American West Metals increases Storm resource to 229,000t copper

American West Metals increases Storm resource to 20.6Mt at 1.1% copper and 3.3g/t silver
More than 61%, 138,000t copper and 1.4Moz silver, is in the higher confidence indicated category
Updated resource being incorporated into revised mine plan and development scenario

Special Report: American West Metals’ Storm project in Nunavut, Canada has expanded significantly with drilling increasing resources to 20.6Mt at 1.1% copper and 3.3g/t silver, or contained metal of 229,000t copper and 2.2Moz silver.

This is up from the previous estimate of 17.5Mt at 1.2% copper and 3.4g/t silver for 205,000t and 1.9Moz of contained copper and silver respectively.

Importantly for American West Metals (ASX:AW1), more than 61% of the contained metal – 138,000t copper and 1.4Moz silver – is now contained within the higher confidence indicated category that has enough certainty for mine planning.

The entire resource is contained within fresh, chalcocite-dominant copper sulphide that metallurgical studies have confirmed to be amenable to simple beneficiation including ore sorting, which makes for lower mining costs.This opens the way for quick commercialisation through the production of a high-grade direct shipping ore product.

Mining will be conducted via open pit methods as the resources are less than 200m below surface.

“The updated JORC compliant MRE for the Storm project has delivered what we believe will be the foundations for Canada’s next copper mining camp,” managing director Dave O’Neill said.

“This year’s drilling has significantly derisked the Storm resource and moved a lot of the copper metal at the Cyclone and Chinook deposits into the indicated JORC category. This classification is essential for permitting and the ongoing assessment of the project, and allows us to develop robust mine plans and economic models.

“The updated JORC MRE also highlights the strong growth potential of the Storm area with the known copper deposits remaining open. Additionally, the high-grade Gap and Cyclone Deeps discoveries of 2024 are not yet included in the MRE.

“Accelerating the definition of further copper resources within Storm and the regional areas will be a focus of future drilling programs.

“The updated JORC MRE is already being incorporated into a revised mine plan and development scenario which we believe will underline the exceptional opportunity at Storm.”

Growth opportunities

All deposits that make up the Storm resource are open, offering the potential for more drilling to rapidly expand resources.

Near-term additions could come from the high-grade Gap discovery, which is ready for resource definition drilling, and the Cyclone Deeps play where Cyclone-style mineralisation was found earlier in 2024 immediately south and faulted down from the existing Cyclone deposit.

AW1’s electromagnetic surveying has also identified a pipeline of conductors yet to be drill tested.

Additionally, less than 5% of the 100km long prospective copper bearing horizon within the project area has been adequately explored to date with this regional area hosting prospects such as Tempest, Tornado, Blizzard, and Seabreeze that have copper-zinc gossans identified at surface.

Reconnaissance drilling

Meanwhile, reconnaissance drilling to assist with the interpretation of the stratigraphy and geological framework in a number of key areas across the project area has helped refine the geological model for the updated resource estimate.

All holes were assayed to capture down hole geochemical information and to assist in determining lithology type and prospectivity with SR24-046, SR24-050, SR24-060, and SR24-136 intersecting minor, vein-hosted copper sulphide.

Separately, holes testing the high-priority EM anomaly A3 at the Squall prospect found the EM anomalism and copper mineralisation may be related to a north-south orientated structure centred on drill hole SR24-108.

This feature remains open and further drilling will test the prospect to the north and south of the current drilling.

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.