Copper Fox Metals Inc (TSX-V:CUU, OTCQX:CPFXF), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Desert Fox Copper Inc, has provided an update of recent activities and plans on its 100% owned Van Dyke in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) project located in the Globe-Miami Mining District, Gila County, Arizona.
In a statement, Elmer B Stewart, president and CEO of Copper Fox, commented: "The rehabilitation work completed to date on the selected historical drill holes has been encouraging. If the next phase of the program is successful, then installation of downhole instrumentation to establish water sampling and hydrogeological monitoring stations would follow.
"In addition to the ongoing rehabilitation of the selected drill holes, mineralogical, solubility and geotechnical studies will be undertaken utilizing samples currently in storage at our office in Miami, Arizona. We are honored to work with the Town of Miami to help preserve a piece of the mining history in the Globe-Miami Mining District."
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The 2020 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Van Dyke project prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, indicated an after-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of US$644.7 million and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 43.4%, based on a 17-year mine life using a US$3.15/lb copper price. The PEA recommended advancing the project to the Preliminary Feasibility Stage (PFS).
Based on this recommendation, the company has proceeded with Phase I of a Hydrogeologic Monitoring and Testing Program along with other activities.
Highlights:
- The downhole camera survey determined that four of the historical drill holes surveyed are suitable for further investigation.
- Additional work planned on these drill holes includes surge, bail, and pump testing the drill hole and sampling of the water for analytical purposes.
- Mineralogical, solubility, whole rock and trace element studies are planned to test mineral solubility across the deposit and the chemical changes that would occur from the leaching process.
- Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests on samples from the Gila Conglomerate are planned to obtain geotechnical data on ground support requirements related to the proposed underground access for the project.
- Copper Fox has made a significant contribution toward the restoration of the Keystone Stairs; a historic landmark in Miami, Arizona by contributing the surface rights to a small parcel of land owned by Desert Fox Van Dyke Co.
Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. The principal assets of Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, are the 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona and the 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com