adam Pollock Tel: +44 207
Broker) / Katy Mitchell 2201666
----------------------------------- ---------------
Panmure Gordon John Prior / Hugh Rich / Tel: +44 20
(UK) Limited Ailsa Macmaster 7886 2500
(Joint Broker)
----------------------------------- ---------------
EAS Advisors Matt Bonner / Rogier de la Tel: +1 (646)
(US Corporate Rambelje 495-2225
Adviser)
----------------------------------- ---------------
Blytheweigh Tim Blythe / Megan Ray Tel: +44 20
(Financial PR) 7138 3204
----------------------------------- ---------------
Notes
Phoenix Copper Limited is a North American focused, base and
precious metal emerging producer and exploration company, which has
carried out a drilling programme and generated a copper, gold,
silver and zinc resource on which it is carrying out a feasibility
study to bring the historically producing Empire Mine in Idaho,
USA, back into production. It is also evaluating the silver and
gold resources around three other past producing mines within the
23 km (2) Empire claims block as well as cobalt in two claims
blocks north of Empire in Idaho.
Phoenix's primary operations are focused near Mackay, Idaho in
the Alder Creek mining district. This district includes the
historical Empire, Horseshoe, White Knob and Blue Bird Mines, past
producers of copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead and tungsten from
underground mines in the first half of the twentieth century.
Additionally, the district includes Navarre Creek a Carlin-trend
gold discovery which hosts a 6.1 km gold strike length within a 9.8
km(2) area.
Phoenix acquired an 80% interest in the historical Empire Mine
property in 2017 and, based on a total of 320 drill holes, an oxide
resource was completed in late 2017. A NI 43-101 compliant PEA
(preliminary economic assessment) for an open pit heap leach
solvent extraction and electrowinning ("SX-EW") mine was completed
in April 2018. In 2018 a further 8,600 metres in 93 holes was
completed to upgrade the oxide resources, provide samples for
ongoing metallurgical test work, geotechnical and hydrological
studies and condemnation drilling for the heap leach pad site,
waste dump and plant site. An updated NI 43-101 compliant resource
was completed in early May 2020 and October 2020 for all metals.
Present contained metal in all NI 43-101 compliant categories of
resources, measured, indicated and inferred, stand at 355,523
ounces of gold, 129,641 tonnes of copper, 10,133,772 ounces of
silver and 58,440 tonnes of zinc. Following the latest NI 43-101
compliant resource, Phoenix updated its economic model in February
2021 to include the processing of all contained metals through a
two phased approach.
Since acquiring the Empire project, Phoenix has increased the
claim area from 818 acres to 5,717 acres, mainly to the northwest
and west, and in so doing has increased the potential for
additional oxide and sulphide copper resources, as well as the
potential for stand-alone gold and silver resources, along a strike
length of approximately 5.4 km towards the other brownfield mines
of the Horseshoe, White Knob and Blue Bird Mines now within the
property boundary. In particular, a new discovery at Red Star, 330
metres north west of the Empire Mine proposed open pit, has
revealed sulphide ore and from three shallow exploration drill
holes a NI 43-101 compliant maiden resource of 1.6 million silver
equivalent ounces was reported.
At Empire, it is estimated that less than 1% of the potential
ore system has been explored to date and, accordingly, there is
significant opportunity to increase the resource through phased
exploration.
More details on the Company, its assets and its objectives can
be found on PXC's website at www. phoenixcopperlimited.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
CNTUPUUPCUPGGMQ
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 07, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Phoenix Global Mining (LSE:PGM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Phoenix Global Mining (LSE:PGM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024