Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM:PXC, OTCQX:PXCLF) has upgraded its resource estimate at the Empire Open-Pit Mine in Idaho, US, into a mineable reserves statement.
Proven and Probable mineral reserves at the mine total 10.1 million tonnes containing 109 million lbs of copper, 104,000oz of gold and 4.65 million oz of silver.
Ryan McDermott, Phoenix’s chief executive, commented: "I am very pleased to report the first mineral reserve statement for our Empire open pit copper-gold-silver mine.
"This reserve calculation upgrades our mineral resources into mineral reserves that represent the economically mineable portion of the mineral resources.
"The reported reserves are the result of years of exploration, drilling, and metallurgical testing, followed by meticulous engineering evaluation and analysis.
"Mineral reserves meet the requirements of geological certainty, accessibility, and economic viability, and are estimated after allowing for mining and processing dilution, and thus represent the recoverable contained metal that is expected to be delivered to the smelter for refining into saleable product to generate revenue."