Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Fourth Diamond Drill Hole Hits Thick Interval of Visual Copper Sulfides at the Storm Copper Project, Canada
Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Fourth Diamond
Drill Hole Hits Thick Interval of Visual Copper Sulfides at the
Storm Copper Project, Canada
• 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 sulfide (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 sulfide mineralization
• An untested 880m x 470m Fixed Loop Electromagnetic (FLEM) conductor is located
immediately south of ST23-04 indicating potential for further strong copper
mineralization 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
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.
(TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") reports a significant new
visual copper sulfide mineralization intercept from the fourth diamond drill hole at the Storm
Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The program,
still underway, is being conducted by American West Metals Limited ("American West"), who
are the project operator since entering an option agreement with Aston Bay in March 2021
"This is a phenomenal success rate for testing blind targets that once again points to the
immense potential for new discoveries at Storm" stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. "The
evidence mounts for a regional-scale copper system as predicted by our geological model. We
are hitting copper in the same stratigraphic horizon in every widely spaced drill hole.
"The ground gravity geophysical survey conducted by Scott Smith's team at Initial Exploration
this spring has proven its mettle as a robust and effective method for delineating sulfide
mineralization in the subsurface at Storm. A critical upshot of this is that the new gravity data
indicates that the large gravity anomalies from the historic surveys, previously thought to be too
deep to be of interest, are potentially well within reach. We are pleased that American West is
advancing the development potential of the high-grade, near-surface copper mineralization at
Storm, and extremely excited for the advances made in the game-changing discoveries of the
sediment hosted copper mineralization we predicted lurked in the subsurface."
Figure 1: Breccia chalcocite (dark grey) and pyrite (yellow, brassy) in drill hole ST23-04 from
approximately 349.5m downhole.
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 SYSTEM
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 (August 7, 2023 Aston Bay news release).
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 sulfide system within the Storm Project area.
ST23-04 intersected two zones of visual copper mineralization. The first, a wide sulfide-bearing
fault zone, 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 mineralization 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 mineralization at the 3500N Zone (where intersections include 35.4m (core length) @
1.73% Cu in ST99-43). This highlights the structure as an important plumbing system for copper
mineralization and points to the potential relationship between the lower sediment-hosted style
and upper, near-surface copper mineralization.
The second zone of visual sulfide copper mineralization 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 mineralized horizon as encountered within diamond drill holes
ST22-10, ST23-01, ST23-02 and ST23-03 (Figures 2 & 3).
Significantly, drill hole ST23-04 is located immediately north of a large, untested 880m x 470m
FLEM anomaly that was defined during the 2022 field season (Figure 3). Similar conductive
anomalies elsewhere at Storm have been confirmed by drilling to contain sulfide mineralization.
The repeated intersections of copper sulfide within this predictable stratigraphic horizon, and
ongoing success of the gravity data as a reliable targeting tool, has enormous implications for the
potential for further discoveries within the Storm area.
Figure 3: Total bouguer gravity image of the Storm area, fault architecture, drill hole and deep
FLEM conductor locations overlaying aerial photography.
Hole ID Prospect Easting Northing Depth
(m) Azimuth Inclination
ST23-01 4100N 464805 8174335 416 180 -75
ST23-02 EXPL. 464255 8174741 602 180 -70
ST23-03 EXPL. 465267 8172805 396 320 -65
ST23-04 EXPL. 463278 8173699 476 205 -60
Table 1: 2023 program drill hole details.
DRILL HOLE ST23-04 DETAILS
Diamond drill hole ST23-04 was drilled to a downhole depth of 476m and has intersected a large
copper-enriched breccia/fault zone and a thick interval of visual sediment hosted copper sulfide
mineralization. The drill hole was designed to test a gravity anomaly south of the Southern
Graben Fault, as well as test the large fault system itself (Figures 2 & 3).
The upper zone of pyrite and copper mineralization is hosted within a 48m thick, calcite-rich
fault zone that is interpreted to be the Southern Graben Fault (Figure 7). The fault zone is
comprised of a matrix-supported clast breccia with the matrix locally replaced with calcite
cement and locally milled and silty dolomudstone (Figure 4). The fault zone contained a large,
ice-filled cavity and local occurrences of pyrite cement with anomalous copper (confirmed with
portable XRF).
Breccia and fracture-fill-related copper is the likely source of copper anomalism within the fault
zone. The presence of copper within this major structure is highly significant and confirms the
ability of the structure to act as a source of plumbing for copper-rich fluids. This supports the
potential for further high-grade copper mineralization similar to the 2750N, 2200N, 3500N and
Thunder Zones along this extensive regional structure.
Figure 4: Silt and calcite (darker grey and white respectively) fracture fill within the Southern
Graben Fault Zone from drill hole ST23-04 (approximately 241.95m downhole). The fracture
matrix is anomalous in copper and likely contains copper oxides after chalcocite (copper
sulfide).
The lower zone of mineralization was intersected at 339m downhole and is interpreted to
correlate with the sediment-hosted copper mineralization intersected in drill holes ST22-10,
ST23-01, ST23-02 and ST23-03 (Figure 7).
The broad mineralized interval consists mostly of chalcopyrite blebs, veinlets, and crackle
breccia (Figure 5), with chalcocite present in the lower part of the sequence (Figure 1 & 6). Like
previous drill holes, the copper sulfides are hosted within a sequence of organic-rich dolostones.
This association confirms the extensive and predictable nature of this prospective stratigraphic
horizon.
Figure 5: Blebby chalcopyrite (yellow brassy) and organic rich breccia in drill hole ST23-04
from approximately 340.8m downhole.
The strong presence of chalcopyrite in the lower copper intersection of ST23-04 suggests that the
drill hole has potentially intersected the edge of the copper sulfide system: the mineralization at
Storm shows a distinct zonation with a large copper-rich core (chalcocite, bornite and covellite)
that gives way laterally and vertically to thinner peripheral zones of copper-iron (chalcopyrite,
dominant in this intersection), iron (pyrite), zinc (sphalerite) and minor lead (galena). This spatial
association of peripheral-style chalcopyrite mineralization is supported by the location of the
intersection at the margin of the targeted gravity anomaly.
Density measurements (specific gravity) conducted on the drill core have shown the sulfide-
mineralized intervals to be the only plausible source for the modeled gravity anomalies. The
recently completed high-resolution ground gravity surveys are clearly effective at identifying
hidden sulfide mineralization within this stratigraphic setting. This provides a highly effective
targeting tool and suggests that all of the large gravity anomalies previously identified in the
2017 airborne gravity survey are prospective copper targets.
Furthermore, the three-dimensional modeling of the new ground gravity data indicates that the
extensive historic airborne gravity anomalies, which previously modeled at a depth exceeding
1km, are likely much shallower at approximately 300m depth, well within reach of the diamond
drill. As a result, the large fault-bounded gravity anomalies to the east and southeast of Storm are
now high-priority targets for the 2024 geophysical and drilling programs.
Figure 6: Breccia and veinlets of chalcocite (dark grey) in drill hole ST23-04 from
approximately 355.6m downhole.
Hole ID From
(m) To (m) Min Description
ST23-04 0 168.5 Cape Storm Formation
168.5 200 py
Allen Bay Formation - large zones of
bleaching assoc. with fractures/breccia. Fine
grained py/cc breccia at 178m
200 248 py, cu-
ox
Southern Graben Fault - Large, continuous
clast breccia with calcite and local py/cu
oxide cement
248 339 py, cc Organic rich dolofloatstone/wackestone.
20cm wide chalcocite breccia at 306m (10%)
339 357.5 cp, cc
Organic rich dolowackestone with
veinlets/crackle breccia and blebs of cp, with
cc present in the lower portion of the interval
(0.5-2%)
357.5 359 Rubble
359 380 Altered dolomudstone/floatstone
380 476 Massive floatstone with local alteration and
vuggy/chert nodules
Table 2: Summary geological log for drill hole ST23-04. Mineralization key: cc = chalcocite, cp
= chalcopyrite, br = bornite, py = pyrite, Cu = native copper, ct = cuprite, ml = malachite, sph
= sphalerite, ga = galena. (5%) = visual estimation of sulfide content.
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
mineralization within the reported visual intersections of copper sulfides. Portable XRF is used
as an aid in the determination of mineral type and abundance during the geological logging
process.