Investment Case Webinar
Catherine Evans (Interim Non-Executive Chair) and Ryan McDermott (CEO) introduce Phoenix Copper; from the mine’s historical roots dating back to 1902, to the company’s potential today with an unprecedented demand for copper. They walk through the project’s 7,500-acre land package, the copper-gold-silver reserve of 66,467 metric tonnes of recoverable metal, and the exploration potential surrounding the 328-acre patented claims.
The video concludes with a brief update on governance reforms following the March 2026 board dismissals and the successful July fundraising that has positioned the company to advance the project.
Transcript:
Catherine Evans (00:00)
Hi, I’m Cathy Evans, and I’m the Interim Chair of Phoenix Copper. I joined the board in 2021 as a non-exec director and I became the Senior Independent Director in late 2024 and became Interim Chair in March 2026.
Ryan McDermott (00:19)
Hi, I’m Ryan McDermott, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix. I joined the company at the local operations level in 2017. I joined the board in late 2019 and I became CEO in 2020.
Today we want to talk about the investment case and the value proposition that Phoenix has specifically with our holdings in Idaho. The core holding is the Empire Mine property. We have 7,500 acres of mining claims central to a core open pit copper gold silver project. That project is at a pre-feasibility level with qualified ore reserves, sixty-six thousand metric tons of copper equivalent metal in the reserve, and that again is a combination of copper, gold, and silver. Of particular interest to most investors is the copper portion of the reserve. Copper obviously is in high demand right now and has been for several years with the AI revolution and copper being the most highly efficient metal used for the conduction of electricity. Obviously we believe that copper is in demand now but will remain in high demand as electronics, electric cars, and in particular AI continues to dominate the world stage.
The project again is in the state of Idaho. a very mining-friendly jurisdiction in the western part of the U.S. The project itself originated in 1902 and mined extensively underground. In 1902 from 1902 until 1942, it was primarily a copper producer. And we are simply expanding what were the original pre-1942 reserves, and we have the benefit of newer, more modern technologies for the recovery of copper, as well as the recovery of gold and silver ounces.
What you’re looking at on your screen here is the land holdings that we have in the area. The little town of Mackay is where my cursor is. All of the colored blocks are mineral claims that we control. Those are anchored by the block here in blue, which is private property as patented claims. And our core open pit copper gold silver project resides within the blue shaded area. I can zoom into that.
Catherine Evans (03:04)
and it’s only, what, 320 acres?
Ryan McDermott (03:07)
328 acres.
Again, here’s the city of Mackay. And the hashed pattern that you follow with my cursor is the area that was highlighted in blue on the previous slide. The proposed open pit sits in this corner of that blue shaded area. The processing facility is sited here. Waste rock and process tailings will be placed here.
So what I just showed you again was in the area in blue, 328 acres inside an overall block of about 7,500 acres. We acquired all of this land outside of the blue shaded area because of it, the mineral potential that is evident on the surface. So, in addition to a copper, gold, silver mineral reserve, we have significant exploration potential in the areas surrounding that core property.
So what you’re looking at here is the mineral reserve that we published in 2024. We are currently updating that. What this shows you are proven and probable mineral reserves, copper, gold, and silver, all totaling sixty-six thousand four hundred and sixty-seven metric tons of total metal. that is in a reserve category, so that is recoverable.
Catherine Evans (04:30)
And it’s been fully drilled out, right? 485 drill holes.
Ryan McDermott (04:35)
Yes. The open pit ore deposit has been fully delineated with drilling. That drilling is a combination of predecessor drilling and over 220 holes that Phoenix has drilled since 2017 that has defined that reserve.
A little history on the Empire project itself. Again, significant underground mining was undertaken at the turn of the century through 1942. All of that mining produced metal from underground tunnels, and smelter records that we currently have show copper grades up to 8%.
Incidentally, we have drilled our own holes into some of the veins that were mined historically, and we have modern assays that indicate those 8% grades that were mined pre-World War II still exist today.
Catherine Evans (05:32)
But this is underneath the open pit, right?
Ryan McDermott (05:34)
This is below yes, this would be below the open pit.
Catherine Evans (05:37)
And Ryan, you have a tie to Mackay, don’t you?
Ryan McDermott (05:40)
I do what Cathy’s talking about, and this is all coincident to my current role with Phoenix. My great grandfather and my grandfather both worked In the Empire Mine and Mukdor underground prior to World War II. And my grandfather, in fact, mined there until World War II when he volunteered and went to join the war effort in Europe. So I have a significant amount of family history and mining history by the way, of grandparents in the valley.
Catherine Evans (06:11)
But that was completely coincidental, wasn’t it?
Ryan McDermott (06:13)
Completely coincidental to my position here.
Catherine Evans (06:16)
weren’t you working in Ecuador when you got this?
Ryan McDermott (06:19)
yes, yes. I was
I was in Ecuador developing a couple of small operations there when I was invited to come work with the operations team in Mackay.
Catherine Evans (06:29)
And just for anyone listening, Ryan has built mines in the most incredible places on the planet, including in Russia, right, in the most unbelievably freezing conditions.
Ryan McDermott (06:40)
Yes,happy to be in Idaho!
Catherine Evans (06:44)
What did you say the temperature was in that Russian place?
Ryan McDermott (06:48)
we saw temperatures at minus seventy two.
Catherine Evans (06:51)
Yeah, quite incredible.
Ryan McDermott (06:53)
Very cold.
Catherine Evans (06:53)
Yeah. Anyone doing due diligence on Phoenix Copper will see that in March 2026, we dismissed two of our former directors for gross misconduct, financial impropriety.
And we worked very closely with our external advisors to do a full investigation. And we followed a very close disciplinary process. And that very unfortunate episode is very much behind us. We’ve totally cleaned that up. We did a fundraise in July of and we raised sufficient money to clean up some short term debt and to get the project moving again. Is there anything you’d like to add, Ryan?
Ryan McDermott (07:36)
Not that I can think of.
Catherine Evans (07:37)
So that’s Phoenix in a nutshell.
Ryan McDermott (07:39)
Phoenix in a nutshell.
Catherine Evans (07:40)
Thank you so much for watching and for more information about Phoenix Copper please check out our website phoenixcopperlimited.com and also sign up for our webinars with investormeetcompany.com. Thank you again.