Aim-listed Phoenix Copper has initiated its 2023 drilling programme at the Navarre Creek exploration project in Custer county, Idaho.

The 2023 drilling programme marks a new phase of work on the gold exploration project located about 5 km west of the company’s Empire mine copper oxide deposit.

The 2023 Navarre Creek drilling programme is scheduled to comprise up to 60 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes from 30 drill pads, located at targets throughout the Navarre Creek claim block.

The programme is expected to build on the company’s current understanding of the area from previous exploration activities including geologic mapping, surface geochemistry, airborne hyperspectral mineral imaging, and geomagnetic ground surveys.

"Based on our team’s exploration work up to this point, the results of the fieldwork conducted at Navarre Creek are extremely prospective. The area exhibits geological traits consistent with hydrothermal precious metal deposition common in volcanic terrains in the western United States. These geological characteristics, along with the area’s hydrothermally altered brecciated sedimentary units, make Navarre Creek a primary target for precious metal exploration. As always, I look forward to reporting assay results as soon as they are available,” comments CEO Ryan McDermott.

During the 2021 field season, Phoenix contracted Magee Geophysical Services to acquire about 169 line-km of total field magnetic measurements at the company's Navarre Creek project and SpecTIR of Reno, Nevada to complete an airborne hyperspectral survey of the same Navarre Creek area to identify prospective exploration targets in an area, many of which are largely concealed by glacial till.

The ground magnetics survey looked specifically for magnetite and magnetic-bearing minerals, some of which have been identified in limited outcroppings, while the hyperspectral imaging helps to identify alteration minerals often associated with precious metal deposition.