Full Pipeline of Drill Targets Defined
American West Metals (ASX AW1 / WKN A3DE4Y) reports the final results, including 3D inversion of the airborne Mobile Magnetotelluric (MMT) survey along the Midway–Storm–Tornado corridor of its Storm Copper Project on Somerset Island in Nunavut, Canada. The data confirms several large copper targets of potentially significant importance. The effectiveness of the MMT method at Storm is once again highlighted.
Most interesting is a large, conductive target (>16 km strike) north of the Cyclone deposit at 150–250 meters depth: This anomaly is located in the so-called Allen Bay Formation, the main host rock for copper sulfides already confirmed by drilling at Storm. Within the structure, discrete zones of higher conductivity occur, partly along the graben faults – potentially sulfide accumulations and high-priority drill targets!
Additionally, there is a second, stratiform conductor at ~400 meters depth north of Cyclone: It is likely the deeper copper horizon where deep drilling has already identified copper sulfides over ~10 km².
Two additional, discordant conductivity trends at ~400 m depth in the Midway and Tornado/Blizzard areas were also identified. Their orientations correspond to local fault zones – known pathways for copper at Storm. Mapping and sampling confirm near-surface outcropping copper sulfides. Interestingly, the modeled depths are below previous drilling limits.
The effectiveness of the MMT method at Storm is confirmed by data from the already defined Cyclone deposit. The large, shallow-dipping Cyclone deposit shows a distinct response in the MMT dataset (Anomaly A1). This proves the method’s effectiveness on-site and its ability to reliably detect copper mineralization of ≈2% Cu or higher – based on historical geophysics.
Additional new targets are:
• Target A8: the aforementioned 16-km conductor (150–250 m), which can be traced down to ~400 m depth, aligns with the deeper copper horizon.
• Target A4: up to 3 km long conductor, sub-parallel to the graben, modeled from ~150 m depth; high priority due to structural similarity to the Cyclone deposit
• Target A2/A5: two conductors trending perpendicular to the E–W graben, strongest in the Midway and Tornado/Blizzard zones.
Why MMT Makes the Difference Here
The MMT campaign covered approximately 1,320 line-kilometers, utilizes natural sources, and captures a broader EM frequency spectrum than previously used methods. This increases resolution and depth penetration and improves signal quality, especially in resistive host rocks, at depths >200 meters. While conventional EM surveys at Storm accurately map near-surface, high-grade zones, MMT complements these by adding the deeper horizons.
Management Outlook and Next Steps for American West
According to Managing Director Dave O’Neill, interpretation and modeling of the Phase 1 data confirm a series of large conductors in favorable geological and structural settings. Notably, their conductivity resembles that of the high-grade copper zones at Cyclone – a strong indication of additional copper sulfide accumulations. Phase 2 of the MMT survey will depend on the results of the drill tests of the Phase 1 conductors and is expected to be extended to the southern strike of the copper horizon.
In parallel, the MMT findings will be integrated into a district-wide structural and data compilation to further refine drill planning. Assay results from the ongoing RC and diamond drilling programs are expected in the next one to three weeks.
Conclusion: The MMT data provides the Storm Copper Project, which already has a resource of 20.6 million tonnes at 1.1% copper and 3.3 g/t silver (229,000 tonnes copper and 2.2 million ounces silver), with a clear, scalable target pipeline – from the shallow Cyclone system to deeper, structurally controlled conductors. With several kilometer-scale anomalies in copper host rock and in close proximity to known sulfide outcrops, the exploration potential of the property remains enormous.
