American West Metals has hit high-grade, sediment-hosted copper in three diamond drill holes sunk at its Storm project in Canada’s Nunavut province, with grades up to a whopping 49.6 per cent copper in one intercept.
The company has received assay results from the three exploration holes, with highlights showing a 76m hit at 2 per cent copper from 32.4m, including 48.6m grading 3 per cent copper from 32.4m and a 20m intercept going an impressive 6.2 per cent copper from 40.8m. The 76m section also includes a 0.5m segment with the massive 49.6 per cent copper reading from 57.2m.
The strong results were from a hole sunk at the operation’s Thunder prospect, which management says continues to highlight the effectiveness of electromagnetic surveys as a targeting tool and the correlation with strong copper sulphides. Additional high-priority survey targets have been tested during the latest drill campaign, with assay results pending.
Management says the wide-spaced location of the holes – which were drilled with a spacing of between 600m and 2km – highlights the broad, lateral scale of the sediment-hosted copper system. Additional results show a 7.2m section reading 2.2 per cent copper from 58.1m, including 0.9m going a solid 12.8 per cent copper from 58.1m from near the company’s 4100N zone.
Earlier this month, American West unveiled bonanza copper grades at Storm, with a 0.3m intercept at 42.8 per cent copper from 67m, in addition to identifying a new zone of mineralisation. The notable intersection, which was also from the company’s 4100N zone, was contained within 46m going 2.2 per cent from 64m, including 15.6m grading 4.2 per cent from 65m.
American West Metals managing director David O'Neill said: “One of the key takeaways from these drilling results is that – in addition to the significant volume of mineralisation already identified – there are still tremendous exploration opportunities at Storm. The full extent of the copper mineralisation at Storm has yet to be defined and we are excited to be planning follow-up exploration and drilling programs.”
The company appears set to acquire an 80 per cent share of the Storm project in Canada’s Nunavut province from Aston Bay Holdings after completing its exploration spend requirement at the operation. As part of an option agreement in 2021, American West was granted the chance to grab the commanding slice of the project once exploration expenditure of C$10 million (AU$11.475 million) was completed.
Management says the exploration spend was finalised during this year’s drill program and it then decided to exercise its option. An unincorporated joint venture (JV) between the two companies is now expected to be formed, with Aston Bay holding 20 per cent and American West talking the role of project operator.
Storm sits within a 4145-square-kilometre land package that also includes the Seal zinc project on Somerset Island. Together, Storm and Seal constitute the Nunavut projects.
The area has undergone extensive historical drilling and two separate copper sulphide systems have been discovered, with multiple near-surface high-grade copper zones identified at several target zones in drilling across 15sq km.
American West is still waiting on assays from the remaining drill holes sunk at Storm, which are expected within weeks, in addition to results from rock and gossan samples at the operation’s Tempest target.
If the company can return similar results to those discovered at Thunder, the explorer could be looking at a significant copper system at its impressive Storm project in a country emerging as a significant multi-mineral hub.
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By Michael Philipps
