Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM:PXC, OTCQX:PXCLF) reported assay results from the fourth and fifth metallurgical core holes at its Empire open pit copper project in Idaho, USA.
The drilling was part of an exploration programme that began last June designed to collect material from each of the metallurgical domains, to evaluate the metallurgical variability within the open pit, while improving the understanding of the geologic and structural controls on mineralisation, the company stated.
It said the results continue to confirm the continuity of mineralisation shown in the first three holes, which appears along structures striking northeast and dipping steeply to the southeast, with the results to potentially be included in updated geological models and to target additional drilling programmes.
Assay results are taking longer than originally anticipated due to a laboratory backlog, the company said, but the metallurgical testing program is progressing as planned.
“The Phoenix team targeted specific zones within the Empire resource in order to collect samples that are representative of the geology and grade characteristics of the deposit as a whole,” said chief executive Ryan McDermott.
“The samples will be used in the additional testing of ammonium thiosulfate as a recovery agent for copper, gold, and silver, which may enable us to bring forward production of gold and silver, currently scheduled as a second phase of the Empire Open Pit project.”
Consistent with the copper, gold, and silver values previously reported for the first three holes in the programme, values reported from holes KXD22-04 and KXD22-05 included 11 metres (m) grading 1.59% copper and 45.60 grammes per tonne (g/t) silver, and 17.70m of 0.59% copper and 20.10 g/t silver, including 1.20m of 7.43 g/t gold.
“Most importantly, the intercepts in the first five holes of the program meet the ore type-grade-interval length necessary for the metallurgical test work currently being undertaken,” said McDermott.