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Overview

Introduction

Mineral Mountain is a “drill ready” Laramide age, porphyry copper exploration project located in the Mineral Mountain Mining District 16 miles east of Florence, Arizona. 

The project occurs within a northeast trending, regional scale, porphyry copper belt that extends from the Ajo porphyry copper district in the west to the Miami-Globe porplyry copper district in the east and hosts some of the largest porphyry copper deposits in Arizona, including the Santa Cruz and Resolution porphyry copper deposits. The Mineral Mountain project is located between the Florence and Resolution deposits.

Porphyry copper deposits in Arizona are located along well-defined northeast and northwest trending mineral belts.  Ninety-six percent of porphyry deposits located within the Laramide age copper province were emplaced between 45 and 80 Ma ago. Arizona is a Tier 1 mining friendly, politically secure jurisdiction with excellent and readily accessible infrastructure.

Property Description

Copper Fox, through its subsidiary Desert Fox Mineral Mountain Co., owns 100% interest in the Mineral Mountain project.  The Project consists of one Arizona Mineral Exploration Permit (293.5 ha) and 260 BLM claims covering approximately 2,126.5 ha.

2023 Exploration

The 2023 exploration program consisted of a project wide, deep penetrating geophysical survey (employing Quantec’s ORION 3D Swath DCIP configuration) and detailed mapping of the geophysical lines to collect data on lithology, alteration, and mineralization to better interpret the chargeability/resistivity signatures.  Sampling for whole rock geochemical and petrographic studies were also completed.  The objective of the 2023 program was to map the depth extent of the chargebility/resistivity signature associated with the porphyry footprint and estimate, if possible, the depth of the oxidization/supergene zone. The whole rock geochemical and petrographic studies indicate a suite of Sericite-Chlorite and Potassic altered granodioritic and quartz monzonite rocks, typical host rocks for porphyry copper deposits in Arizona. 

Geological Model

The porphyry copper deposits in the Safford and Ajo Mining Districts of Arizona are being used as geological/exploration models for the project. The large copper footprint at Mineral Mountain is interpreted to represent the surface expression of a buried, gold enriched, porphyry copper-molybdenum system characterized by a copper-magnetite (now hematite) mineral association that has been subjected to weathering/oxidization/supergene enrichment, a process commonly observed at other porphyry copper systems in Arizona. The whole rock and petrographic studies suggest the present topographic surface is within the Sericite-Chlorite alteration zone located immediately above the potassic zone of the interpreted buried porphyry copper system.

2023 Geophysical Study

Recent investigation of the geophysical characteristics of porphyry copper systems in Arizona shows that the oxidation/supergene processes that affected these porphyry copper systems have altered the petrophysical properties of the mineralization and host rock resulting in lower chargeability and increased resistivity signatures within the oxidation/supergene zone of porphyry copper deposits. Source: B. Howe, Sara G.R. Devriese, March 2023; An Empirical Geophysical Model for Porphyry Copper Deposits in the Laramide Copper Province.

The 2023 geophysical survey has outlined a northeast trending open-ended 3,200 m long by 1,200 m wide chargeability (+18mrad contour) anomaly. Based on the +15mrad chargeability contour the western, southern, and southeastern edges of the anomaly have been identified.

Within the larger chargeability anomaly, a 1,200 m long by 900 m wide, near surface, chargeability/resistivity signature exhibits a strong spatial correlation to an area of the property where abundant mineralized porphyry style quartz veins/veinlets and fractures containing secondary copper (chrysocolla, malachite, chalcocite) and molybdenum mineralization, hosted primarily in sericitic and to a lesser degree potassic altered phases, of the Laramide age intrusive. The lower chargeability/increased resistivity signatures are similar to the recent geophysical model of Laramide age porphyry copper deposits in Arizona.

In October 2023, Copper Fox acquired 80 BLM mineral claims to cover the interpreted northeast extension of the chargeability/resistivity anomaly identified by the 2023 geophysical survey. The recently staked mineral claims cover four Laramide age quartz monzonite plugs, the largest of which hosts extensively oxidized/leached porphyry style quartz veins, quartz veinlets and fractures containing secondary copper minerals (chrysocolla, malachite, chalocite) and molybdenite as well as several Tertiary age porphyritic granodiorite dikes.

Porphyry Copper Footprint

The northeast trending porphyry footprint consisting of mineralized phyllic (sericitic) and potassic altered porphyritic granodiorite and quartz monzonite phases of the Laramide intrusive is located on the eastern side of the Laramide age intrusive along the PreCambrian/Laramide intrusive contact. The porphyry copper footprint is interpreted to dip to the east and to the north under the PreCambrian rocks consistent with the location of the recently defined chargeability signature.

The porphyry footprint measures approximately 3,500 m long by 1,000 m wide and is characterized by a copper-magnetite (now hematite) association with enhanced gold-molybdenum concentration. The mineralization, host rock and alteration patterns exhibit many similarities to the porphyry copper deposits in the Safford Mining District in Arizona. Modelling of analytical data outlined overlapping, northeast trending zones of greater than 1,000 parts per million (‘ppm’) copper that measures approximately 3,000 m by 700 m and greater than 30 ppm molybdenum that measures approximately 2,800 m by 600 m.

The weathering/oxidization/supergene enrichment process at Mineral Mountain resulted in extensive oxidization/leaching of the primary porphyry related mineralized structures.  Over 700 showings of secondary copper mineralization (specifically chrysocolla, malachite, chalcocite +/- covellite +/- chalcopyrite) have been located within the porphyry footprint. 

The abundance of chalcocite and occasional occurrence of chalcopyrite and covellite suggests the present topographic surface at Mineral Mountain could represent the lower portion of the ‘oxidization/supergene’ zone.

The secondary copper mineralization is hosted in four NE-NW trending, mineralogically different quartz veins, in hematite veins, filling fractures and as disseminations associated with mafic mineral sites within the Laramide intrusive. Quartz-molybdenite veins have been observed. Abundant hematite (after magnetite) filled fractures and hematite veins occur throughout the copper footprint. Several regional scale N-S trending (‘Range Front’) faults related to mid-Tertiary extensional tectonism are located along the western side of the property, ENE and NS trending late-stage dikes of various compositions occur within the porphyry footprint.

Historical Exploration

Exploration completed prior to 2023 include mapping, prospecting, sampling, ground and airborne geophysical surveys, petrographic and age dating studies.

Mapping and Sampling

The mapping programs located over 700 showings of secondary copper mineralization within the copper footprint. Select sampling of the copper showings yielded the following analytical results:

Average Concentration

Style of
Mineralization

Number of
Samples

Cu
(ppm)

Cu
(%)

Mo
(ppm)

Au
(ppb)

Ag
(ppm)

Disseminated

47

5,752

0.575

71.8

57.9

6.6

Quartz Vein

141

12,020

1.202

65.3

127.5

16.3

Fracture

135

4,223

0.422

13.6

43.1

7.3

Cu = copper, Mo = molybdenum, Au = gold, Ag =silver, (%) = percent, ppm = parts per million, ppb = parts per billion. Cu values may be enhanced due to the leaching and supergene processes that has occurred on the property.

Airborne Geophysical Survey

Modelling of the 2022 high sensitivity combined magnetometer and radiometric survey identified a large positive magnetic body at depth underlying a significant portion of the project area, possibly the cupola of a larger intrusive body. Several pip-like bodies exhibiting a positive magnetic signature emanate from the interpreted cupola and show a strong spatial association to the copper footprint and chargeability signature on surface.