TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Copper junior Copper Fox Metals on Monday said it had completed the acquisition of the Sombrero Butte copper project and Van Dyke Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims, in Arizona from Bell Copper, a subsidiary of Bell Resources.

Copper Fox president and CEO Elmer Stewart said acquiring the remaining unpatented mining claims at the Van Dyke copper deposit was pending, subject to acquisition by Bell Resources from two vendors.

Copper Fox had acquired all of Bell Copper’s interests in the Sombrero Butte property, located in Pinal County, Arizona, and all of the BLM Arizona lode claims that Bell Copper had acquired, and which are located next to Bell Copper's interests in the Van Dyke copper deposit in Miami, Arizona.

The company acquired the properties by paying Bell Copper C$1-million in cash and assuming Bell Copper's obligations of the two properties.

Copper Fox said the acquisition of Bell Copper's interests in the Van Dyke copper deposit was pending, subject to Bell Copper paying vendors Bennu Properties and Edith Spencer Fritz $500-million in terms of a purchase and sale and royalty agreement between the parties.

The 2 887 acre Sombrero Butte property hosts 12 breccia pipes that contain dickite in the altered breccia matrix. Dickite is an indicator mineral that forms under high temperature, acidic conditions, and occurs in multiple porphyry copper deposits, including the nearby San Manuel mine.

Copper Fox said among other reasons, it was attracted to the properties owing to the area to the west of the Van Dyke deposit, referred to as Azurite Ridge, being surrounded on three sides by the Van Dyke BLM claims.

At Azurite Ridge, copper oxide mineralisation is exposed in outcrop over a distance for about 500 m, and much of the Van Dyke BLM claims had to date not been explored for copper mineralisation using current exploration techniques.

The Sombrero Butte property is subject to an option agreement to earn a 100% interest in the property by making cash payments of $60 000 in January 2013 and $650 000 in January 2014.

Meanwhile, the TSX-V-listed company was working on completing a feasibility study (FS) on the Schaft Creek mineral deposit, in British Columbia, believed to be one of the largest undeveloped copper/gold/molybdenum/silver deposits in North America.

The FS is focusing on a minimum 120 000 t/d openpit mine and is expected to be completed this month.

The company’s Toronto-listed shares traded at C$1.22 apiece on Monday.