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- American West Metals (AW1) announces plans to accelerate its drilling and exploration efforts at its Storm project on Somerset Island, Canada
- The 2023 program will include drilling, geophysics and studies for a potential direct shipping ore (DSO) mining operation
- A planned extensive drilling program will focus on resource definition and the expansion of high-grade copper mineralisation across several prospects
- Surface geophysics will begin in March at Storm and at the under-explored Blizzard, Tornado and Tempest prospect areas
- AW1 shares are up 2.13 per cent and trading at 12 cents at 12:41 pm AEDT
American West Metals (AW1) has announced plans to accelerate its drilling and exploration efforts at the Storm copper project on Somerset Island in Canada.
The 2023 program will include drilling, geophysics, and studies for a potential direct shipping ore (DSO) mining operation.
American West Metals Managing Director Dave O’Neill said it came as a result of a successful drilling program in 2022.
“The logistics are now underway for what will be a significantly expanded program that will capitalise on American West Metals’ highly successful 2022 maiden drilling program,” Mr O’Neill said.
He said recent drilling at the 2750N zone highlighted the continuity of the copper zones, with near-surface mineralisation remaining a focus for resource drilling.
In this vein, the upcoming extensive drilling program will focus on resource definition and the expansion of the near-surface, high-grade copper mineralisation across several prospects. It will also focus on exploration to follow up on the company’s major 2022 discovery of a sediment-hosted copper system.
“The 2022 drilling program at Storm was a huge success, with the expansion of the mineralised footprint of the 2750N Zone, and the discovery of a new — potentially very large — sedimentary copper system below the near-surface mineralisation,” Mr O’Neill said.
Other areas of interest include the 2200N and 4100N zones, where thick intervals of copper mineralisation have been defined over a large area.
As part of its upcoming program, AW1 will use a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig for the first time at the project. The RC rig is expected to drill until September, with the potential of more than 10,000 metres possible during the 2023 program.
American West Metals will also begin new geophysical surveys in March at the known prospects as well as the under-explored Blizzard, Tornado and Tempest prospect areas.
The proven potential to produce high-value and high-margin direct shipping ore (DSO) product at Storm has opened the door to potentially provide a short lead time and a potential pathway to generating revenue for the company.
The company will also begin environmental baseline studies in Q2 2023 within the Storm prospect area and a newly defined transport corridor between the Storm Prospect area and the coast.
AW1 shares were up 2.13 per cent and trading at 12 cents at 12:41 pm AEDT.
