ASX-listed American West Metals could have a growing resource on its hands after racking up over 330 metres of visual zinc and copper mineralisation at its West Desert project in Utah. According to the company, the hits are spread across nine intervals and have highlighted the project’s significant resource potential given the majority of the new extensions are beyond the previously discovered resource.
American West’s latest probe marks the second drill hole of a 7,500m program aimed at drill testing a number of high-grade zinc and copper zones and obtaining material for metallurgical work.
The 776m hole extended the company’s first exploration and was intended to investigate the high-grade copper and gold zones along the porphyry/skarn contact within one of the historical resource's larger gaps in drilling.
The company says the initial results from its second effort suggest the deposit's copper-rich zones are still open along strike and at depth to historical intersections that also boast considerable gold. According to the explorer, the recent campaign also unveiled thick intervals of molybdenite mineralisation within the porphyry and skarn that appear to be growing exponentially at depth.
American West says the deeply hosted molybdenite mineralisation within the intrusive complex suggests the mineralisation at the project may be related to a large underlying porphyry system.
In addition, the company has suggested the presence of zinc skarns in direct contact with the intrusive rocks at West Desert indicates a late-stage mineralisation event, that is typical of a long-lived hydrothermal system similar to Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon open-pit copper project that lies around 120 kilometres away.
American West Metals Managing Director Dave O’Neill said:“The drill hole confirms the extensions to high value copper, zinc and molybdenum mineralisation in an under- explored part of the mineral system. The fact that these zones still remain open has huge implications for the growth potential for West Desert, particularly with regard to the quality and inventory of copper and molybdenite rich ores.”
The company’s West Desert project lies some 160km south-west of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Sevier Orogenic Belt that also hosts the Tintic Mining District. The project takes in over 300 acres of private land, 336 unpatented lode mining claims and a single state mineral lease totalling around 32 square kilometres of highly prospective ground.
The deposit boasts a historical resource base of over 59 million tonnes, including a high-grade core of 16.5 million tonnes grading 6.3 per cent zinc, 0.3 per cent copper, and 33 grams per tonne indium.
American West has since commenced the drilling of its third drill hole at the project that will be used to confirm the continuity of mineralisation for an open pit development scenario. The company says historical work close to the probe intersected wide copper-zinc mineralisation with grades of up to 7.85 per cent copper and 32.6 per cent zinc.
According to the Mineral Council of Australia, global demand for refined copper is expected to rise from around 23 million tonnes today to over 30 Mt by 2030, due in part to its ongoing use in the electric vehicle industry.
Whilst it is very early days, the early signs appear encouraging that American West could play a part in satisfying the increased global appetite for copper.
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By Matt Birney
