The Conversation (0)
American West Metals Limited (American West or the Company) (ASX: AW1 | OTCQB: AWMLF) is pleased to provide an update on drilling and geophysical activities at the Storm Copper Project (Storm or the Project) on Somerset Island, Nunavut.
- Assays have been received for drill hole SR23-01, confirming a total of 28.9m of high- grade copper mineralisation, comprising:
- 15.2m @ 1.2% Cu, including 4.6m @ 2.8% Cu from 54.9m, and;
- 7.6m @ 1.2% Cu, including 3.1m @ 2.4% Cu from 79.3m, and;
- 6.1m @ 1.1% Cu, including 3.1m @ 1.4% Cu from 120.4m
- Another eight Reverse Circulation (RC) drill holes have been completed at the 4100N Zone with all drill holes intersecting thick intervals of strong visual copper sulphides
- The recent drilling at the 4100N Zone has defined strong near-surface copper mineralisation over 850m x 300m, and remains open along strike
- RC drilling continues at Storm with further drill holes added to the resource definition program at the 4100N Zone
- All current drill samples have been sent to the laboratory for analysis
Assay results have been received for drill hole SR23-01, the first hole of the current program, and confirm the presence of thick intervals of near-surface copper sulphides. The assays indicate that the mineralised intervals in SR23-01 have exceeded our visual estimations as reported in the ASX announcement dated 1 May, 2023: First drill holes intersect thick intervals of copper at the Storm Copper Project, Canada.
The drilling program is ongoing and continues to intersect large volumes of visual copper sulphides within the central and western portion of the known mineral system at the 4100N Zone – see Table 1. Due to continuing success and an expansion of the mineralised footprint, further drill holes have been added to the 4100N Zone program.
Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory 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.
Dave O’Neill, Managing Director of American West Metals commented:
“Whilst we have only received the assays for the first drill hole of the current program, the results validate and exceed our initial visual estimates. This is a fantastic outcome and gives us confidence in our geological interpretations and assumptions on continuity of the mineralised zones.
“Drilling at Storm continues to highlight the potential significant scale of mineralisation with every drill hole to date intersecting thick intervals of visual copper sulphides.
“The growing scale is very encouraging as we work towards a maiden resource estimate.
“The Moving Loop EM crews have been busy also, and have now completed the 4100N, 2750N West and Tempest Prospect surveys. The data for these surveys is being processing with interpretation to follow.
“Given the pace of the exploration program, investors can look forward to further updates on the results as the data becomes available.”
Table 1: 2023 program drill hole details and copper mineralisation summary. Note – depth in metres has been converted from measurements in feet and is rounded. The “Thickness of Strong Mineralisation” data is based on laboratory assays for SR23-01 and visual estimates for the remainder.
ASSAYS CONFIRM GRADE AND THICKNESS OF COPPER MINERALISATION
The assay results from drill hole SR23-01 have been received and confirm the intersection of thick intervals of near-surface copper sulphides (Figure 1).
The assayed intervals of SR23-01 closely match and exceed the intervals that were identified visually, validating the classification of strong visual copper sulphides (estimated to be >1% Cu) during the logging process.
Figure 1: Geological section view at 465,000E showing the interpreted mineralisation envelope (>1% Cu) and recent drill hole assays and visual observations.
DRILL HOLE SR23-01 DETAILS
SR23-01 was drilled to a downhole depth of 137.2m and was the first drill hole completed in the 2023 drill program. The drill hole forms part of a program that is designed to determine the resource potential of the near-surface 4100N Zone (Figure 2 & 3).
The drill hole is located in the central portion of the 4100N Zone and was testing the continuation of the mineralisation between two historical drill holes, ST97-13 and ST00-63 (Figure 1).
SR23-01 intersected three horizontal zones of vein and fracture style copper sulphide mineralisation hosted within fractured dolomite.
The sulphide abundance and grade of the mineralised intervals within SR23-01 are very similar to that of the historical drill holes along section 465,000E. This demonstrates good lateral continuity of the ore zones and is a positive outcome for the resource potential at the 4100N Zone.
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This article includes content from American West Metals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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