American West Metals’ high-grade copper hits reinforce Chinook’s starter pit potential

• American West Metals intersects more thick, high-grade copper at its Storm project
• Results confirm potential of the Chinook deposit to be an open-pit starter mine
• Assays also highlight the potential to both upgrade and expand the Cyclone deposit

Special Report: Further thick, high-grade copper intersections from surface have confirmed that Chinook deposit at American West Metals’ Storm project has the potential to be an open-pit starter mine.

Resource drilling at the deposit returned results such as:

• 42.7m grading 3.1% copper and 4g/t silver from surface including 1.5m at 7.1%
  copper and 6g/t silver from 25.9m
• 35.1m at 2.7% copper and 5.8g/t gold from 22.9m including 9.2m at 7.2% copper and 15.3g/t silver from 27.4m
• 29m at 2.6% copper and 4.3g/t silver from surface including 3.1m at 11.1% copper and 1.5g/t silver from 1.5m

Over at the Cyclone deposit, American West Metals’ (ASX:AW1) drilling also continues to intersect thick, high-grade copper intervals with hole SR24-117 returning 16.8m at 1% copper and 4g/t silver from 15.2m and 33.5m at 1.5% copper and 8.5g/t silver from 35.1m.

Both deposits have been the subject of metallurgical studies and test work that sought to assess their direct shipping ore potential.

Resource quality highlighted

“The assays from drilling at the Chinook deposit have been received and continue to highlight the resource quality and open-pit mining potential of the Storm copper deposit,” managing director Dave O’Neill said.

“The drilling at Chinook has intersected thick intervals of copper mineralisation at surface, including very high-grade zones with individual assays up to 11.1% copper. The drilling was designed to upgrade the current inferred resources and has also expanded the near-surface footprint of copper mineralisation.

“We believe this will enhance the development opportunity of Chinook, highlighting the deposit as a potential starter mine at Storm.”

He added that further assays from Cyclone drilling continued to highlight the potential to both upgrade and expand the deposit with further thick zones of copper mineralisation intersected within, and outside the current resource envelope.

“The latest drilling results continue to clearly demonstrate the strong open-pit mining potential of the Storm copper deposits, with 100% of the resources either outcropping or located near surface,” O’Neill said.

Drill results

AW1 noted that shallow, updip resource drilling to upgrade the existing inferred resources and test the margins of the Chinook deposit intersected outstanding intervals of copper and has increased the thickness of the known mineralisation along several drill sections.

Drilling on the margins of Chinook has also highlighted its expansion potential with the deposit remaining open downdip and along strike.

The company adds that the thick intervals and high grades of the outcropping and near-surface copper mineralisation support potential open-pit mining of Chinook, reinforcing its potential as a starter mine at Storm.

Assays from Cyclone also continue to highlight its expansion and upgrade potential by demonstrating the very thick and high-grade nature of copper mineralisation within and outside of the current resource envelope.

Infill drilling has also confirmed the excellent lateral continuity of the orebody as the company looks to upgrade the inferred resource into the higher confidence indicated category.

Next steps

While onsite drilling activities for 2024 have been completed, the company expects news flow to continue with laboratory assays for the remaining drill holes expected over the next month.

Results of several ongoing studies are also expected throughout Q4 2024 and early 2025 while a detailed study on the JORC 2012 resource update is continuing.

Mining, ESG and economic studies are also continuing in conjunction with Ausenco and SacreDavey Engineering.

This article was developed in collaboration with American West Metals, 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.