LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - United States-focussed base and precious metals explorer and emerging producer Phoenix Copper announced an increase in its land holding at its Navarre Creek gold exploration project in Idaho on Wednesday, with 56 new claims having been staked on the northeast end of the existing claim block.
The AIM-traded firm said it had increased its land position by an additional 1,157 acres, or 4.68 square kilometres, at the Carlin-type gold exploration project.

It said the total land package in the Empire Mine area had thus been expanded to 8,034 acres, or 32.51 square kilometres.

Electromagnetic surveys at Navarre Creek, Red Star and Horseshoe had been completed, it added, with the company awaiting the final geophysicist report, scheduled for late August.

A total of 2,300 metres of reverse circulation drilling was planned at Navarre Creek for later in the year.

"As a result of our own internal analysis of the preliminary data from the electromagnetic survey, we are pleased to announce the addition of 56 unpatented mining claims to the Navarre Creek claim block," said chief executive officer Ryan McDermott.

"These claims are contiguous and bring the total land holding at Navarre Creek to 3,577 acres.

"The additional acreage was added on the northeast end of the Navarre block and covers additional prospective ground."

McDermott said the additional claims would be "important" for executing future drilling and subsurface exploration, and follow on from the "promising" surface sampling campaign in 2020, which demonstrated "anomalously high" gold grades in the initial geochemical samples, indicative of higher-grade values in less weathered rocks below the surface oxidised zone.

"These grades were similar to the historic grades encountered in some of the early exploration phases of the now multi-million ounce Carlin-style, volcanic-hosted gold deposits in northern Nevada.

"We look forward to reporting the final electromagnetic interpretation, as well as reporting results from the ongoing drilling programs at Empire."

At 1438 BST, shares in Phoenix Copper were up 8.03% at 74p.

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