North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

American West Metals Ltd. Sept. 26 reported that assays from three deep holes drilled at Storm confirm a new zone of near-surface, high-grade copper at the Thunder discovery, along with a large zone of deeper sediment-hosted copper mineralization associated with large gravity anomalies on this northern Nunavut project.

The company's 2023 program involves reverse circulation drilling focused on defining a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant resource around zones of shallow, high-grade copper at Storm, plus diamond drilling primarily focused on testing deeper geophysical targets that appear to be the source of the high-grade surface mineralization.

The latest batch of results are from three of four deep holes drilled this year to test deeper geophysical targets that appear to be the source of the high-grade surface mineralization.

"I am very pleased to report that assays from the exploration diamond drill holes have confirmed the presence of high-grade sediment-hosted copper sulphide mineralisation at depth, with significant implications for the exploration potential of the project," said American West Metals Managing Director Dave O'Neill.

Deeper copper potential

American West first tested the deeper copper potential at Storm with one hole drilled in 2022. While this hole, ST22-10, did not encounter high-grade copper similar to what is being drilled near the surface at Storm, the low-grade copper and zinc appear to be at the edge of a much larger sediment-hosted copper-zinc deposit at Storm.

This year's deep drilling further confirms that a deep gravity anomaly at Storm represents a zone of sediment-hosted mineralization below the high-grade copper zones being outlined on the property.

ST23-01, drilled about 500 meters east of ST22-10, cut near-surface high-grade copper in the 4100N Zone on its way to a deeper but lower-grade copper zone. Highlights from ST23-01 include:

• 7.2 meters averaging 2.2% copper from a depth of 58.1 meters.

• 1.9 meters averaging 1% copper and 0.8% zinc from a depth of 75.6 meters.

• 6.8 meters averaging 1.2% copper from a depth of 80.7 meters.

• 0.6 meters averaging 0.42% copper from a depth of 341.7 meters.

The deeper copper intercept is part of a 15-meter-thick zone of mosaic breccia and replacement-style chalcopyrite (copper mineral) cement.

American West says the deep mineralization encountered suggests this hole was drilled in the outer portion of a zoned system.

Hole ST23-01 cut 7.2 meters of near surface 4100N Zone copper mineralization starting at a depth of 45 meters on its way to a 15-meter intercept of breccia and vein-style copper sulfide mineralization dominated by chalcopyrite from a depth of 332 meters.

ST23-02, drilled about 500 meters north of ST22-10, cut an even more impressive deep discovery intercept of 37 meters of breccia-style copper sulfide mineralization dominated by chalcocite from a depth of 333 meters. Assays from this zone returned 24 meters averaging 0.2% copper from a depth of 346 meters, including a 1.8-meter subsection averaging 1.3% copper.

The presence of chalcocite, and the associated higher copper grades, suggests that hole ST23-02 is vectoring toward the higher-grade portions of the deeper copper system at Storm.

"All five deeper diamond holes have intersected the sediment-hosted copper system with the wide-spaced nature of the holes indicating the very large lateral extent of the system," said O'Neill. "With kilometre-scale targets remaining untested, we will plan a major drill program for 2024 to scope out the extent of the sediment-hosted copper."

Thunder rumbles

One of the four deeper holes drilled this year at Storm was collared at Thunder, a new zone of near-surface high-grade copper.

This hole, ST23-03, cut a zone of near-surface high-grade copper before hitting a zone of deeper copper mineralization similar to what has been encountered in the other deep holes at Storm. Highlights from hole ST23-03 include:

• 76 meters averaging 2% copper from a depth of 32.4 meters, including a 0.5-meter bonanza-grade subsection averaging 49.6% copper.

• 1.9 meters averaging 1% copper from a depth of 272.7 meters.

The top intercept marks the discovery of a new zone of near-surface high-grade copper at Storm.

"The near-surface Thunder Prospect has been confirmed as an exceptional discovery with grades up to 49.6% Cu," said O'Neill. "These kinds of copper grades and thicknesses are remarkable and rarely seen in open-pit mining opportunities, further highlighting the resource potential of the near-surface mineralisation."

American West Metals Ltd.

Click on image for larger map of deep holes drilled at Storm.

American West interprets the lower mineralized zone in hole ST23-03, which was drilled about 1,800 meters southeast of hole ST22-10, to correlate with the sediment-hosted copper mineralization encountered in the other deep holes drilled at Storm.

Despite the relatively narrow intervals, the company says the high copper grades encountered are further evidence of the potential of the deeper mineralization to host potentially economic accumulations of copper sulfides.

"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," said O'Neill. "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."

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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