Copper Fox Metals completes drill hole rehab work at Van Dyke project, Arizona
Copper Fox Metals Inc. [TSXV-CUU; OTCQX-CPFXF], through its wholly owned subsidiary, Desert Fox Copper Inc., has provided an update on the drill hole rehabilitation and geotechnical study of the Gila conglomerate on its 100%-owned Van Dyke in situ copper recovery (ISCR) project located in the Globe-Miami mining district, Gila County, Arizona.
The drill hole rehabilitation program initially selected six historical drill holes to determine if these holes could be used to establish hydrogeological monitoring and water sampling stations. Of the six holes initially selected, only one historical hole was selected for installation of hydrogeological monitoring equipment due to geotechnical difficulties encountered during the program. Upgrading of hydrogeological monitoring equipment in three drill holes completed in 2014 was also completed.
The geotechnical program is collecting physical data on the Gila conglomerate to support an updated mine plan to access the Van Dyke deposit.
Highlights: Successful completion of rehabilitating one drill hole for the installation of hydrogeological and water sampling equipment; installation of the vibrating wire piezometers (VWP) and recording equipment is contingent on analytical results from the water samples collected in this drill hole. Receipt of the analytical results is expected within two weeks.
The VWP’s and data recorders in three drill holes completed in 2014 were upgraded. Recording of data from these monitoring stations is expected to come online before the end of February.
The core logging and sampling portion of the geotechnical study is finished and laboratory testing of the samples from the Gila Conglomerate is progressing.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox stated, “On completion of the drill hole rehabilitation work, the project has entered a new phase as it continues to advance the Van Dyke project. The collection of additional hydrogeological data to augment the historical hydrogeological database and monitoring changes in the chemistry of the formational water of the Gila Conglomerate over time are important steps in the preparation of an updated hydrogeological model for the Van Dyke project. The hydrogeological model is a major parameter that is required should the project enter the permitting stage.”
Drillhole Rehabilitation: A significant component of advancing an ISCR project in Arizona to the permitting stage is the preparation of a robust hydrogeological model for review by regulatory authorities. The current work establishes four hydrogeological monitoring stations and one water sampling station to monitor changes in water quality over time.
Geotechnical Program: All available drill cores of Gila Conglomerate have been logged and the selected samples are currently undergoing laboratory tests to determine specific geotechnical parameters. The data from this study will be used to determine if changes to the mine plan contemplated in the 2020 Preliminary Economic Assessment are required. The geotechnical program also includes a data gap evaluation for the available geotechnical and hydrogeological data, to determine if additional data is needed to support a Prefeasibility Study. The geotechnical program is expected to be completed in May 2024.
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 subsidiaries Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc., are the 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, AZ, the 100% interest in the Mineral Mountain and Sombrero Butte porphyry copper exploration projects located in Arizona, and the 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project and the 100%-owned Eaglehead polymetallic porphyry copper project each located in northwestern British Columbia.