Liberty Star expands Arizona footprint with new claims, now largest non-major holding

US explorer Liberty Star Minerals (OTCQB: LBSR) has staked an additional 13 mineral exploration permits (MEPs) covering approximately 11 square miles, increasing its total footprint in Arizona to approximately 45 square miles.

This ranks Liberty Star’s property holdings under its Hay Mountain subsidiary as the largest mineral footprint in Arizona not controlled by a large mining company, it said in a press release on Monday.

The newly staked MEP claims complete Liberty Star’s planned district-scale consolidation within the Tombstone mining district, locking up the full suite of targets identified through its geologic mapping, rock sampling and induced polarization (IP) survey program.

The consolidated position now encompasses those held under Earp Ridge Mines — mineral claims hosting critical minerals, copper and molybdenum (historically Hay Mountain targets 1 & 2), and Red Rock Mines — a world-class gold target.

“Our dedicated team followed the geology wherever it led, and then we moved to protect it,” Liberty Star chairman Pete O’Heeron said in a news release.

“Forty-five square miles of multi-mineral opportunities across gold, copper, molybdenum, and critical minerals, so important to US economic and national security,” O’Heeron added.

“This positions us to attract a serious mining partner and execute our strategic plan.”

Southeast Arizona’s porphyry copper belt is among the most prolific mineral-producing regions in the world, consistently generating large-scale copper-gold-molybdenum discoveries, the company said.