Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM:PXC, OTCQX:PXCLF) said results from ground-based field magnetics survey and airborne hyperspectral mineral survey at its Navarre Creek project in Idaho "highlight the prospectivity" of the block.
The company said it carried out 169-line km of field magnetics and airborne imaging along the 3,577-acre claim block, identifying two distinct intrusive bodies.
Approximately 2.3-miles long by 1 mile wide, a corridor of hydrothermal alteration was also identified, which Phoenix said was "consistent with the gold and silver bearing Carlin-style epithermal deposits".
Markers for Carlin-style gold deposits are the presence of jasperoids, and the association of gold, antimony, silver and zinc, which it said are found at Navarre Creek "and may signify the potential for this style of deposit".
Chief executive Ryan McDermott said: "I am excited to finally report the results of two geophysical surveys conducted at our Navarre Creek property this past summer, a ground-based field magnetics survey and an airborne hyperspectral mineral survey."
He said the results confirm the geological and geochemical testing results reported by the company from previous field studies, in particular the iron-rich Lehman Fault and Bear Cave gossan, and "coincide well" with the previous mapping and sampling conducted by the Phoenix team, as well as with the findings of the Idaho Geological Survey reported in 'Geology and Geochemistry of Jasperoid Near Mackay, Idaho' 1988, Bulletin 27.
This latter report states: "Hydrothermal solutions that formed the jasperoids may also have formed large low-grade precious metal deposits within the jasperoid bodies or within altered country rocks associated with the jasperoids."
McDermott said: "Jasperoids and the association of gold, antimony, silver, copper and zinc, as found at Navarre Creek, can be the signatures of precious metal deposits.
"We believe the Navarre Creek area to be quite remarkable, with the combination of iron-rich faults and gossans, jasperoid bodies, and favourable surface geochemistry all supported by the results of the latest geophysical surveys."
The results will drive further exploration and drill targeting in 2022, Phoenix said.