It was foreseeable and yet represents an important milestone for American West Metals (WKN A3DE4Y / ASX AW1): The company led by MD Dave O’Neill has made the necessary exploration expenditures and thereby secured an 80% stake in the highly promising Storm copper project in Canada’s Nunavut.
American West has been active on the Storm property since 2021 and has repeatedly produced groundbreaking results with its exploration activities, demonstrating the copper potential of the project. Now, according to the company, Storm is considered one of the rare opportunities in the copper sector that could have global significance!
Breakthrough with Discovery of a Regional Copper System at Depth
American West has demonstrated two spectacular chances for potential copper mineralization. Firstly, drilling programs conducted by the company have significantly expanded the near-surface, high-grade copper mineralization at Storm. Secondly, a breakthrough was achieved as American West discovered a deeper, sediment-hosted copper system of regional size. According to the company, this system shows similarities to the world-class copper belts in Central Africa and Botswana.
Some of the best results that American West’s drilling at Storm has yielded so far include:
– 41 meters at 4.18% copper from 38 meters depth,
– 57 meters at 2.5% copper from 8 meters depth,
– 46 meters at 2.2% copper from 64 meters, including 15.6 meters at 4.2% copper from 65 meters and
– 67.1 meters at 1.1% copper from 54.9 meters depth.
Apart from that, the project also includes the high-grade zinc and silver deposit Seal, for which a resource estimate already exists. This amounts to 1 million tons at 10.24% zinc and 46.5 g/t silver and is very similar to the nearby Polaris mine, which Teck Resources operated for over 22 years.
Numerous Drill Results in the Pipeline
Further news flow is assured for now, as results from 29 drill holes are still pending. This includes the results of the discovery drilling with which American West discovered the Thunder and Lightning zones. Now, according to the company, regular releases are expected over the next four to six weeks.
The Option Agreement
American West Metals and project owner Aston Bay Holdings had concluded an agreement in early March 2021 that assured American West an 80% stake in Storm once the company had invested 10 million CAD in the project’s exploration. This mark was reached during this year’s drilling program.
Now, American West Metals and Aston Bay will form an (unincorporated) 80/20 joint venture, with American West as the operator.
American West’s Managing Director Dave O’Neill stated: “Building on the outstanding and ongoing success of the drilling and exploration programs at Storm, we are pleased to announce that American West has now completed the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Storm Project. This has been a pivotal year for the Storm Project with significant expansion of the near-surface high-grade copper occurrences and the breakthrough discovery of the deeper, regional, sediment-hosted copper system. Securing an 80% interest in Storm through the efficient and timely completion of the exploration programs required under the option agreement is a fantastic outcome for the company and our shareholders. We look forward to continuing the partnership with Aston Bay on this exciting project.”
