Copper Fox completes acquisition of Sombrero Butte Copper Project and Van Dyke Blm Claims in Arizona
Purchase of remaining Van Dyke Unpatented Mining Claims pertaining to the Van Dyke Copper Deposit is pending subject to acquisition by Bell Resources from Bennu Vendors
VANCOUVER, Sept. 10, 2012 /CNW/ - Mr. Elmer Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox Metals Inc. ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") (TSX-V: CUU) announced the closing of the acquisition from Bell Copper Corporation ("Bell Copper") of 100% of Bell Copper's interests in the Sombrero Butte property located in Pinal County, Arizona (the "Sombrero Butte Copper Project") and all Bureau of Land Management (Arizona) lode claims (the "Van Dyke BLM Claims") that Bell Copper acquired which are adjacent to Bell Copper's interests in the Van Dyke copper deposit located in Miami, Arizona. Copper Fox acquired the Sombrero Butte Copper Project and Van Dyke BLM Claims by paying to Bell Copper the US-dollar equivalent of CDN$1,000,000 in cash and assuming Bell Copper's continuing obligations in respect of the Sombrero Butte Copper Project and Van Dyke BLM Claims.
The acquisition of Bell Copper's interests in the Van Dyke copper deposit (the "Van Dyke Unpatented Mining Claims") is pending subject to Bell Copper completing the acquisition pursuant to the terms of the purchase and sale and royalty agreement between Bell Resources (Nevada) Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Copper, and Bennu Properties, LLC, Albert W. Fritz Jr. and Edith Spencer Fritz (the "Bennu Vendors"), including payment by Bell Copper of US$500,000 in cash to the Bennu Vendors on closing (refer Copper Fox's news release of July 9, 2012).
Highlights:
A description of the Van Dyke property and Sombrero Butte property was provided in the news release issued by Copper Fox on July 9, 2012. For easy reference the highlights of the Sombrero Butte property and the Van Dyke BLM Claims include:
| a) | The area to the west of the Van Dyke deposit referred to as Azurite Ridge is surrounded on three sides by the Van Dyke BLM claims. |
| b) | At Azurite Ridge, copper oxide mineralization (Azurite)hosted in Pinal schist is exposed in outcrop over a horizontal distance for approximately 500 m, |
| c) | The Van Dyke BLM claims have not been explored for copper mineralization using current exploration techniques, |
| d) | Several clusters of copper bearing breccia pipes have been tested by diamond drilling on the Sombrero Butte property where 29 of 34 holes drilled to test 8 breccia pipes intersected significant copper mineralization over core intervals ranging from 2m to 72m and average copper grades ranging from 0.37% to 5.85%, and |
| e) | The first phase of exploration of the Sombrero Butte property would include a deep penetrating Induced Polarization geophysical survey as well as detailed mapping. |
Sombrero Butte Property:
The Sombrero Butte property consists of 2,887 acres located in the Bunker Hill Mining District 44 miles northeast of Tucson, Arizona. The project is located 9 miles east of the San Manuel Mine (14 billion lbs Cu), and 2 miles south of Redhawk Resources' Copper Creek project (3.4 billion lbs Cu).
Some of the mineralized interval from the 34 holes completed on the Sombrero Butte property is:
| Breccia Pipe | Drill Hole ID | From (m) | To (m) | Interval (m) | Copper (%) | ||||||||||
| Magma | SB-02 | 286 | 334 | 48 | 1.06 | ||||||||||
| Campstool | SB-03 | 272 | 294 | 22 | 0.58 | ||||||||||
| Sunset | SB-05 | 18 | 40 | 22 | 4.74 | ||||||||||
| Rattler | SB-09 | 96 | 110 | 14 | 0.83 | ||||||||||
| Audacious | SB-14 | 20 | 86 | 66 | 1.45 | ||||||||||
| Victor's | SB-29 | 4 | 70 | 66 | 0.61 |
The mineralized intervals listed in the above table do not represent true widths.
The Sombrero Butte property also hosts 12 breccia pipes that contain dickite in the altered breccia matrix. Dickite is an indicator mineral which forms under high temperature, acidic conditions, and occurs in multiple porphyry copper deposits, including the nearby San Manuel mine.
The Sombrero Butte property is subject to an option agreement to earn a 100% interest in the property by making cash payments of US$60,000 in January 2013 and US$650,000 in January 2014.
Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President of Copper Fox, is the Company's nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed the technical information disclosed in this news release.
About Copper Fox
Copper Fox is a Canadian-based resource development company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V:CUU) with a corporate office in Calgary and an operations office in Vancouver and is involved in the exploration and development of the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver deposit located in northwest British Columbia, Canada.
The Company is working on completing a feasibility study on the Schaft Creek mineral deposit, one of the largest undeveloped copper, gold, molybdenum and silver deposits in North America. The feasibility study is being led by Tetra Tech Wardrop on a minimum 120,000 tpd open pit mine and is expected to be completed in September 2012.
Copper Fox holds title and a 100% working interest in the Schaft Creek project consisting of 52,843.36 hectares (130,579 acres). Included in this total are the "Schedule A" mineral tenures originally conveyed to Copper Fox pursuant to the option agreement dated January 1, 2002 between Teck Resources Limited ("Teck") and Copper Fox (the "Teck Option Agreement"), which consist of 8,334.34 hectares (20,594 acres). The "Schedule A" mineral tenures are subject to a 3.5% Net Profits Interest held by Royal Gold, Inc., a 30% carried Net Proceeds Interest held by Liard Copper Mines Limited ("Liard") and, together with the additional mineral tenures held by Copper Fox within the "Area of Interest" provided for in the Teck Option Agreement, an earn back option held by Teck. On completion of the feasibility study, Copper Fox will earn Teck's 78% interest in Liard. Teck's earn back option to acquire either, 20%, 40% or 75%, of Copper Fox's interest in the Schaft Creek property is triggered upon delivery of a positive feasibility study to Teck. Should Teck elect to exercise its option for 75%, Teck is required to fund subsequent property expenditures up to a total of 400% of those incurred by Copper Fox ($80.8 million to June 30, 2012) and arrange for project financing, including the Copper Fox portion. For full details of the Teck earn back option please refer to the Company's website www.copperfoxmetals.com.
The remainder of Copper Fox's registered interests in mineral tenures in British Columbia total 44,509.02 hectares (109,484 acres). These interests have been acquired by Copper Fox through mineral tenure acquisitions and mineral tenure purchase agreements subsequent to Copper Fox entering into the Teck Option Agreement. Certain portions of these registered mineral tenures are subject to inclusion within the Schaft Creek project pursuant to the terms of the Teck Option Agreement.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Elmer B. Stewart
President and Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is generally identifiable by use of the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "anticipates," "intends," "budgets", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "projects" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions. Forward-looking information in this news release include statements about; historical resource estimates and results of metallurgical test work on the Van Dyke BLM Claims and exploration drilling results on the Sombrero Butte property, the completion of the feasibility study for the Schaft Creek project; estimated timing and amounts of future expenditures and "earn-back" options; geological interpretations and potential mineral recovery processes. There can be no assurance that the purchase of the Van Dyke Unpatented Mining Claims will be completed. Information concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates also may be deemed to be forward-looking information in that it reflects a prediction of the mineralization that would be encountered if a mineral deposit were developed and mined.
In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox has made numerous assumptions, regarding, among other things: that the closing of the purchase will occur, that the geological, metallurgical, engineering, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable, and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards; and the continued financing of the Feasibility Study; and the anticipated analytical results of the current drilling program. While Copper Fox considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: the number of contingencies that the purchase of the Van Dyke Unpatented Mining Claims are subject to; that investigation and verification may show that the historical estimate on the Van Dyke property may not be accurate or exist at all; that the metallurgical testwork completed on leaching the copper mineralization reported to occur within the Van Dyke deposit may not be accurate; that the exploration drilling results from the Sombrero Butte property may not be related to an underlying porphyry system; that future exploration on the Sombrero Butte property and the Van Dyke BLM claims may not located any copper mineralization; that the feasibility study on the Schaft Creek project may not be completed within the contemplated time frame, or at all; fluctuations in copper and other commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates, and estimated economic return; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals
A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
SOURCE Copper Fox Metals Inc.
Investor line 1-866-913-1910 or J. Michael Smith, EVP, at 1-604-689-5080