The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - September 20, 2024
Chalcocite (dark grey copper mineral) and native copper blebs in a section of drill hole ST24-01 averaging 3.7% copper.
American West Metals Ltd. Sept. 20 reported that drilling has cut thick zones of high-grade copper mineralization below the surface deposits being outlined at its Storm Copper project in northern Nunavut.
"The assays for the first deep diamond drill hole have been received and have produced outstanding results," said American West Metals Managing Director Dave O'Neill.
According to a maiden resource calculation completed earlier this year, four near-surface deposits within a roughly 10-square-kilometer (3.9 square miles) area at Storm host 17.5 million metric tons of Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant indicated and inferred resources averaging 1.17% (452 million lb) copper and 3.38 grams per metric ton (1.9 million oz) silver.
While American West's 2024 drill program is primarily focused on expanding upon the deposits and zones of near-surface mineralization at Storm, the company continues to test deeper copper zones within the same area.
American West has drilled eight deep holes at Storm.
American West first tested this deep copper potential with a 2022 hole targeting a deep electromagnetic anomaly below Cyclone, the largest near-surface deposit outlined so far at Storm. This hole, ST22-10, cut five layers of low-grade zinc from depths of 29 to 150 meters, three layers of low-grade copper from 313 to 325 meters, followed by another layer of low-grade zinc starting at 358 meters.
All five widely spaced deep holes drilled in 2023 cut sediment-hosted copper mineralization associated with an enormous gravity geophysical anomaly depth, including 37 meters of breccia-style copper sulfide mineralization dominated by chalcocite from a depth of 333 meters in hole ST23-02. This is the first intersection of chalcocite, a high-grade copper mineral, at this depth.
The first deep hole drilled this year has confirmed the lateral extent and high-grade nature of the "Deep Copper Horizon" at Storm.
This hole, ST24-01, cut 10 meters averaging 1.2% copper from a depth of 311 meters, including a three-meter subsection averaging 2.2% copper.
There are indications that the deep mineralization cut in hole ST24-01 is a fault-offset continuation of the near-surface deposit.
"The style, thickness, grade, and host rocks of the copper mineralisation look very similar to that of the southern part of the Cyclone deposit," said O'Neill. "It is also located in a setting that suggests it may be a fault offset and southern continuation of the deposit.
The company reports that ST24-02, a second deep hole drilled about 1,500 meters south of ST24-01, has cut 99.2 meters of copper sulfide mineralization. Assays from this hole are expected over the next week.
The deep copper encountered in these two holes adds another layer to the high-grade and potentially direct shipping of ore found on the surface at Storm.
"The success rate and volume of copper mineralization at all stratigraphic levels is telling us that this is a potentially huge and long-lived mineral system," O'Neill added. "Zeroing in on the strongest parts of the mineralization will be the focus of the deep exploration going forward."
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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