Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Geophysical Program Set to Begin at the Storm Copper Project, Canada Geophysical program designed to deliver a pipeline of priority drill targets for new copper discoveries
Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Geophysical
Program Set to Begin at the Storm Copper Project, Canada
Geophysical program designed to deliver a pipeline of priority drill targets for new copper
discoveries
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2024 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.
(TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to provide details
on the upcoming geophysical surveys and exploration program at the Storm Copper Project
("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The program will be conducted by
American West Metals Limited ("American West"), who is the operator of the Project. American
West has completed the required expenditures to earn an undivided 80% interest in the Project.
American West will be solely responsible for funding the program.
Highlights
• Field crew have arrived at Storm with final preparations underway for the
commencement of the spring program
• 2024 field work is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks with commencement of
detailed, high-powered surface electromagnetic (EM) surveys, with Reverse
Circulation (RC) drilling also planned to begin shortly
• Moving Loop EM (MLEM) will initially be deployed around the areas of the
existing Storm copper mineralization to identify targets both along strike in the
near-surface (<200 metres ("m") depth) as well as deeper predicted targets (up to
500m depth) with over 50 line-kilometres ("km") initially planned
• MLEM surveys will then focus on regional exploration with over 40 line-km
planned to screen the regional Blizzard, Tornado and Tempest Prospects
• Multiple strong indicators of potential copper mineralization have already been
identified at the regional targets - including extensive gossans and chalcocite
boulders with grades up to 32% copper and 30% zinc - making these areas
compelling exploration targets
• Excellent potential for geophysics to deliver game-changing results both in the near-
surface and at depth given the excellent correlation of EM targets with high-grade
copper sulfides in previous drilling
"It is exciting to begin another significant exploration program at Storm," stated Thomas
Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. "Our partner, American West, will be conducting a large-scale EM
geophysical program using a higher-powered system than has ever been used at Storm. This will
allow us to see the shallow targets with more detail, as well as investigate deeper with more
confidence than ever before."
"The drills have proven the effectiveness of EM in pointing to high-grade, near-surface
mineralization. Using this method to look at a much larger area and to a much greater depth
could unlock significant new copper discoveries. The drill crew is set to mobilize this week, with
their task to expand on the known mineralization and test the new targets generated by these
surveys. Things are lining up for an exciting spring and summer season at Storm."
Figure 1: Electromagnetic survey field crew taking sensor readings.
MOVING LOOP ELECTROMAGNETICS (MLEM)
Electromagnetic geophysical surveys (EM) have been confirmed by drilling as the most effective
targeting tool in the exploration for high-grade copper sulfides at the Storm Project. Multiple
historical surveys using both airborne and ground EM systems have resulted in the discovery of
most of the known copper mineralization in the Storm area.
The near-surface (<100m depth) high-grade copper mineralization in the immediate Storm area
remains open along strike and at depth, with recent drilling resulting in new discoveries both in
the near-surface and at depth. Together with the largely untested 100km-long prospective copper
target horizon, this highlights the outstanding potential for the discovery of additional copper
mineralization in the near-surface, at depth, and over considerable lateral extents within the
larger project area.
The planned EM surveys will utilize the most powerful energy source to date (more than twice as
powerful as prior surveys). They will aim to fill gaps in the historical surveys, acquire higher-
resolution data, and investigate deeper. The surveys will also expand the search into new areas
including the Blizzard, Tornado, and Tempest Prospects.
Storm
Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLEM) will begin in the Storm area where historical surveys
have been instrumental in expanding areas of known mineralization and in the discovery of new
zones, such as the 2023 discoveries at Thunder ( 48.6m @ 3.0% Cu in drill hole ST23-03 ) and
Lightning Ridge ( 30.4m @ 2.2% Cu in drill hole SR23-52 ). The EM anomalies tested to date
in the Storm area have been strongly correlated with higher-grade (>2%) copper mineralization.
The 2024 Storm MLEM surveys will include:
• Ultra-high-resolution Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLEM) to focus on the expansion
of the known copper mineralization and making new discoveries. The targeted search
space will be approximately 0-200m below surface.
• Deep-penetrating, wider-spaced MLEM to explore the Storm central graben area and
below the known mineralization. The targeted search space will be from 200-500m
vertical depth.
The Storm surveys will initially screen over 50 line-km (Figure 2).
Regional Exploration
After completion of the Storm surveys, the MLEM will be used to screen the regional Blizzard,
Tornado and Tempest areas. The discovery of further copper mineralization in these areas has
significant implications for the regional copper endowment of the Project. The EM surveys will
be the key targeting tool and over 40 line-km of surveys are planned within these areas.
The Blizzard and Tornado Prospects are located approximately 10km along strike to the east of
Storm (Figure 3 & 6). The geological setting is interpreted to be identical to that of Storm and
contains numerous outcropping copper occurrences with coincident copper in soil and
geophysical anomalies.
Figure 2: Plan view of the Storm area showing the planned MLEM survey areas (configured for
shallow and deep exploration) and location of the known copper mineralization and prospects,
overlaying aerial photography.
The Tornado Prospect is centered on an area with abundant chalcocite and malachite boulders in
frost-heaved sub-crop and float, within a 3.2km x 1.5km geochemical copper anomaly. The large
copper anomaly shares the same linear trend as the main structural features of the Storm graben.
Most of the anomalous copper samples are located around the interpreted northern graben fault,
which is a similar setting to that of the large and laterally extensive Cyclone Deposit at Storm.
The Blizzard Prospect is defined by a broad, oval-shaped zone of elevated Vertical Time Domain
Electromagnetics (VTEM - airborne survey) conductance with approximate dimensions of 4.0km
x 1.5km. The target is enhanced locally by elevated levels of copper in rock and soil samples.
Both the Blizzard and Tornado areas also contain large gravity anomalies (Figure 3), and
together with the existing EM and coincident copper geochemistry, rank these areas as highly
prospective for the discovery of further copper mineralization.
Figure 3: Map of the Blizzard and Tornado areas showing the copper soil geochemistry,
overlaying gravity imagery (terrain corrected Bouguer Anomaly). The Tornado copper anomaly
is over 3.2km long. The Blizzard gravity data is also coincident with a 4km x 1.5km VTEM
anomaly (not shown).
The Tempest Prospect is located approximately 40 kilometres south of the known copper
discoveries at Storm (Figure 6). The area is defined by a 4km long zone of gossans, with assays
from select grab samples returning base metal grades up to 38.2% Cu and 30.8% Zn.
The geology of the area is interpreted to contain the southern extension of the highly prospective
Storm copper target horizons, overlapping much older Proterozoic rocks to the west. This
geological setting and the interpreted unconformity between two main geological terranes
suggest a permeable zone close to potential source rocks, highly prospective for base metal
mineralization.
A ground Loupe Electromagnetic (TDEM) and magnetic survey was completed over the
Tempest area during August 2023 to aid with mapping the stratigraphy and to define potential
targets for further exploration work (Figure 5).
The TDEM survey has defined a series of conductive anomalies that lie along the strike of the
stratigraphy and are coincident with the copper/zinc gossans in several areas (Figure 4). The
conductors are localized and modelling of the data estimates that they are potentially steeply
dipping. The relatively short strike length of the conductive features is positive for the potential
of base metal mineralization. It suggests that the anomalies are less likely to be related to
conductive stratigraphic horizons such as black shales or graphite.
Moving Loop Electromagnetics and drilling are planned to follow up these highly prospective
areas in 2024.
Figure 4: Testing base metal gossans (brown/rust-coloured rocks) at Tempest with a portable
XRF prior to sampling for laboratory assay. Select samples have yielded assays of up to 38.2%
Cu and 30.8% Zn.
Figure 5: Map of the Tempest Prospect showing the mapped gossans and geochemical sampling
points with select rock assays, overlaying TDEM image (late time conductivity - Gate 6) and
aerial photography.