ExGen Resources Inc. provided an update in respect of Phoenix Copper Ltd.?s (Phoenix) exploration and development activities at the Empire Mine Project in Custer County, Idaho, USA. Further to previous ExGen news releases, ExGen owns 20% and Phoenix owns 80% of Konnex Resources Inc. (Konnex), which holds the leases and claims to the Empire Mine Project. ExGen further owns 1,330,000 common shares of Phoenix.

Directors of ExGen conducted a site visit of the Empire Project on July 17th ? 19th in the company of Ryan McDermott, CEO of Phoenix Copper, to appraise progress on the project. ExGen was pleased to note significant progress in metallurgical testing of ATS, an environmentally friendly agent, on mineralization from the Empire Mine open pit which may allow the recovery and processing of copper, gold and silver in one process.

Testing is ongoing. ExGen is also excited that drilling has started on the Navarre Creek prospect ? 60 holes are planned.

This large claim block (14.48 km² (3,577 acres)) represents over 6 kms of prospective strike length, including an area of secondary alteration thought to be epithermal in nature, with over 2.5 kms of highly brecciated, west-trending jasperoid intersecting argillically and silicically altered Eocene Challis volcanics. The drilling, with success, has the potential to be a major game-changer for the project. EMPIRE MINE: As reported by Phoenix on June 6, 2023, preliminary metallurgical testing of the Empire Mine open pit oxide material using ammonium thiosulfate ("ATS") as a reagent, has been completed by Resource Development Inc. of Wheat Ridge, Colorado ("RDI"), and has resulted in robust metallurgical recoveries of copper, gold and silver using representative bulk samples of mineralization from metallurgical drilling at the Empire Mine open pit oxide deposit.

ATS is considered an environmentally friendly reagent, intended to replace the use of sulphuric acid and cyanide in the recovery and processing of copper and precious metals respectively. In addition to positive environmental impacts, this technology would enable recovery and processing copper, gold and silver in one proces, thus bringing forward the production of precious metals from the Empire Mine open pit. ATS is produced and sold in bulk in Idaho and is commonly used as a fertilizer for the agricultural sector.

The current focus is on optimizing metal recovery balanced with reagent consumption and applying appropriate capital and operating costs to the proposed process design. Assuming the process is commercially viable, Phoenix would plan to formally incorporate it into its Plan of Operations for final submission to the regulatory authorities. ExGen looks forward to receiving additional results from the ATS metallurgical program.

NAVARRE CREEK: ExGen announced that reverse circulation drilling (RCD) has commenced on the Navarre Creek exploration project located 5 kms west of the Empire Mine site (Phoenix News Release of July 17,2023). Up to 60 RCD holes form 30 drill pads are planned. Drill targets were identified by Phoenix from geologic mapping, surface geochemistry, airborne hyperspectral mineral imaging, and geomagnetic ground surveys.

Phoenix considers that the Navarre Creek area exhibits geological traits consistent with hydrothermal precious metal deposition common in volcanic terrains in the Western United States. The Navarre Creek project is located within an intrusive dome complex, where the magnetic components in overlying volcanic lithologies are destroyed by silicic alteration associated with steam-heated, acidic, and oxidised hydrothermal fluids. The hyperspectral survey highlighted several such areas including the Lehman Creek fault, one or more porphyry plugs, and several contacts/faults.

Prospecting samples with a gold value greater than 0.1 g/t (2020 sampling) occur predominantly in a jasperoid-hosted quartz stockwork and micro-veining system in felsic volcanic tuff units. Volcanics outcropping across the Navarre Creek area are strongly weathered and highly leached to depths of two to four meters. A magnetite skarn sample from the southern end of the claim block contained 0.387 g/t gold and the presence of limestone in surface float near the skarn sample location is evidence that the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that occur at the Empire Mine may be near the surface.

The Empire orebody is partly comprised of a magnetite skarn body hosted in Paleozoic limestone.