Phoenix Copper upbeat on latest report from Idaho mine group

North America-focussed base and precious metals exploration and development company Phoenix Copper announced the publication of a further report by its consultant economic geologist Nigel Maund on the geology and mineral potential of the Red Star and White Knob mine group, along strike to the north of its Empire Mine copper oxide deposit in Idaho.

The AIM-traded firm said the report supplemented Maund's Empire Mine report published in April, and tied the geology and mineralisation of the Empire deposit to the mineralisation identified along a 2.5 kilometre trend north through the Red Star resource and into the White Knob mine group, all as part of a larger molybdenum-tungsten porphyry known as the ‘Empire Mineralised System’.

It said the key findings of the report included that high-grade silver, lead, and zinc, plus copper and gold, mineralisation extended on a northward strike from the main Empire copper deposit at least 2.5 kilometres, and was focused on a series of mineralised shears and faults, along which occurred the Red Star resource area, as well as the previously-mined White Knob, Blue Bird, and Horseshoe deposits.

Another 30 unnamed historic underground mines and prospects also occurred along the same trend.

The company said the silver, lead, zinc, copper and gold grades encountered in its 2018 drilling programme at Red Star were consistent with the grades of the same metals found in channel samples taken from the ribs of underground workings in the White Knob, Blue Bird, Horseshoe mines one kilometre to the north.

It said the average production grades from the White Knob Mine were 204 grams of silver per tonne, 19% lead, 6.5% zinc and 0.73% copper.

By comparison, the Red Star drilling results from the 2018 drill holes KX18-55 and KX18-57 showed 9.15m of 361 grams of silver per tonne, 9.9% lead and 0.8% zinc, and 15.24m of 160 grams of silver per tonne, 13.3% lead and 1.4% zinc, respectively.

Mined widths of two to 16m in the historic White Knob, Blue Bird and Horseshoe mines were said to be similar to the mineralised drill hole intercept widths encountered in the 2018 drilling programme, with similar mineralogy.

Maund reportedly concluded that the potential mineralised system, including the Empire, Red Star and the White Knob Group, had been “less than 1% exploited and explored” and that the northern part of the system remained “unexplored with indications of substantial ore potential”.

Phoenix said Maund also concluded that the mineralisation exhibited in the Red Star and White Knob Group trend was consistent with a molybdenum-tungsten porphyry system, for which he attributed the Empire copper deposit to the south.

“It was a great pleasure to receive Nigel Maund's report on Red Star, a discovery that we first reported to shareholders in early 2019,” said chief executive officer Dennis Thomas.

“He confirms the continuity of the mineralisation northwards from the Empire Mine through Red Star to the old mines of the White Knob Group in the Horseshoe Block.

“The Red Star discovery is in primary high-grade silver/lead sulphide mineralisation.”

Thomas said that, after only three holes drilled, the company was able to generate a maiden NI 43-101 compliant resource of some 103,500 tonnes, containing more than half a million ounces of silver.

“Our current view is that Red Star may develop into a high-grade underground silver-lead mine with a modest level of capex.

“This is a strategically important development for the Company as it enables us to move away from being a single asset company with all the inherent risks that such companies face.

“As a junior company we are focused on developing value by discovery and development and we have known for a long time that we have an abundance of exploration opportunities at the Empire Mine.”

The firm was “highly encouraged” by the recent drilling at Red Star, Thomas explained, to evaluate the possibility of developing the project, which would enable Phoenix to broaden its risk by adding both silver and lead into the commodity mix in addition to the copper.

It was the company;s intention to fast track the exploration of Red Star by drilling and sampling along the trend in order to delineate additional economic resources and reach a development decision by the end of the second half of 2020, Thomas said, while also continuing its bankable feasibility study programme for the Empire Mine open pit copper oxide project.

“Moreover, the Red Star project highlights the polymetallic nature of the Empire Mine district which we have only begun to explore beyond the initial open pit oxides.

“Red Star is part of the sulphide mineralisation, which Nigel considers to be less than 1% explored.”

Drilling into Red Star therefore commenced the evaluation of what the board believed would develop into a “world class” sulphide deposit, Dennis Thomas added.

“Finally, we are now undertaking some early exploration work at our Navarre Creek discovery, a Carlin-style gold zone west of the open pit oxide project.”