Buxton Resources has identified at least two new and untested porphyry copper-molybdenum drill targets at its Sun Devil and Aztecs prospects that form part of its Copper Wolf project in the US State of Arizona.
The company says the two targets it describes as “exciting” were defined by a combination of new field mapping and historical data including a helicopter-supported exploration program adjacent to, but outside of the Copper Wolf area covered by its joint venture (JV) with mining giant IGO.
Sun Devil sits about 5km west/south-west of an area where it recorded a massive 405.38m intercept at 0.7 per copper equivalent from 608.38m during its maiden drill program designed to test porphyry mineralisation at the project in December last year.
The target is also about 7km from the Buxton’s recently-discovered Wolverine prospect where rock chip samples returned assays as high as 14.1 per cent copper and 1160 parts per million molybdenum, suggesting the potential for a fertile porphyry system below.
Historical drilling in the area has been focused on the Aztecs prospect for about 2600m, with the most recent program completed back in 2007 by Lebon Gold. It included three diamond holes that were all less than 250m deep and Buxton has a detailed review of the drill core from Lebon’s campaign underway.
The company has taken 88 samples from the Aztecs and Sun Devil targets and has submitted them for geochemical analysis, with results expected by mid-April.
Buxton Resources chief executive officer Martin Moloney said: “Decades of progress in understanding Arizonan geology and porphyry deposits worldwide is now enabling our systematic, boots-on-the-ground exploration to confidently define these targets at depth. Integrating the information gathered in this field program, along with the historical data and rock chip assays, expected mid-April, will inform future drill testing of these exciting targets."
The company entered into an earn-in and JV agreement with IGO for part of the Copper Wolf project back in 2022. Buxton was previously the outright owner.
According to the deal, IGO has an exclusive option to earn a 51 per cent interest in the tenements by incurring and sole-funding $350,000 of exploration expenditure in a 24-month period that started in October 2022.
Once the $350,000 earn-in expenditure is met, IGO may elect to strike the option and form a 51:49 unincorporated JV. During the earn-in period, Buxton will be the project manager, while IGO will be the initial manager of the JV if it is formed.
Copper Wolf sits in central Arizona about 80km north-west of the city of Phoenix. The intrusive complex hosting the copper is mirrored in similarly-aged rocks in adjacent parts of the western US and northern Mexico, which hold some massive copper deposits.
Resolution, which is about 130km south-west of Copper Wolf, is one such deposit and is considered to be one of the world’s biggest undeveloped copper resources. It is estimated to have a mineral resource of 1.7 billion tonnes grading 1.52 per cent copper.
To the north of Copper Wolf, the Bagdad deposit is hosted within similarly-aged rocks and has an estimated reserve of 873 million tonnes grading at 0.36 per cent copper.
Buxton says it is expecting permits to drill its Wolverine prospect in coming months and will kick off a drone magnetic survey across it within the next 30 days.
Arizona is considered one of the most favourable mining jurisdictions in the world and Buxton is keenly looking to add to the resource-rich history of the region as it continues to redefine its prospects at Copper Wolf.
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By Michael Philipps
