American West Metals has nailed 20m of copper at 2.3 per cent from 38m including 8m at 5.3 per cent in a drill campaign designed to test an electromagnetic (EM) anomaly at the “Gap” within its Storm project in Canada.
The 8m intercept also jagged another 3m interval at 7 per cent copper from 41m, confirming a strong correlation between copper mineralisation and EM anomalism at the site.
The headline drillhole was put in to a downhole depth of 149.4m to test a strongly-conductive moving-loop electromagnetic (MLEM) anomaly in the Gap area, half-way between the company’s Cirrus copper deposit and Thunder high-grade copper prospect. Its entire length turned out to be variably mineralised with a combined total of 47.2m of breccia and vein-style copper mineralisation, while a strongly sulphide-mineralised breccia interval returned 20m going 2.3 per cent copper from 38m downhole.
The semi-massive chalcocite, bornite, chalcopyrite, copper sulphide zone of 8m running 5.3 per cent copper from 40m downhole at the Gap looks similar to that at the Thunder prospect further to the east. The Gap EM anomaly was the first of a series of high-priority conductors in the southern graben to be tested during the new drilling season.
The company says the drillhole highlights the potential for further discoveries along the 4km of structures that host the Cirrus and Corona deposits, in addition to the high-grade Thunder prospect with 48.6m going 3 per cent copper and Lightning Ridge featuring 30.4m running 2.1 per cent copper.
American West Metals managing director David O'Neill said: “Results for the spring phase of the program have immediately built on last year’s discovery record and confirmed a new zone of thick, near-surface copper mineralisation at the Gap Prospect, with grades over 7% copper. Drilling at The Gap clearly demonstrates that the southern graben area hosts multiple high-grade copper deposits along the largely untested fault network.
O’Neill said multiple high-priority EM targets had yet to be tested in the area, highlighting the “exceptional exploration upside and potential for further discoveries”.
The drilling to date indicates the flat-lying copper horizon lies about 250m below the current Cyclone stratigraphic depth within the central graben area and further diamond drilling is planned.
With EM proven to be a powerful exploration tool in the local geological environment and with 10 anomalies already identified in this year’s initial survey, the company plans to extend deep, penetrating EM surveys to existing Storm deposits and to its regional Tornado, Blizzard and Tempest prospect area.
Management says its summer drill program is underway, with about 20,000m of drilling on the cards for two reverse-circulation (RC) rigs and one diamond-core rig. The plan is for the rigs to mount a determined assault on the high-grade discovery at the Thunder target where drilling last year picked up 48.6m going 3 per cent copper from 32.4m.
The 12.1 million-tonne Cyclone and 2.2 million-tonne Chinook targets won’t escape the attention of the drillers either when they are brought in to better define and extend the deposits that currently grade 1.2 per cent copper and 3.8 grams per tonne silver and 1.5 per cent copper and 4g/t silver, respectively. Other bigger targets beneath Cyclone will also come under the microscope of the program where last year’s drilling identified up to 2.7 per cent copper at depths of about 300m.
Additional shallow, but high-priority targets at Storm will feel the bite of the drill bit and plans are also afoot to undertake a bit of bulk sampling for prefeasibility metallurgical and development evaluation.
The company says its sealift transport service has been booked for September and that its requirements including fuel, drilling supplies and heavy equipment for next year have already landed in Montreal ready for onward shipping to Storm.
American West put together a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate for the Storm project in January, outlining 17.5 million tonnes at a grade of 1.2 per cent copper and 3.4g/t silver for 205,000 tonnes of copper and 1.9 million ounces of silver.
The company says the near-surface favourable geometry and high copper grades of the Storm deposits have set the foundation for what it believes could be a large-scale, long-life copper mining camp in the Storm area.
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By Doug Bright
