Completion of Environmental Studies at Empire Mine

Phoenix Copper Limited / Ticker: PXC / Sector: Mining

12 February 2020

Phoenix Copper Limited

("Phoenix" or the "Company")

Completion of Environmental Studies at Empire Mine

Environmental baseline studies for wildlife, water and cultural resources complete at the Empire Mine

No critical environmental issues identified

Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM: PXC, OTCQX: PXCLF), the AIM quoted North American focused base and precious metals exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the results of two years of independent baseline environmental data collection and monitoring at the Empire Mine, Idaho USA.  The results of the monitoring will be used directly for environmental permitting and the continued development of the Plan of Operations for all future mining activity, including Red Star and the Empire open-pit copper oxide deposit.

Highlights

·      No critical habitat for threatened or endangered plant or wildlife was identified within the project area

·      Surface and groundwater studies indicate no impacts from legacy mining operations

·      No significant cultural or archaeological artefacts identified in the project area

·      No Sage Grouse or Sage Grouse leks (breeding sites) were identified at or near the project area  

·      The full Plant and Wildlife reports, archaeological reports, and hydrological reports can be viewed on the Company's website at www.phoenixcopperlimited.com/reports in the name of Konnex Resources Inc, the subsidiary local operating company of the Company

 Ryan McDermott, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are encouraged with the results of the environmental base line studies received to date.  We retained the services of North American-based Cascade Earth Sciences ("CES") with a field office in Pocatello, Idaho, in 2017 to provide independent, third party collection and evaluation of baseline environmental data necessary for the permitting of mining operations at our Empire Mine site. 

"The results of two years of extensive flora, wildlife, hydrological, and archaeological studies by the CES team have resulted in no critical habitat for threatened or endangered plant and wildlife species, most notably Sage Grouse.  Additionally, CES hydrologists have concluded that no legacy impacts to surface or groundwater occurred as a result of historical mining operations.  CES archaeologists were also unable to identify any significant cultural artefacts on the Empire property.  These findings clear the path to permitting and should have a positive effect on our permitting timeline.   

"The Company now has a copper-oxide resource at Empire and a silver-lead resource at Red Star, both situated within the area of CES's baseline studies.  The copper sulphide target at Empire also lies within the boundaries of the CES survey and means we have three projects with these favourable environmental conditions.

"The baseline environmental data collected by CES will serve a dual purpose in providing data for mine permitting and as a foundation for the Company's Environmental and Social Responsibility platform.  Phoenix is committed to responsible operations, at all levels of the Company, and we see the opportunity in using the baseline data as the early-stage building blocks for such a programme."

Empire Project Environmental Baseline Studies

Wildlife and Plants

In June 2017, CES commenced baseline environmental studies for the Empire Project, including the open-pit oxide copper, the deeper copper sulphides and the Red Star area. These studies have been conducted to plan the project to minimise and mitigate potential environmental impacts and to supply critical information for environmental reviews and permits by government regulatory agencies. Study areas include all of the Empire patented claims, the unpatented claims on the Salmon-Challis National Forest (SCNF) associated with the copper oxide resource and the unpatented claims for the heap leach and SX-EW plant on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

Detailed plant and wildlife surveys have been conducted by CES botanists and wildlife biologists over the past two years for threatened and endangered species, as well as common and sensitive species. The results of 2017, 2018, and 2019 wildlife surveys show no indication of threatened or endangered wildlife species at or near the Empire site.  Most notably, CES wildlife specialists did not identify any Sage Grouse or Sage Grouse leks (breeding areas) on or adjacent to the Empire properties. The results of the 2017/2018 botanical survey also indicate no threatened or endangered flora.   

Surveys were also conducted over a broad area on and around the Empire site for both sensitive and common wildlife and plant species.  The surveys did observe a pair of Northern Goshawk (sensitive species) for one day and no nests were found. Acoustic surveys for bats in suitable habitat, especially around historic mine adits, had numerous detections of common bat species but a very low detection rate of one sensitive species (Townsend's big eared bat). Camera trap surveys with carrion bait to attract carnivores documented a pair of juvenile wolverine (sensitive species) during one week in April 2018 and one adult on one day in March 2019.  CES biologists concluded that the sensitive species identified at the Empire site were passing through the area and that no critical habitat existed for any of the sensitive species.  It is well understood that these species have expansive ranges. The botanical survey identified that Whitebark Pine (sensitive species) are present on a ridge above the oxide resource but well outside of any proposed operational footprint. No sensitive botanical or wildlife species were identified on portions of BLM claims.

Surface and Groundwater

CES has also conducted water resources investigations at Empire under the guidance of an Idaho-licensed geologist. Eight quarterly water monitoring events of streams and springs in a broad area surrounding the mine identified no surface water present within the oxide resource area and no evidence of acid rock drainage or other chemical contamination from legacy operations. Nearly two years of continuous streamflow monitoring in Cliff Creek at the Empire water right point of diversion documents the availability and seasonal variability to supply water at the mine. Hydrologic test holes were drilled at three locations on the pediment below the oxide resource. All of the holes were dry, including one that was 104 metres deep. The absence of shallow groundwater reduces the potential for contamination from surface activities. Using geothermal temperature gradient analysis, CES hydrologists have estimated the depth to groundwater below the open-pit copper oxide at 340 metres.

Cultural and Archaeological

CES archaeologists spent 2018 conducting detailed archaeological and cultural surveys of the Empire patented and unpatented claims.  The surveys identified the remains of food can dumps from historical mining, but no significant artefacts were found. These surveys were conducted by a professional archaeologist with the required survey permits.

Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance

Phoenix is committed to meeting and exceeding the environmental standards required by law as a core value of the Company.  The baseline environmental data collected to date will be used for furthering the permitting process, but as importantly, will be used as the building blocks for the Company's future Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) platform.

Contacts

For further information please visit www.phoenixcopperlimited.com or contact:

Notes

Phoenix Copper Limited is a North American focused, base and precious metal explorer and developer, which has carried out a drilling programme and generated a copper, gold, silver and zinc resource on which it is carrying out a feasibility study to bring the historically producing Empire Mine in Idaho, USA, back into production. It is also evaluating the silver and gold resources around three other past producing mines within the 23 km²  Empire claims block as well as cobalt in two claims blocks north of Empire in Idaho.

Phoenix's primary operations are focused near Mackay, Idaho in the Alder Creek mining district. This district includes the historical Empire, Horseshoe, White Knob and Blue Bird Mines, past producers of copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead and tungsten from underground mines in the first half of the twentieth century. Additionally, the district includes Navarre Creek a Carlin-trend gold discovery which hosts a 6.1 km gold strike length within a 9.8 km² area.

Phoenix acquired an 80% interest in the historical Empire Mine property in 2017 and, based on a total of 320 drill holes, an oxide resource was completed in late 2017. A NI 43-101 compliant PEA (preliminary economic assessment) for an open pit heap leach solvent extraction and electrowinning ("SX-EW") mine was completed in April 2018. In 2018 a further 8,600 metres in 93 holes was completed to upgrade the oxide resources, provide samples for ongoing metallurgical test work, geotechnical and hydrological studies and condemnation drilling for the heap leach pad site, waste dump and plant site. An updated NI 43-101 compliant resource was completed in early May 2019.

Since acquiring the Empire project, Phoenix has increased the claim area from 818 acres to 5,717 acres, mainly to the northwest and west, and in so doing has increased the potential for additional oxide and sulphide copper resources, as well as the potential for stand-alone gold and silver resources, along a strike length of approximately 5.4 km towards the other brownfield mines of the Horseshoe, White Knob and Blue Bird Mines now within the property boundary.  In particular, a new discovery at Red Star, 330 metres north west of the Empire Mine proposed open pit, has revealed sulphide ore and from three shallow exploration drill holes a NI 43-101 compliant maiden resource of 1.6 million silver equivalent ounces was reported.

At Empire, it is estimated that less than 1% of the potential ore system has been explored to date and, accordingly, there is significant opportunity to increase the resource through phased exploration.

More details on the Company, its assets and its objectives can be found on PXC's website at www.phoenixcopperlimited.com.