American West chases US gallium and indium in new drilling blitz

American West Metals will kick off its first gallium and indium-focused drilling program at the company’s flagship West Desert project in the US state of Utah next year. The move comes after recent re-sampling of historical diamond drill core uncovered high-grade mineralisation across a suite of critical metals.

The fully permitted campaign will target the oxidised zone at West Desert, where resampling and a detailed review of historical drilling have identified a suite of drill-ready targets for the highly sought-after gallium and indium.

Historical drilling at West Desert returned peak gallium grades of 77.3 grams per tonne (g/t), with notable results including 177.5m at 20.2g/t from a depth of 182.7m, a 136.1m stretch grading 20.1g/t from 436.4m, 85m going 24g/t from 669.31m and a 28.6-metre interval at 33.9g/t from 399.6m including an 11.1-metre slice at a solid 56g/t from 416.5m.

The drill program will also zero in on targets designed to expand the company’s existing indium resource, which has pumped-out grades of up to 1055g/t. The deposit hosts the largest inventory of indium in the US, sitting at a head-turning 23 million ounces.

Notably, multiple copper, gold and silver targets outside the existing mineral resource have also been unearthed from sampling, providing the potential for further volumes of significant mineralisation.

The recent program tested 116 samples from 6 drill holes and confirmed rich mineralisation of valuable critical minerals, with grades up to 41.9g/t gallium, 324g/t indium, 4.9 per cent copper, 155g/t silver and gold grading as high as 5.4g/t.

Following the success of the sampling program, the company will now launch into a larger resampling program of the historical drill core, from both within and outside the existing resource.

Plans are also in the mix for a new drill program, which will test the oxidised zone at West Desert, considered analogous to the historic Apex germanium-gallium mine, also in the state of Utah.

American West says the Apex mine, 300km south of West Desert, has the same geological setting as its West Desert site, both of which are associated with magnetite-rich carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) style mineralisation.

Apex is the only mine developed in the Western world to primarily produce germanium and gallium, with eye-popping grades up to 0.7 per cent (7000g/t) germanium and 2 per cent (20,000g/t) gallium extracted at the mine.

American West Metals managing director David O’Neill said: “We are excited to be advancing towards the start of drilling at the West Desert project. The preparations for the 2026 drill program include a resampling program and review of the extensive historical drilling database for West Desert. The review has enabled us to refine our exploration targeting model and define multiple new targets for indium, gallium, and other critical metals.” 

O’Neill said the company plans to sample waste from large volumes of easily accessible historical surface waste from silver and base metal mining that occurred in the 1900’s.

The test work will look for gallium, indium and the presence of antimony, another critical metal currently in huge demand for its use in munitions for defence applications.

As critical metals, gallium and indium are in high demand for their crucial roles in high-tech electronics, semiconductors, defence technologies, medical applications and solar cells. 

American West believes there is substantial potential to increase the West Desert resource base, with the geology exhibiting typical features of a porphyry-related mineral system.

The mineralisation is characterised by an inner intrusive-hosted zone containing gold, silver and indium, coupled with outward zones of skarn-hosted zinc, copper and replacement-style silver-lead – the very same metals mined at the site in about 1900.

Drilling and geophysical work have shown the skarn and CRD mineralisation found within its 32 square kilometre ground is likely to be part of a very large porphyry-related system, similar to the nearby world-class Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah, one of the deepest open-pit mines globally.

In a further boost to American West’s Utah push, the Trump Administration recently revealed a new National Security Strategy, stating the US must never rely on another powerful nation for the supply of critical raw materials vital to America’s defence industry or economy.

Washington’s new strategy highlights the importance of the US developing its own supply chain for critical minerals deemed necessary for its defence requirements and to preserve its way of life.

With the US Government clearly outlining a new path to source its required critical minerals, American West’s West Desert project is ideally positioned in Utah to supply much-needed gallium, indium and other vital metals to meet the critically important defence and economic requirements of the US. 

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au