TIDMPGM
RNS Number : 1161K
Phoenix Global Mining Ltd
05 July 2017
Phoenix Global Mining Ltd / Ticker: PGM / Sector: Mining
5 July 2017
Phoenix Global Mining (PGM) (the "Company" or "Phoenix")
General corporate update
Phoenix Global Mining Ltd (AIM:PGM), the AIM quoted, US-focused
copper exploration and development company, is pleased to provide
an update on corporate and project related activities at its Empire
Copper Mine in Idaho, USA, following its recent IPO on AIM.
Highlights
-- 28 hole (2,200 metre) drilling programme underway targeting
additional oxide resource at shallow depths building on the recent
JORC resource of 68,200 tonnes of contained copper
-- First drill assay results expected in 3 to 6 weeks
-- Metallurgical studies and Preliminary Feasibility Study
("PFS") underway - targeting initial production of 7,000 tonnes per
annum of copper cathode by 2020
-- Geologists hired to begin analysis on higher grade sulphide mineralisation
-- Contractors engaged to provide ground-based and aerial surveying services
-- Konnex board restructured following admission to AIM giving
Phoenix operational and management control
Dennis Thomas, the Company's CEO, said, "Having listed on AIM
last week, we have already commenced a number of new work
programmes with the aim of delivering an open pit oxide copper heap
leach project capable of being in production by 2020. We are now
embarking on our first drilling programme to extend and upgrade the
JORC resource that will be fed into the PFS studies.
"Whilst the advancement of this oxide copper project remains our
primary focus, the Company has also now commenced exploration work
on the deeper sulphide resource potential, which has historically
yielded grades of up to 11.4% copper and remains largely
untested.
"Our programme is overseen by an experienced and highly
motivated team, who have proven success in advancing base metal
projects into production. We are receiving great local support from
the citizens of Mackay, the closest town to our operations. We
firmly believe we are on course for an exciting summer of progress
and we look forward to keeping shareholders updated with our
progress."
Konnex Board
PGM owns 80% of Konnex Resources ("Konnex"), which owns the
rights to the Empire Mine ("Empire") in Custer County, Idaho. PGM
acquired the interest in Konnex from ExGen Resources Inc. shortly
before the IPO.
The Board and management of Konnex has now been reorganised to
give Phoenix both operational and management control. The senior
management team of the Company, being Dennis Thomas, Richard
Wilkins and Ryan McDermott have been appointed to the Board of
Konnex thereby giving Phoenix a majority position on the board with
three seats out of the total of five board positions.
Drilling Programme and Metallurgical work
The Company has contracted AK Drilling, Inc. of Butte, Montana
to provide both core-drilling and reverse-circulation ("RC")
drilling services. The programme has already commenced and will
require approximately 3 to 4 weeks to be completed.
The Company outlined its intention to upgrade and increase the
current JORC resource (12.8mt grading 0.53% copper for 68,200
tonnes contained metal) derived from the AP Pit in order to
accelerate the development of a low cost and open pit oxide copper
heap leach project by 2020, with the Company initially targeting
7,000t per annum of copper cathode.
The current drill programme will focus on identifying further
oxide resources within the AP Pit area and upgrading the JORC
Resource. Also, a number of drill holes will be used for the
purposes of new metallurgical studies to build on the historic
knowledge from prior studies.
The Company has initially committed to a 28-hole, 2,200 metres,
drilling programme consisting of 21 RC drill holes for a total of
1,600 metres designed to infill and augment the existing drilling
used in the recent April 2017 SRK resource calculation. This
includes 300 metres HQ diameter core in 4 holes and 300 metres
large PQ diameter in 3 holes, which will provide samples for bulk
metallurgical test work.
As of 4 July 2017, 5 of the 21 RC holes had been completed to a
total of 317 metres, and 2 of the 4 HQ core holes have been
completed for a total of 169 metres. The PQ core drilling programme
is anticipated to begin the week commencing 10 July 2017.
ALS Global of Reno, Nevada has been selected for its analytical
services. Core samples and RC cuttings will be analysed for total
copper, copper oxide, gold, silver, zinc and tungsten. Additional
trace element analysis will also be performed. The samples from the
first 5 RC drill holes are in transit to the laboratory and the HQ
core hole samples will be delivered to the laboratory for analysis
following thorough logging and sampling.
The Company expects receipt of analytical results within
industry standard turn-around times of 3 to 6 weeks from their
receipt of the samples depending on the work load of the
laboratory. The Company will complete the Quality Assurance/Quality
Control (QA/QC) evaluation of the lab results required by NI43-101
standards.
Moreover, the Company is re-examining the core and RC cuttings
currently in the resources inventory from the previous exploration
efforts of predecessor companies at the Empire Project. Re-logging
of select intervals is ongoing, and the potential for additional
geochemical analyses of those intervals is being evaluated.
Sulphide Exploration
The Company has retained Mr. Graham Kelsey and Mr. Martin
Houhoulis as senior geologists to oversee the current drilling
programme and to begin the examination and exploration of potential
sulphide-hosted copper mineralization at the Empire Project.
Mr. Kelsey and Mr. Houhoulis have extensive experience on copper
and base metal projects globally. Mr Houhoulis graduated with a
B.Sc. in Geology from the Northern Arizona University and has over
30 years of experience. He worked for Resolution Copper Company
(RTZ) in Arizona; as Project Manager on the San Cristobel Mine in
Bolivia for Summit Mining; Piedras Verdes Copper Project in Mexico
and the Morenci Mine in Arizona for Phelps Dodge Corp. Mr. Kelsey
gained an M.Sc. degree in Geology from the Arizona State University
and has over 35 years' experience working for Phelps Dodge, Cyprus
Minerals, Amoco Minerals and Lac Minerals among others.
The Company is now completing the necessary plan for regaining
underground access for mapping, sampling and drilling in the
sulphide zone beneath the oxides.
Aerial and Ground Survey
Dunn Land Surveys of Cascade, Idaho has been contracted to
provide ground-based and aerial surveying services, including the
development of a drone-based, hi-definition aerial imagery and
topographic survey which will be used for future ground control and
engineering purposes. The drone survey is currently underway and
delivery of the imagery and topographic files is anticipated in
late July.
Pre-Feasibility Study
The Company is currently inviting and evaluating proposals from
engineering firms with a successful track record of designing open
pit oxide copper heap leach projects for the position of lead
consultant responsible for the Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS)
for the AP pit.
Qualified Person
Information in this announcement relating to drilling results is
based on data reviewed by Roger Turner A.C.S.M., M.Sc., M.I.M.M.M.,
C.Eng., Chief Technical Officer and Non-Executive Director of the
Company. Mr Turner is a graduate mining engineer from the Camborne
School of Mines with an MSc in Economic Geology from Leicester
University with more than 40 years' experience in mine development,
construction and operation and is a qualified person under the AIM
Rules. Mr Turner consents to the inclusion of the information in
the form and context in which they appear.
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.
**S**
For further information please visit www.pgmining.com or
contact:
Phoenix Global Dennis Thomas & Richard c/o St Brides
Mining Ltd Wilkins Partners
+44 20 7236
1177
--------------------- -------------------------------- --------------
SP Angel Lindsay Mair / Caroline Tel: +44
(Nominated Advisor) Rowe 20 3470 0470
--------------------- -------------------------------- --------------
Brandon Hill Jonathan Evans / Oliver Tel: +44
Capital (Broker) Stansfield/ Alex Walker/Robert 20 3463 5000
Beenstock
--------------------- -------------------------------- --------------
St Brides Partners Charlotte Page / Susie Tel: +44
(Financial PR) Geliher / Hugo de Salis 20 7236 1177
--------------------- -------------------------------- --------------
Notes
Phoenix Global Mining Ltd (AIM: PGM) is a US-focused, base metal
explorer and developer, which is fast-tracking the
historically-producing Empire Mine in Idaho, USA back into
production.
Having established an initial copper oxide JORC resource of
12.8mt grading 0.53% copper ('Cu') for 68,200t contained Cu from
historical drill holes, Phoenix has defined a two-phase development
strategy. Phase One is focused on commencing low cost, open pit
production from the current oxide resource, targeting 7,000t copper
cathode per annum by 2020 via an SX-EW plant. Stage Two will look
to extend the life of mine by targeting the deeper (below c.120m),
higher grade copper sulphides, where intercepts of up to 11.4% Cu
have been recovered. Pre-feasibility Study work on the priority
open pit oxide resource is already underway.
It is estimated that only 5% of the potential ore system has
been explored to date and accordingly there is significant
opportunity to increase the resource through phased exploration;
the current resource relates to the oxide resource only, which
remains open along strike and does not include the deeper, higher
grade sulphides. Furthermore, the Mine has an exploration target of
between 3.4 to 6.7 million tonnes (derived from historic data),
grading 0.34% to 0.50% Cu for 11,560 to 33,500 tonnes of additional
contained copper and there is potential to extract additional
metals, including gold, silver, zinc and tungsten.
With a management team that has successfully constructed,
commissioned and operated mines and a low risk, mining-friendly
jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure, Phoenix is looking to
fulfil its ambitions to become a mid-tier copper producing
company.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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