American West Signs Formal Agreement for A$18.8 Million Royalty Funding for the Storm Copper Project, Canada

American West Metals Ltd (American West or the Company) (ASX: AW1 | OTCQB: AWMLF) is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a definitive formal agreement with TMRF Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Taurus Mining Royalty Fund L.P. (Taurus) whereby Taurus will provide funding of up to US$12.5 million (A$18.8 million¹) under a royalty package for the Storm Copper Project.

• Definitive formal agreement signed with TMRF Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Taurus Mining Royalty Fund L.P. (Taurus) to provide US$12.5 million (A$18.8 million¹) in exchange for a royalty over Storm
• The first payment under the royalty package is US$5m (approximately A$7.5m) – US$1m (approximately A$1.5m) will be advanced to American West this week with the balance to be provided upon completion of registration of the royalty at the Nunavut Mining Recorder’s Office, expected within 2-3 weeks
• Further payments under the royalty package are:
  • US$3.5m (approx.. A$5.25m) upon delivery of a Prefeasibility Study (PFS) for Storm and submission of permitting documents for a development at Storm
  • US$4m (approx.. A$6m) upon announcement of an increase in the JORC compliant resource for Storm to at least 400,000 tonnes of contained copper at a resource grade of at least 1.00% Cu
• American West Metals and Aston Bay Holdings will share funds under the royalty package in accordance with their respective interests under the unincorporated joint venture for Storm, being 80% for American West Metals and 20% for Aston Bay Holdings
• The funding has enabled an expansion of exploration and development activities at Storm including:
  • Expansion of the 2024 drill program with more than 22,000m of drilling completed to date – more than double the previous largest annual drill campaign as Storm, and which will underpin a significant upgrade to the maiden Storm resource
  • An investment in the 2025 field activities with bulk supplies being delivered to site this week by ship charter – saving circa. $4m on the potential logistics costs for the 2025 program
  • Completion of environmental, mining and development studies – including detailed testwork that supports the potential for a Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) operation – which will support delivery of a PFS in early 2025

Dave O’Neill, Managing Director of American West Metals, commented:

“We are very pleased to have finalised formal documentation of the royalty funding which allows us to commence accessing substantial non-dilutive funding for the Storm Copper Project.

“The royalty funds have allowed us to expand activities at Storm this year, resulting in considerable advancement of the project which is rapidly taking shape as a potentially globally significant copper mining operation.

“The investment from Taurus recognises the the strong foundations for growth established by American West to date, and is an endorsement of both the American West team and the production potential at Storm.”

Michael Davies, Taurus Chief Investment Officer, also commented:

“We continue to be impressed with achievements at the Storm Copper Project and its potential to be a significant mining operation. We are delighted to be supporting the team at American West Metals as they continue to grow Storm’s copper resources and progress development plans for the project.”

The royalty arrangements with Taurus do not impose any royalty on American West’s other projects, namely the West Desert and Copper Warrior Projects in Utah, USA.

For further details on the royalty package under the Taurus arrangement, see our ASX Release dated 24 June 2024 ‘$18.8M Royalty Financing’.

ABOUT THE STORM COPPER PROJECT

The Storm Copper Project is located on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The Project covers an area of over 2,200 square kilometres within the Polaris mineral district, and is just 120km south of Resolute Bay, the regional community and logistics hub.

Aston Bay is a deep-water bay located on the Northwest Passage, a seasonal ice-free waterway historically used to ship concentrate from the World Class Polaris and Nanisivik zinc – lead mines. Excellent facilities, including a 60-person camp, are in place to enable exploration and resource activities to be undertaken.

American West owns 80% of the Storm Project, and partners with Aston Bay Holdings (TSX:BAY) who own 20% of the Project.

Maiden Resource Estimate

American West delivered a maiden independent JORC Code - 2012 Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Storm Project in January, 2024. The MRE consists of 17.5Mt @ 1.2% Cu and 3.4g/t Ag (0.35% Cu cut-off), which includes 205Kt of copper and 1.9Moz of silver (Table 1).

The maiden MRE for the Storm Project has delivered the foundations to what American West Metals believe will be a globally significant copper district.

Immediate Resource Upside Potential

The shallow copper mineralisation within the Storm Deposits is open in all directions. The host stratigraphy and structures have been shown to be laterally and vertical extensive and therefore rank as high priority areas for resource growth.

Click here for the full ASX Release

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