Empire Mine Deep Sulphide Drilling Continues to Intercept High-Grade Polymetallics
Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM: PXC, OTCQX: PXCLF, OTCQX ADR: PXCLY), the AIM quoted USA focused base and precious metals emerging producer and exploration company, is pleased to announce further analytical results from the Company’s 2021 Deep Sulphide core drilling programme, below the known open pit oxide resource, at the Empire Mine in Idaho, USA (‘Empire’).
Programme Highlights
· Assay results from Holes KXD21-04, KXD21-05, and KXD21-06 intercept high-grade mineralisation across a suite of metals
o Significant intercepts of 2.9 g/tonne (“g/t”) gold, 187 g/t silver, 1.45% copper, 4.93% zinc, and 8,030 ppm (0.80%) tungsten intercepted in the drill holes summarised below:
· Hole KXD21-04
o At 64.5 metres (‘m’) depth 1.0 m of 134 g/t silver, 2.94% lead, 4.59% zinc
o At 97.2 m depth 1.5 m of 0.80% tungsten
o At 115.8 m depth 1.5 m of 0.44 g/t gold, 68.7 g/t silver, 1.45% copper, 1.37% zinc
· Hole KXD21-05
o At 60.5 m depth 0.7 m of 0.42 g/t gold and 187 g/t silver
· Hole KXD21-06
o At 152.2 m depth 2.1 m of 4.93% zinc
o At 166.4 m depth 1.5 m of 2.9 g/t gold
o At 191.4 m depth 0.6 m of 0.88 g/t gold and 1.17% copper
· Anomalous molybdenum and tungsten mineralisation also intercepted
· A total of 979 m of the current 4,500 m deep sulphide programme have been completed to date (excluding 68 m long KXD21-01, which was abandoned due to interference with historical underground workings)
Ryan McDermott, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased to announce that drilling from a further four core holes intercepted high-grade gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, as well as tungsten as high as 0.80% (8,030 ppm). These four core holes, KXD21-03 through KXD21-06, targeted the sulphide zone below Empire’s open pit oxide resource. The Phoenix team is encouraged by these results which provide further evidence of a metal-rich system below the open pit oxide resource. If we exclude the meterage from the first hole, which was lost in an old working, we are 979-metres into a 4,500-metre exploration program. These intercepts are supporting our geological team’s exploration model. We continue to compile the data, to refine our interpretations, and to improve our drill hole target selection process.
“We are pleased with the elevated gold and silver values, as well as the high lead and zinc numbers from the latest drilling. We are also pleased to note that the US Geological Survey has recently added zinc to its list of minerals critical to US national security and the economy, a list that already includes tungsten and cobalt. The next round of drilling in the deep sulphide system is scheduled for this winter. While we wait for a core drilling rig outfitted with all the necessary winter capabilities, which we anticipate arriving during December, our geologists are using the results from hole KXD21-02 (reported in September 2021), along with this recent data, to best select the next drilling sites. Photos of the latest core holes core can be viewed on the Company website at https://phoenixcopperlimited.com.
“In addition to the elevated gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc values, tungsten is present in anomalous concentrations as high as 8,030 ppm (0.80%) and molybdenum as high as 1,275 ppm (0.13%). These values support the conclusions of Nigel Maund in his 2019 Empire Mine report “A Report on a Field Visit Made to the Empire Cu – Au – Ag – (Zn) Project, Idaho, USA”, wherein evidence is presented for an underlying molybdenum/tungsten porphyry at Empire. The Maund report can be viewed on the Company’s website at https://phoenixcopperlimited.com/documents/maund-report-april-2019.pdf.
“The Company continues to await the ground magnetic survey results for the Horseshoe-White Knob extension area to the north of the Red Star silver-lead deposit, as well as the Navarre Creek gold project. We look forward to reporting those results as soon as they become available . ”
2021 Drilling Programmes
The 2021 drilling plan includes 4,500 m of diamond core in the Deep Sulphide (979 m completed to date), 3,000 m of dual-rotary drilling for hydrological characterisation (2,600 m completed to date), 2,300 m of reverse-circulation drilling at Navarre Creek, and 3,000 m of diamond core at Red Star and the Horseshoe-Whiteknob target.
Qualified Person
The foregoing technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and verified by Zachary J. Black, SME-RM, General Manager. Mr. Black is a resource geologist with more than 17 years of domestic and international experience in the mining and construction industries. Mr. Black has a degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno and is a registered member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. He is a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules. Mr. Black consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which they appear.
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance
Phoenix is committed to meeting and exceeding the environmental standards required by law as a core value of the Company. The baseline environmental data collected to date will be used for furthering the permitting process, but as importantly, will be used as the building blocks for the Company’s ongoing Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (“ESG”) platform, overseen by the Company’s ESG & Sustainability Committee.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Contacts
For further information please visit https://phoenixcopperlimited.com or contact:
Phoenix Copper Limited
Ryan McDermott
Tel: +1 208 954 7039
Dennis Thomas
Tel: +44 7827 290 849
Richard Wilkins
Tel: +44 7590 216 657
