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

American West Metals Ltd.'s 63-hole resource definition and exploration drill program at Storm Copper in 2023 has culminated in an inaugural resource estimate containing 452 million pounds of copper and 1.9 million oz of silver at this high-grade project on Nunavut's Somerset Island.

Since optioning the project from Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. in 2021, American West has been systematically expanding the near-surface high-grade copper zones identified within a roughly 5,000-by-3,000-meter area at Storm. This work has focused on confirming and expanding previously identified and drilled near-surface zones – 4100N, 2750N, 2200N, and 3500N – as well as exploring new discoveries with similar potential – Thunder, Lightening Ridge, and Cyclone North.

Based on 50 reverse circulation and 53 diamond drill holes, 52% of which were drilled by American West during the 2023 season, Storm hosts 17.48 million metric tons of Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant indicated and inferred resources averaging 1.17% (452 million lb) copper and 3.38 grams per metric ton (1.9 million oz) silver.

"The maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Storm Project has exceeded our expectations and delivered the foundations to what we believe will be a globally significant copper district.," said American West Metals Managing Director Dave O'Neill.

Storm deposits rechristened

With the maiden resource came a rechristening of the previously identified high-grade copper zones that makes each deposit more distinguishable and better fits the overall Storm Copper theme.

The largest of the zones outlined so far, 4100N, has been renamed Cyclone; 2750N Zone is now Chinook; 2200N is now Corona; and 3500N has been rechristened Cirrus.

With 4.88 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.26% (135.8 million lb) copper, plus 7.21 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.2% (191.4 million lb) copper and 4.03 g/t (934,700 oz) silver, Cyclone hosts roughly 70% of the overall Storm resource.

Chinook, the highest-grade deposit outlined so far, hosts 2.19 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.47% (71.2 million lb) copper and 4 g/t (282,300 oz) silver.

The balance of the resources is contained in Corona, 1.64 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 0.89% (32.4 million lb) copper and 1.48 g/t (77,700 oz) silver; and Cirrus, 1.55 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.62% (21.4 million lb) copper and 1.29 g/t (64,400 oz) silver.

"Within only a single season of resource drilling we have rapidly defined four robust copper deposits very close to surface: Cyclone, Chinook, Corona, and Cirrus," said O'Neill. "The setting and scale of the mineralization gives us the opportunity to potentially mine 100% of the resource with open-pit methods and use cutoff grades much lower than underground deposits. The outcome is more copper metal."

Major drilling in 2024

American West's strategy for Storm is to quickly develop a low-cost, open-pit mining operation that utilizes ore sorting technology to upgrade near-surface high-grade copper mineralization to direct shipping ore.

Without the cost or permitting complexity of building a mill and processing plant, a mining operation that just needs to crush and sort ore would be much quicker to develop than a traditional copper mine.

The company says initial mining and processing studies suggest that the deposit included in the maiden Storm resource may potentially be mined with traditional open-pit methods.

While metallurgical work is still ongoing, previous testing has confirmed that ore sorting has the ability to produce a direct shipping ore with excellent copper recoveries.

Before focusing on a mine plan, there remains more near-surface copper to be outlined at Storm.

American West Metals Ltd.

American West plans to test several zones not included in the resource during its 2024 drill program at Storm Copper.

"The initial resource is blessed with outstanding and immediate growth potential," said O'Neill. "The known copper deposits remain open, and the high-grade Thunder, Lightning Ridge and Cyclone North discoveries of 2023 are not yet included in the MRE."

This year, American West plans to carry out an aggressive drill program focused on expanding the deposits in the resource, bringing some of the new zones within the resource, and exploring other high-priority targets in near proximity to the maiden resource and along a 100-kilometer (60 miles) trend covered by the larger Storm property.

"A major drilling program has been planned to drill out the 2023 discoveries, expand the known deposits, and test new, high-priority exploration targets that appear to be analogues to the known copper mineralization," the managing director said.

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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