What the geologists from American West (ASX: AW1; FRA: R84) had previously only suspected, they have now confirmed through gravity surveys: Directly below the near-surface copper cover of their previous drill target 4100N on the Storm Project in Nunavut, there is a much larger sediment-hosted copper system. American West speaks of a ‘Mother Lode’ copper target on the Storm Copper Project, Canada. The gravity anomalies begin about 200 m below the surface and have a strike of several kilometers. The stock reacted to the groundbreaking results in Australian trading with a gain of almost 34 percent.
Dave O’Neill, Managing Director of American West Metals, commented: “The recent gravity survey over the Storm project area has delivered spectacular results. The data confirms our geological assumptions and the potential for a large copper system beneath the near-surface copper mineralization. The high-resolution survey has successfully defined a series of large, dense bodies directly below the high-grade Zone 4100N and in key areas around the other known high-grade copper deposits. Importantly, our interpretation of the gravity data is supported by coincident historical geophysical anomalies and the discovery of copper sulfides in 2023 in drill hole ST22-10, which is located on the edge of one of the newly identified gravity targets. We are on the hunt for large copper targets here.”
Meanwhile, the resource drilling of the near-surface copper is progressing very well. David O’Neill is confident that American West will deliver a significant and robust initial copper resource at Storm based on these results alone. The new copper targets at depth are a new factor that redefines Storm’s potential. American West is giving high priority to drilling these targets in the ongoing 2023 field program.
Indications of Sediment-Hosted Copper Deposits at Depth
The recent gravity survey and concurrent historical geophysics have revealed the potential for a very large sediment-hosted copper system at Storm. Additionally, the data allows for a new interpretation of deep drill hole ST22-10 from last year. Exploration drill hole ST22-10 was completed in 2022 and targeted a large EM anomaly west of the near-surface high-grade Zone 4100N. The three-dimensional interpretation of the 2023 gravity data suggests that drill hole ST22-10 only intersected the tip of the large dense body below Zone 4100N and therefore represents an important target for the discovery of additional copper sulfides. The geology, mineralization, geophysical response, and structural settings are similar to many of the world’s major sedimentary copper systems, including the deposits of the Kalahari Copper Belt (Botswana) and the Central African Copper Belt (DRC, Zambia).
The interpretation has highlighted a series of NW-SE oriented gravity anomalies along the main axis of the Storm Graben, which are discontinuous and partially offset due to a series of N-S oriented faults. The ‘Southern Fault’ gravity anomaly is about 4 km long, located south of the graben fault, and is bounded by the high-grade copper zones 3500N, 2750N, and 2200N. The ‘Northern Fault’ gravity anomaly extends for about 4.8 km, is located north of the main fault, and is divided into two main zones. The easternmost zone is directly below Zone 4100N, where ongoing drilling has defined thick and continuous copper mineralization near the surface over a strike of 1 km.
The largest of the 3D gravity targets is located along the northern fault and directly below Zone 4100N (Figures 6 to 8). The feature begins at about 200 m depth and is about 2.3 km long. The gravity feature is intersected by a strong historical IP anomaly at its upper contact. This is an extremely significant connection and indicates a dense and electrically chargeable body. The only known chargeable geological feature at depth in the Storm area is sulfides.
The 3D inversion along the southern fault also defined a series of gravity targets. The data indicates that a strong gravity target approaches the surface west of the high-grade copper Zone 2750N. This location also shows strong EM and IP anomalies associated with known copper mineralization in sparse, near-surface historical drilling (5 m @ 2% Cu and 0.8 m @ 20% Cu in drill hole ST00-66).
Conclusion: American West has identified a type of copper deposit in the Arctic archipelago west of Greenland, whose geological characteristics correspond to the typical large sediment-hosted copper deposits in central and southern Africa. As it appears, the holes drilled so far in the various zones 4100N, 2200N, and 2750N were merely scratching the surface, figuratively speaking. However, these drillings are very likely to provide an initial resource this year and already define a stand-alone project with DSO potential. The newly gained insights, however, catapult American West into the Champions League of copper projects in one fell swoop. The potential is enormous, especially considering that Storm covers only a fraction of the more than 4,000 km² exploration license. Today’s results are likely to please not only shareholders but also spark the interest of major companies.
