- Outstanding 100% drilling success rate continues with the sediment-hosted copper system confirmed in an untested area of the Storm Project
- ST23-04 has intersected a thick 18.5m zone of visual copper sulphide (chalcocite and chalcopyrite) between 339m and 357.5m downhole, which correlates with the prospective sediment hosted copper horizon intersected in all diamond drill holes this season
- ST23-04 extends the apparent strike of the prospective copper horizon a further 2km to the west of ST23-03
- The drill hole was targeting a large gravity anomaly located south of the Southern Graben Fault, as well as the fault itself, validating the effectiveness of gravity in identifying copper sulphide mineralisation
- An untested 880m x 470m Fixed Loop Electromagnetic (FLEM) conductor is located immediately south of ST23-04 indicating potential for further strong copper mineralisation in the area
- Successful drill results demonstrate further evidence of a belt scale copper system
- Drilling continues at the Storm Project with assay results pending and expected within the next two weeks
Dave O’Neill, Managing Director of American West Metals commented:
“The outstanding 100% success rate of the diamond drilling at continues at Storm, with the fourth diamond drill hole intersecting another thick interval of visual copper sulphides. This exceptional strike rate across a very broad area is further evidence of a truly regional scale copper system.
“The drill hole was designed to test a dense gravity feature in an untested area between the high- grade, near-surface 3500N Zone, and the other high-grade copper zones over 3km to the east. The drill hole was also designed to intersect one of the regional-scale graben faults for the first time.
“The drill hole hit both targets and has confirmed the presence of significant volumes of sediment- hosted copper sulphides south of the graben fault, whilst also confirming the main fault system as a productive plumbing system for copper mineralisation and a target for additional copper mineralisation.
“The sediment-hosted copper intersection within ST23-04 sits within the same stratigraphic package intersected in previous diamond drill holes completed by American West, and is over 2km from the closest deep drill hole. With every drill hole that has targeted the large gravity features hitting copper sulphides, our confidence in the large-scale potential of the copper system continues to grow.
“The Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling also continues to progress rapidly with the planned drilling of the 4100N, 2750N and 2200N Zones completed. The drill rig has now moved onto a number of high- priority ‘Thunder’ style exploration and geophysical targets to continue to define additional areas of copper mineralisation and demonstrate potential resource upside.
“We look forward to providing further news flow and updates on both the diamond and RC drilling program.”
Figure 1: Breccia chalcocite (dark grey) and pyrite (yellow, brassy) in drill hole ST23-04 from approximately 349.5m downhole.
Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Laboratory assays are required to determine the presence and grade of any contained mineralisation within the reported visual intersections of copper sulphides. Portable XRF is used as an aid in the determination of mineral type and abundance during the geological logging process.
Figure 2: Plan view of the Storm area showing the gravity data interpretation, known copper deposit footprints (yellow), major faults, and diamond drill hole locations as discussed in this report.
DIAMOND DRILLING SUCCESS SUPPORTS LARGE SCALE COPPER ENDOWMENT
Diamond drill hole ST23-04 has been completed in an untested area of the Storm Project and over 2km west of the recent Thunder zone discovery (see ASX announcement dated 7 August 2023: Two Exceptional New Discoveries at Storm).
The drill hole is the fourth hole to be completed in the current diamond drill program and was designed to test a strong gravity anomaly, and to also intersect one of the main interpreted structures in the area, the Southern Graben Fault. Both targets were successfully tested and provide further evidence of a regional scale copper sulphide system within the Storm Project area.
ST23-04 intersected a wide, sulphide bearing fault zone that is interpreted to be the Southern Graben Fault. Though only minor copper is present within the fault zone, the results confirm the presence of copper mineralisation and fluid movement within this regionally important and laterally extensive structure. Significantly, the drill hole intersected the fault zone over 700m along strike from the near- surface, high-grade copper mineralisation at the 3500N Zone (where intersections include 35.4m @ 1.73% Cu in ST99-43), highlighting the structure as an important plumbing system for copper mineralisation and pointing to the potential relationship between the lower sediment-hosted style and upper, near-surface copper mineralisation.
The main interval of visual sulphide copper mineralisation intersected within ST23-04 is an 18.5m thick zone containing chalcopyrite and chalcocite which is interpreted to correlate with the same distinctive sediment-hosted mineralised horizon as encountered within diamond drill holes ST22-10, ST23-01, ST23-02 and ST23-03 (Figures 2 & 3).
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