Phoenix Copper Project operator has secured additional ground at its Philadelphia Prospect in Utah’s Lisbon Valley Mining District, significantly expanding its exploration footprint along a key copper-bearing structure.
The company confirmed it has staked 18 new unpatented lode claims covering 360 acres on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and private grazing ground with federal mineral rights.
This latest acquisition extends coverage over an additional 1.5 kilometres of interpreted strike length along the mineralised Philly Fault Zone.
The zone has already returned highly promising copper grades from surface sampling, including assays up to 45.7 per cent copper and 219 grams per tonne silver.
Rock chip and channel sampling conducted earlier this year at Philadelphia averaged 6.29% copper across 750 metres of strike, with results including six metres at 2.13% copper (including one metre at 7.16% copper), two metres at 2.40% copper, and 10 metres at 0.55% copper.
Based on this work, the company’s maiden drill program targeting the Philadelphia and Trenton prospects within the CC Claim Block commenced in August and remains ongoing.
First assay results are expected within three to six weeks.
The CC Claim Block, located about five kilometres northwest of the producing 740-million-pound Lisbon Valley Copper Mine and three kilometres south of the historic Big Indian Copper Mine, now spans 166 unpatented lode claims across 3,320 acres.
Explorers regard the Philadelphia target as highly prospective due to multiple mineralised zones mapped across a 400-metre strike length of the Philly Fault system.
The expansion of claims comes at a time of heightened policy support for US copper development.
The US Department of the Interior recently released its draft 2025 Critical Minerals List, proposing for the first time that copper be included alongside other strategically important resources.
If adopted, the designation could provide copper projects with access to federal funding, streamlined permitting, and stronger competitiveness against imports.
Exploration activities are advancing in parallel with soil sampling programs now underway across the newly acquired claims.
Drilling at the Philadelphia target — already defined by robust rock chip and channel sample results — is expected to deliver the first batch of assays within weeks, shaping the next stage of development in this emerging copper play.