The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Copper mineralization observed in drill core excites investors North of 60 Mining News - July 29, 2022
American West drills its first hole at the Storm Copper project.
Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. shares rocketed 33% on Monday on the news of visual confirmation of strong copper mineralization encountered in the first two holes American West Metals Ltd. drilled this year at Aston's high-grade Storm Copper Project on Somerset Island, Nunavut.
Australia-based American West, which optioned Storm and the neighboring Seal Zinc project from Aston Bay early last year, recently launched its first drill program at Storm.
The primary objective of this drilling is to define areas of high-grade copper mineralization that could be upgraded to direct shipping ore with simple and low-cost ore sorting technology. Tests carried out on samples of core from previous drilling of the 4100N Zone at Storm produced a commercial-grade direct shipping ore (DSO) product averaging 53.9% copper.
"The DSO opportunity is an absolute game-changer for Storm that provides potential to produce a high-value product through a low-cost and low footprint development option," said American West Metals Managing Director Dave O'Neill.
To pursue this option, American West began its 2022 drill campaign with infill drilling at 2750N Zone, where drilling carried out in the 1990s encountered near-surface, high-grade copper mineralization.
Highlights from historical drilling at 2750N include:
• 110 meters averaging 2.45% copper from surface in hole ST97-08.
• 56.3 meters averaging 3.07% copper from a depth of 12.2 meters in hole ST99-19.
Visual geological observations of the first two diamond drill holes at Storm indicate that both these infill holes between ST97-08 and ST99-19 cut extensive zones of near-surface copper sulfide mineralization.
ST22-01 cut 72.1 meters of copper mineralization (chalcocite and chalcopyrite) from a depth of 19.5 meters, including 23.74 meters of breccia and massive copper sulfides over multiple intervals.
ST22-02 cut 81.22 meters of copper mineralization from a depth of five meters in geology similar to that encountered in ST22-01, providing strong confidence in the continuity of the main ore zone through this section of 2750N Zone.
"The results from these holes are significant as they show strong continuity between the thick historical copper intersections at the 2750N Zone where we are aiming to define a shallow, high-grade copper resource that can support a low-footprint direct shipping ore (DSO) mining proposal," said O'Neill.
Investors in both companies seem to agree, as the share price of both companies shot up significantly, despite the lack of assays to affirm the amount of copper cut by these holes.
Shares of American West jumped more than 7%, from AU14.5 cents to 16.5 cents in early July 25, trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Aston Bay shares rallied 33% from C30 cents to C40 at the opening of the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX.V).
"These are significant results and demonstrate the continuity between historical copper intersections at the 2750N Zone, where our partners are working to define a copper resource," Aston Bay Holdings CEO Thomas Ulrich said upon releasing the results that boosted the company's stock.
Drilling at Storm continues with an additional 15-20 holes planned to test priority high-grade copper targets, including several new electromagnetic conductors that have the potential to deliver new sulfide copper discoveries.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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