Update: Purchase of Equipment and Debt Refinancing

Phoenix Copper Limited (AIM: PXC; OTCQX ADR: PXCLY), the AIM quoted USA-focused base and precious metals emerging producer and exploration company, is pleased to provide an update on the purchase of equipment for the Empire open-pit mine in Idaho, USA, further to the announcement on 26 January 2024, and on the refinancing of its US$2 million short-term loan facility (the "Existing Facility").

Purchase of Equipment

The Company has executed an Asset Purchase Agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") to acquire two pre-owned ball mills to be used in the processing circuit at the Empire open-pit mine. The closing and funding date of the Purchase Agreement is 15 March 2024 and is subject to a final inspection and inventory of parts and components. Additional information will be provided following the closing date. The Directors believe the purchase of these mills at a significant discount to the price of the same equipment when new, should have a material positive impact on the Empire mine project economics, as well as reducing the time required to purchase these long lead-time items.

Refinancing of Short-Term Loan Facility

The Company also confirms that it has agreed terms to refinance the Existing Facility into an 18-month term loan (the "Term Loan"), and is currently finalising the legal documentation. Pending execution of the Term Loan documentation, the lender has agreed to waive its conversion rights on the Existing Facility until 1 March 2024. Further information regarding the Term Loan will be provided following execution of the legal documentation.

Since 2017, Phoenix has carried out extensive drill programmes which have defined a NI 43-101 completed PEA (preliminary economic assessment) for an open pit heap leach solvent extraction and electrowinning ("SX-EW") mine, which was updated in October 2020. From the 2020 PEA, the measured and indicated resource is 22,909,059 tonnes at an average grade of 0.38% copper, 0.324 grammes per tonne ("g/t") gold, 10.3 g/t silver, and 0.19% zinc. The contained metal for the measured and indicated resource is 87,543 tonnes of copper, 238,406 ounces of gold, 7,595,198 ounces of silver and 43,871 tonnes of zinc.

In addition to Empire, the district includes the historic Horseshoe, White Knob and Blue Bird Mines, past producers of copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead and tungsten from underground mines. A new discovery at Red Star, 330 metres northwest of the Empire Mine proposed open pit, has revealed high grade silver / lead sulphide ore, and from three shallow exploration drill holes a maiden inferred resource of 103,000 tonnes containing 173.4 g/t silver, 0.85 g/t gold and 3.85% lead (1.6 million ounces silver equivalent) was reported in an NI 43-101 technical report published in May 2019. Additionally, the district includes Navarre Creek, a volcanic hosted precious metals target in a 16.09 sq km area. The Company's total land package at Empire comprises 8,434 acres (34.13 sq kms).