The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News – June 9, 2023
RC drill chips from hole SR23-03 showing the gunmetal grey copper mineral chalcocite within tan dolomite. The 6.1-meter interval these chips were collected from assayed 3.2% copper.
Click on image for larger Storm Copper 4100N zone drill map.
American West Metals Ltd. June 6 reported that high-grade copper has been encountered in the first six holes drilled this year in the 4100N zone of the Storm project on Somerset Island in Nunavut, Canada.
In May, the Australia-based mineral explorer reported that the first hole of its 2023 Storm Copper program, SR23-01, cut three zones of high-grade mineralization:
• 15.2 meters averaging 1.2% copper from a depth of 54.9 meters.
• 7.6 meters averaging 1.2% copper from a depth of 79.3 meters.
• 6.1 meters averaging 1.1% copper from a depth of 120.4 meters.
In its second batch of assays from the 2023 program, the company reports that five more holes have cut similar zones of greater than 1% copper. Highlights include:
• 29 meters averaging 1.1% copper from a depth of 59.4 meters in hole SR23-02.
• 67.1 meters averaging 1.1% copper from depth of 54.9 meters in hole SR23-03.
• 6.1 meters averaging 1.1% copper from a depth of 50.3 meters; and 19.8 meters averaging 1.1% copper from a depth of 77.7 meters in hole SR23-04.
• 21.3 meters averaging 1% copper from a depth of 41.2 meters in hole SR23-05.
• 7.6 meters averaging 1.1% copper from a depth of 53.3 meters; and 6.1 meters averaging 1.2% copper from a depth of 82.3 meters in hole SR23-06.
"The second batch of assays for the drilling at the 4100N Zone has continued to impress, confirming further thick intervals of copper mineralization very close to surface," said American West Metals Managing Director Dave O'Neill. "The mineralization at Storm is quickly demonstrating the quality and scale of what we believe will become a premier open-pit copper mining opportunity."
The company hopes to upgrade high-grade copper mineralization mined from 4100N and other near-surface high-grade copper zones at Storm to direct shipping ore with simple and low-cost sorting technology.
Initial tests carried out on samples of core from previous drilling of 4100N produced a commercial-grade direct shipping ore (DSO) product averaging 53.9% copper.
Ore sorting and beneficiation testing are ongoing, and additional results are expected soon.
In the meantime, this year's roughly 10,000-meter reverse circulation drill program at Storm is focused on establishing a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant resource for three shallow zones.
This drilling continues to expand the mineralized footprint at Storm before moving on to zones 2200N and 2750N, where one hole drilled last year cut 41 meters averaging 4.18% copper.
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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