The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - November 25, 2024
This sample of massive chalcocite (copper sulfide) collected from the Hailstorm discovery averages more than 50% copper (the upper detection limit of the assay technique used).
Mapping and sampling has outlined a prospect at Hailstorm similar to the nearby Storm copper deposits.
American West Metals Ltd. Nov. 25 reported that its 2024 greenfield exploration has discovered and confirmed five copper prospects spanning the 68-mile- (110 kilometers) long mineralized belt covered by its district-scale Storm copper property on Somerset Island, Nunavut.
"The regional exploration work during 2024 has re-affirmed the large-scale greenfield exploration potential of the project and discovered copper and base metal mineralisation in two completely new areas," said American West Metals Managing Director Dave O'Neill.
Early this year, American West published a maiden resource outlining 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 in four deposits – Chinook, Corona, Lightening Ridge, and Thunder – within a roughly 10-square-kilometer (3.9 square miles) area at Storm.
While most of its 2024 program was focused on upgrading and expanding resources within this area in support of developing a plan for establishing a direct-shipping-ore (DSO) mine, the Australian-based company also had geologists exploring the larger copper potential of the expansive land package.
"This is in line with our strategy of progressing both the development and exploration aspects of the project," said O'Neill.
The 2024 discovery of Hailstorm, a high-grade copper prospect just south of the four deposits included in the Storm resource, borders on the development and exploration facets of American West's strategy.
The company's geological team discovered the Hailstorm prospect during reconnaissance mapping and rock sampling carried out along the southern boundary of the current resource area. The initial discovery of copper mineralization along an interpreted major fault was with grid-based soil sampling that outlined a 250-by-250-meter copper anomaly.
Massive chalcocite (copper sulfide) boulders with as much as 50% copper (the upper detection limit of the assay method used) were collected from Hailstorm.
American West says the massive copper sulfides and geological setting at Hailstorm are identical to the four deposits outlined so far.
Mapping and sampling has outlined a prospect at Hailstorm similar to the nearby Storm copper deposits.
Tornado, a previously identified prospect associated with the Storm Copper resource area but located about three miles to the southeast, was also explored this year.
A 1,500-by-3,200-meter copper anomaly at Tornado lies along what is interpreted to be the North Graben Fault, which borders the Cyclone deposit to the northwest.
American West says all reverse circulation holes drilled at Tornado have cut anomalous copper, silver, and zinc in favorable geological locations and electromagnetic geophysics has defined new conductors below the limit of current drilling, pinpointing compelling targets for follow-up drilling.
American West's regional program also explored Seabreeze and Tempest, prospects at opposite ends of the 68-mile trend of copper mineralization at Storm.
Seabreeze, which lies at the far northwestern end of the trend, contains extensive outcrops of Allen Bay Formation rocks, the primary host to the copper deposits outlined so far at Storm.
Mapping carried out this year confirms that Seabreeze is found in a geological setting similar to the Storm deposits, which lie about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the southeast.
Grid-based soil sampling of two areas at Seabreeze have identified an anomalous copper signature spatially associated with a northwest-southeast structural trend that confirms the prospectivity of the northwestern extent of the copper belt.
Toward the southern end of the copper belt, American West completed reconnaissance drilling at Tempest.
A previously identified prospect about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the Storm resource area, Tempest hosts a 4,000-meter-long zone of mineralization where samples containing as much as 38.2% copper and 30.8% zinc have been collected.
Anomalous copper, silver, and zinc mineralization were encountered in all three shallow reconnaissance holes drilled this year at Tempest and confirmed the presence of Storm-style stratigraphy with thick intervals of the Allen Bay Formation.
While this drilling did not cut the high-grade mineralization sampled on the surface, mapping suggests that this year's holes intersected a lower stratum of the Allen Bay Formation, and the more prospective upper sequence that hosts the deposits to the north lies further east.
American West says electromagnetic geophysical surveys to refine high-priority targets for follow-up drilling are the next step at Tempest.
Altogether, the results of the 2024 regional program further demonstrate that the geology, geochemistry, and geophysical signature that led to the inaugural resource at Storm extends for at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) across the property.
"Whilst this is not surprising, given we know that a district-scale mineralisation event has taken place on Somerset Island, it gives us further confidence that the project has significant untapped potential," said O'Neill.
"The next phase of exploration work at these highly prospective regional targets will aim at testing areas where the mineralisation has been focused, and where deposits may have formed," he added.
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.
Reader Comments(0)