New Anomalies Identified Through Electromagnetic Surveys
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Storm Copper project on Somerset Island in the Canadian province of Nunavut, developed by partners American West Metals and Aston Bay Holdings (TSX.V: BAY, FSE: 6AY, WKN: A2AUFP), contains additional large-scale copper targets at depth. This suspicion, harbored for some time, is being substantiated by electromagnetic surveys. They have identified a 500 by 1,300 meter anomaly at depth, which is now the target of further drilling. Simultaneously, diamond drilling is also intersecting new copper zones in deeper layers.
They did this with an impressive 100% success rate. This is what American West and Aston Bay Holdings can report from their recently conducted deep diamond drilling. Not only did the drill cores contain thick sections with visible copper mineralization, but it was particularly encouraging that the new hits were made below the known near-surface copper deposits.
The drilling thus confirms the large lateral extent of the Storm copper system at depth, as mineralization has now been intersected over an area of more than ten square kilometers. Once again, this provides evidence of the potential to mine large-scale stratigraphic and structurally controlled high-grade copper deposits in the not-too-distant future at Storm, very similar to the prolific deposits in the Central African Copper Belt.
Drill hole ST24-01, for example, shows visible copper mineralization totaling 21.3 meters. This includes 6.37 meters of visible copper sulfide at a depth of 293.7 meters and another 2.43 meters with abundant visible copper sulfide starting at a borehole depth of 302 meters. From a depth of 311 meters, another 12.5-meter section with visible copper sulfide begins.
Drill hole ST24-02 also yielded very good results. It intersected a total of 99.2 meters of visible copper sulfide. Initially, a section with 1.1 meters of visible copper sulfide was intersected at 195.5 meters borehole depth. About ten meters deeper, at a depth of 204 meters, a 1.3-meter section also begins with abundant visible copper sulfide. The longest mineralization starts at a depth of 404.3 meters and is 17.1 meters long.
New Anomalies Identified Through Electromagnetic Surveys
The depth-seeking phase of the Moving Loop Electromagnetic (MLEM) survey has defined a 1,300 by 500 meter anomaly at depth below the Cirrus deposit and The Gap prospect. This success led to immediate target drilling, which is now being carried out.
Thomas Ullrich, the Chief Executive Officer of Aston Bay Holdings, expressed great satisfaction with the recent exploration successes: “The first two deep diamond drill holes of this season have encountered an impressive amount of visible copper mineralization in the same style as in the high-grade near-surface deposits. Together with the five deep holes drilled in 2022 and 2023 across a ten square kilometer area, all of which intersected copper and associated sulfide mineralization at depth, the Storm Deeps drilling is developing into a compelling exploration story.”
For the future, the Aston Bay Holdings CEO expects that the upcoming deep drilling will benefit from the improved detection of new anomalies through the enhanced electromagnetic measuring devices being used for the first time at Storm this year. Their main advantage is that they allow a view into deeper layers. The acquisition costs have therefore quickly paid off.
