Promising Stratigraphy
Aston Bay (TSX.V: BAY, FSE: 6AY, WKN: A2AUFP) and American West continue the 2024 drilling program on the Storm project, providing additional evidence for the existence of an extensive, deeper copper horizon. This horizon remains open at the edges and covers an area of more than ten square kilometers.
Three new drill holes were sunk at a distance of about two kilometers, aiming to clarify whether there is another deeper structure below the known copper mineralization and how extensive it might be. These investigations were prompted by a significantly deeper drill hole from 2023.
This hole had reached a deeper copper horizon for the first time, bringing the question of how large this deeper horizon is and which zones are of particular interest to the forefront. The findings gathered so far point to a positive answer to the questions raised, as all three deep drill holes intersected deeper copper sulfides and showed promising stratigraphy within the copper horizon.
The Parallels to the Central African Copper Belt are Considerable
In September, Aston Bay Holdings reported that drill hole ST24-01 intersected thick copper sulfides with grades of up to 3.7% copper at a depth of 311 meters. This result, together with the observation that drill hole ST24-02 in particular encountered large-volume mineralizations, underscores the lateral and vertical extent of the copper system at Storm. It thus increases the chance of having encountered layered, large-scale copper deposits similar to those of the Central African Copper Belt. This further consolidates the evidence that significant copper grades are also encountered in the deeper layers at Storm.
The second drill hole in this series, ST24-02, was sunk as a diamond drill hole and designed to examine the structure and stratigraphy in the southern areas of Storm more closely. The hole reached a depth of 455 meters and intersected a whole series of copper horizons. These are sulfide mineralizations that total 98.6 meters in length.
Characteristic of ST24-02 are several thin higher-grade horizons that together form thick sections with low-grade copper mineralization. The entire rock package is fractured to varying degrees, with copper sulfides occurring both as veins and as fracture fillings. The large volume of mineralization suggests a significant mineralization event, and its location in the center of the Thunder and Corona graben block underscores the potential for discovering economic mineralization at depth.
Technical Difficulties Lead to Suspension of Third Drill Hole
Below the known mineralization, drill hole ST24-03 targeted a 1,300 meter by 500 meter electromagnetic anomaly on the Cirrus deposit. Shortly before reaching the zone, however, a section with a highly fractured zone caused difficulties. To penetrate the frozen Arctic ground, salt must be added to the drilling fluid to prevent the drill bit from freezing. However, in the highly fractured zone reached, the drilling fluid was lost. As the drilling season was too far advanced and the required salt could not be delivered in time, the drilling was suspended at this point. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2025.
Making a second attempt to complete the drill hole next year is logical, as the targeted anomaly shows both the characteristics of mineralization embedded in faults, as is the case with the Chinook type, but also features of stratiform embedded mineralization. Such mineralization is encountered, for example, at the Cyclone deposit. Both factors make the anomaly a very compelling target, justifying a second attempt in 2025.
Two different observations characterized the completed parts of the drill hole. In the upper sections, only minor copper sulfides were detected. However, when the fractured carbonate rock was reached at greater depth, entering an environment generally considered very favorable for the deposition of copper sulfides, copper grades also increased here. The drill hole thus remains a priority target for next year.
