American West has intersected a very thick intersection of mineralisation, including massive zinc and copper sulphides, within a previously undrilled section of its West Desert project in Utah.

Over 157m of continuous strong mineralisation was visually observed in WD22-03, the fourth diamond drill hole completed on the eastern flank of the project.

American West Metals (ASX:AW1) said the mineralisation is particularly strong in a number of massive sulphide dominant intervals and confirms the continuity of the strong copper and zinc mineralisation in the Main Zone of the deposit towards the east.

Managing director Dave O’Neill said that drilling continues to highlight the significant scale and growth potential of the West Desert deposit.

“This is our first drill hole in this part of the orebody and it indicates that a number of the ore lenses in the Main Zone may join in this location to form a thick and coherent body of mineralisation,” he added.

“We expect laboratory assays to confirm some high-grade intersections as there are a number of intervals with massive zinc and copper sulphides logged in the drill core.”

This follows on the third hole intersecting thick intervals of shallow zinc and copper mineralisation that could support open pit mining.

 

Undrilled potential

WD22-03 was designed to extend open intervals of high-grade zinc and copper in the eastern flank of the deposit and was drilled on a section where historical drill spacing was over 80m.

It was drilled to a depth of 550m and encountered over 165m metres of visual and variable mineralisation within a single major zone.

The uppermost interval is about 8m thick and contained within massive dolomite while the main interval of mineralisation is over 150m thick and contains a variety of mineralisation styles.

Notably, the main interval of mineralisation is similar to other intersections within the eastern part of the deposit and suggests that a number of ore lenses merge and form a single, very broad and coherent ore zone.

American West adds that its location might support a transition from an open pit to underground mining as the thick and coherent nature of the Main Zone in this location favours a number of different development scenarios.

 

Looking ahead

Drilling is currently underway on the fifth hole, which seeks to extend the copper rich zones targeted by WD22- 01C towards the east.

The company noted that there is very little drilling along this part of porphyry contact and further mineralisation in this zone could extend the known resources significantly

Defining further high-grade copper in this area could also enhance the overall copper grade of the West Desert resource.

 

This article was developed in collaboration with American West, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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