American West Metals (ASX:AW1; FRA: R84) has opened the 2025 exploration season on its Storm copper project on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The first RC and diamond drilling as well as large-scale mobile magnetotelluric (MMT) surveys will commence shortly. The initial focus will be on deep diamond drilling at the Cirrus Deeps and Cyclone Deeps targets, where previous sections with high-grade copper mineralization will be further explored to identify the large-scale copper potential at depth, which could rapidly expand the copper resource in the Storm MRE area.
Subsequently, the company plans to continue diamond drilling to investigate high-priority geophysical anomalies and regional exploration targets. These include the relatively unexplored areas Tornado/Blizzard and Midway, located approximately 5 kilometers east and west of Storm, respectively, as well as any new deep targets defined by the upcoming MMT survey.
Cirrus Deeps is a high-priority EM target below the Cirrus deposit with a stratigraphic composition similar to Cyclone. The emerging mineralization will be the first target for diamond drilling. Cyclone Deeps is the potential continuation of the large Cyclone deposit at depth. Previous exploration drilling there yielded, among other results, 10 m with 1.2% Cu from 311 m (including 0.5 m with 3.7% Cu from 315.5 m).
A focus of this year’s campaign is the expansion of the resource near the mine. Several discoveries near the boundary of the mineral resource estimate (MRE) will be pursued further, including the Gap prospect area, which contains a strong EM anomaly confirmed by drilling with 20 m @ 2.3% Cu from 28 m, as well as the Squall and Hailstorm prospect areas.
The Tornado/Blizzard targets are located 5 km east of the Storm copper deposit. The targets feature a 3.2 km x 1.5 km geochemical copper anomaly and two large electromagnetic (EM) plates that have not yet been drilled. The Midway target, approximately 5 kilometers northwest of the Storm area, has so far only one historical drill hole, which intersected a total of 58 m with visible copper sulfide.
Dave O’Neill, Managing Director of American West Metals, commented:“Our team has executed the production start-up safely, on schedule, and efficiently, and we look forward to more positive news in the coming months as the drilling and geophysical programs continue. The discovery of further high-grade copper mineralizations at depth below the known deposits could confirm the model of a stacked copper horizon and quickly define large areas for further resource growth. Early successes in these areas will help set and focus the priorities for the rest of the deep diamond drilling program.”
Reverse-circulation Drilling to Extend the Lifespan of American West Metals’ Storm Project
The reverse-circulation (RC) drilling in the Storm area aims to investigate high-priority geophysical targets and resource expansion targets. The first drilling phase will begin at the Thunder, Lightning Ridge, and Corona deposits before tackling the Gap, Squall, and Hailstorm prospect areas. All these opportunities have the potential to significantly extend the lifespan of the Storm project, as they exhibit high-grade mineralizations similar to the already discovered deposits.
Conclusion: The Storm Project in Nunavut offers the Australian copper explorer American West the best of both worlds. On one hand, Mother Nature has ensured that copper has been secondarily deposited near the surface in almost horizontal structures within the surrounding limestone. Thanks to the simple mineralogy, these deposits are ideally suited for open-pit mining. The straightforward mine plan recently presented by the company in its PEA is based on these deposits (Cyclone and Chinook).
However, the question remains as to where the copper originates. The EM anomalies identified along the fault structure of the Central Graben have already proven to be high-grade copper mineralizations. With further targeted deep drilling at the beginning of the season, American West aims to further investigate this depth potential. The exploration target here is a large, contiguous copper accumulation in the Central Graben area. While the near-surface resources are essentially picking the “low hanging fruit” on the Storm Project, a corresponding exploration success at depth along the EM anomalies in the Central Graben would be a game-changer.
