American West Metals Ltd (American West or the Company) (ASX: AW1 | OTCQB: AWMLF) is pleased to provide a further update on the diamond drilling activities at the Storm Copper Project (Storm or the Project) on Somerset Island, Nunavut.
- Diamond drill hole ST23-03 has discovered a new near-surface zone of mineralisation and a deeper sediment-hosted copper system in an underexplored area of the Storm Project
- ST23-03 intersected two zones of visual copper sulphide mineralisation:
- 76m of visual strong breccia to massive copper sulphide (chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite) between 32m and 108m downhole
- 2m of visual breccia and dense vein style copper sulphide (chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite) between 273m and 275m downhole
- The new zone of near-surface copper has been named ‘Thunder’
- The deeper intersection is interpreted to correlate with the prospective sediment hosted copper horizon intersected earlier this season, and is the first recorded occurrence south of the Southern Graben Fault
- The drill hole was targeting both a near-surface Moving Loop Electromagnetic (MLEM) plate and a deeper gravity anomaly close to the Southern Graben Fault
- The drilling results confirm that these geophysical techniques are reliable targeting tools for copper sulphides at Storm
- Diamond drilling continues on high-priority copper targets
Dave O’Neill, Managing Director of American West Metals commented:
“The diamond drilling at Storm continues to deliver, producing one of the best intersections ever seen at the Project. Over 76m of near surface breccia copper sulphides with zones of massive sulphide have been intersected in the third diamond drill hole, ST23-03.
“The drill hole has also – for the first time – intersected copper sulphides within the deeper horizon close to the southern graben fault, confirming the presence of the sediment-hosted system in new and untested areas.
“The new near surface copper zone has been named Thunder, which highlights the strength and significance of the discovery. The mineralisation style and setting are very similar to the high-grade mineralisation within the 2750N Zone, including 2022 drill hole ST22-05 which hit 41m @ 4.18% Cu. The 2750N Zone is located over 1km to the east of Thunder.
“The thickness of the near-surface intersection – which includes massive copper sulphides – suggests the potential for a substantial volume of copper in this area that could significantly add to the open pit resources at Storm.
“The deeper copper intersection is very significant from the perspective of understanding the overall copper endowment at Storm. This confirms the prospectivity of the whole area around, and to the south of the southern graben fault. With every wide-spaced hole encountering the same mineralised unit at depth, the scale potential of the copper system cannot be overstated.
“Given the success of the gravity modelling and targeting to date, we will roll out further ground surveys along the 10km of strike as a priority in spring.
“We look forward to providing further news flow and updates on both the diamond and RC drilling program in the coming days.”
Figure 1: Massive chalcocite (dark grey) and chalcopyrite (brassy) in drill hole ST23-03 from approximately 58m downhole.
Visualestimatesofmineralabundanceshouldneverbeconsideredaproxyorsubstituteforlaboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Laboratory assays are required to determine the presence and grade of any contained mineralisation within the reported visual intersections of copper sulphides. Portable XRF is used as an aid in the determination of mineral type and abundance during the geological logging process.
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