Arizona – USA
Copper Wolf
Buxton owns a 100% interest in the Copper Wolf porphyry Cu-Mo Project, located in Yavapai County, north central Arizona.
Similar Laramide-age porphyry intrusive complexes in adjacent parts of the western USA and northern Mexico host giant porphyry copper deposits such as Resolution, Bagdad & Morenci (Figure 1), making this one of the most prolifically endowed copper belts in the world.
Buxton’s subsurface rights at the Copper Wolf project comprises 98 contiguous unpatented lode claims and one State Lease covering approximately 12.5 km2 / 3,100 acres (Figure 2).
The Copper Wolf Project presents a compelling growth opportunity for Buxton shareholders particularly considering the substantial platform provided by the known copper and molybdenum endowment, and the pedigree of the belt.
Figure 1 right: The Copper Wolf Project is located in the heart of the SW USA / NW Mexico Laramide porphyry copper belt.
The Copper Wolf Laramide porphyry system extends over an area of at least 4 x 1.5 kilometres and has had several historical (non-JORC 2012) resources defined (see ASX announcement 25th October 2021). The Project demonstrates positive attributes such as;
- highly encouraging grades and thicknesses of both oxide and hypogene (fresh) copper mineralisation
- substantial exploration potential
- an outstanding jurisdiction, both in terms of copper production and low operating risk
- low holding costs
- virtually no exploration since the 1970s
Geophysical surveys were last conducted on the Copper Wolf Project in the 1960s – a key aspect which underscores the exploration immaturity of the area and the resulting opportunity for Buxton to leverage modern technology and advances in the geological knowledge of porphyry mineral systems to derive targets for drilling under cover (see Figure 2).
Detailed descriptions of diamond core from Orcana’s 1993 drilling provided to Buxton describe the mineralised vein stockwork as overprinting a pre-mineralisation Laramide porphyry, implying that the syn-mineral Cu/Mo feeder intrusion(s) are undrilled (see Figure 4). This provides encouraging evidence for Buxton to define additional resources at depth.
Figure 2 below: Plan and cross section showing tenure, drilling and exploration targets derived from Buxton’s recently acquired magnetic inversion imagery at the Copper Wolf Project
Buxton commenced staking at the Copper Wolf project in 2019 as a result of concerted project generation efforts. Since that time Buxton has completed compilation and verification of historical data, flown detailed magnetics, secured land access agreements.
On the 4th October August 2022, Buxton received shareholder approval for Buxton and IGO to enter into an earn-in and joint venture agreement for the Copper Wolf Project (Arizona, USA). By that agreement, IGO has an exclusive right to earn a 51% interest in the Copper Wolf Project tenements by incurring and sole funding A$350,000 of exploration expenditure in a 24-month period from the effective date (stage 1 earn-in). Upon IGO incurring the A$350,000 earn-in expenditure, it may elect to earn-in and form a 51% IGO/49% BUX unincorporated joint venture. During the earn-in period, BUX will be the project manager. IGO will be the initial manager of the joint venture. Within 6 months of the commencement of the joint venture, IGO has the exclusive right to elect to earn a further 19% joint venture interest (to take its joint venture interest to 70%) by sole funding exploration expenditure of A$5,000,000 over 3 years (stage 2 earn-in).
In 2023, Buxton commenced diamond drilling at the Copper Wolf Project in what will be the first drilling program in the area since the 1990’s (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 (above): Diamond drilling at Copper Wolf, April 2023
Figure 4 (above): This core was taken from historical hold CC-1A. A mineralized stockwork has developed in intrusive host rock which is a fine-grained granodiorite porphyry now altered and mineralized. Medium-grained rounded and embayed quartz phenocrysts are set in a mush of fine-grained euhedral to anhedral plagioclase and K-spar phenocrysts; the plagioclase phenocrysts appear to be euhedral to subhedral, and the K-spar phenocrysts are anhedral. Hornblende and biotite appear to be the other phenocrysts.
The core is clearly a sulfide-mineralized stockwork. Sharply defined, linear quartz veinlets contain variable amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite as primary sulfides. The sulfides are typically hosted in the quartz veinlets and extend as disseminations into altered wall rock. The stockwork fragments show no obvious evidence of rounding, or “milling”, and small particles and rock flour were not seen, confirming that this is a stockwork and not a breccia pipe. The stockwork appears to have developed in a solidified porphyry. If so, the source of the Cu / Mo may lie in a deeper intrusive. The core exhibits typical “porphyry copper” style alteration. The fine-grained feldspar ground mass has been totally altered to a white clay, and to a waxy, light grey-green clay, that are probably kaolinite or an illite clay.
The suspected plagioclase phenocrysts appear to have suffered more intense “argillic” alteration than have the K-spar phenocrysts. Potassic alteration is present as disseminated, fine-grained biotite, and as pink K-spar flooding. The K-spar occurs as envelopes around the edges of the quartz-sulfide veinlets and as a general flooding / replacement of wall rocks ~ 1 centimetre away from the quartz veinlets. Portions of the core also display silicification. Oxidation along fractures has produced the “rich” maroon or red-brown colored Fe oxides that are produced from Cu sulfides (description courtesy of Russell Powers, photo dated 13 May 2009, depth ~611 m, width of photo ~ 6 cm).