Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Two More Exceptional Discoveries at the Storm Copper Project, Canada Diamond drill hole ST23-03 has discovered a new near-surface zone of mineralization and a deeper sediment hosted copper system in an underexplored area of the Storm Project
Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Two More
Exceptional Discoveries at the Storm Copper Project, Canada
Diamond drill hole ST23-03 has discovered a new near-surface zone of mineralization and a
deeper sediment hosted copper system in an underexplored area of the Storm Project
ST23-03 intersected two zones of visual copper sulfide mineralization:
76m of visual heavily mineralized breccia to massive copper sulfide (chalcocite, bornite and
chalcopyrite) between 32m and 108m downhole
2m of visual breccia and dense vein style copper sulfide (chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite)
between 273m and 275m downhole
The new zone of near-surface copper has been named ‘Thunder'
The deeper intersection is interpreted to correlate with the prospective sediment hosted copper
horizon intersected earlier this season, and is the first recorded occurrence south of the
Southern Graben Fault
The drill hole was targeting both a near-surface Moving Loop Electromagnetic (MLEM) plate
and a deeper gravity anomaly close to the Southern Graben Fault
• The drilling results confirm that these geophysical techniques are reliable targeting tools
for copper sulfides at Storm
• Diamond drilling continues on high-priority copper targets
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 8, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.
(TSX.V:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") reports two new significant
copper sulfide mineralization intercepts from a diamond drill hole testing blind geophysical
targets 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.
Figure 1: Massive chalcocite (dark grey) and chalcopyrite (brassy) in drill hole ST23-03 from
approximately 58m downhole.
"This discovery of a new, very thick, strongly mineralized intersection in the near-surface
coupled with the intersection of a chalcocite-mineralized sediment hosted copper horizon at
depth once again highlights the immense potential for new discoveries at Storm" stated Thomas
Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay.
"This booming intersection of massive copper sulfides and copper sulfide-filled breccias in the
near-surface has been aptly named ‘Thunder.' With clear similarities to the high-grade
mineralization of the 2750N Zone located over 1km to the east, this zone points to the potential
for additional high-grade near-surface resources to add to the delineation program currently
underway.
"The deeper interval is the first intercept of chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite mineralization
south of the Southern Graben Fault. This shows that metal-rich fluids are migrating along
permeable horizons and precipitating high-copper content minerals on a large scale. This is just
as the sediment hosted copper deposit model predicts and provides further evidence for the
widespread nature of this much sought-after style of mineralization at Storm.
"As well, the ability of gravity geophysics to find hidden mineralization, suggested by the
previous targeting success in discovery of a sediment hosted horizon at a similar depth to the
north of the graben underlying and west of the 4100N Zone earlier this program, is now firmly
established. We have sediment hosted copper mineralization at Storm, and we have a way to find
it. Additional ground surveys along 10km of strike are being planned as a priority for next
spring.
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
release.
DIAMOND DRILLING HITS TWO NEW STRONG COPPER ZONES
Diamond drill hole ST23-03 has been completed in a largely untested area at the Storm Project
and has intersected two main zones of visual copper sulfide mineralization. The drill hole is the
third hole to be completed in the current drill program and was designed to test a high-priority,
near-surface MLEM conductor, as well as a gravity anomaly proximal to the Southern Graben
Fault at depth.
Both targets were successfully tested resulting in the discovery of two new zones of visual
sulfide copper mineralization: a 76m intersection in the near surface corresponding to the MLEM
conductor, and a deeper 2m intercept within the gravity anomaly. The drill hole highlights the
outstanding exploration and expansion potential of both the near-surface, potentially open-pit
accessible mineralization, and the deeper, large-scale sedimentary copper system.
The exceptional and thick upper copper sulfide mineralization within ST23-03 is more intense
than the similar-looking, high-grade 2750N Zone mineralization (intersections include 41m @
4.18% Cu within ST22-05), which is located over 1km to the east (Figures 2 & 3). The entire
76m interval in ST23-03 is heavily mineralized and includes a 22m thick zone of banded semi-
massive to massive sulfides (Figures 1 & 4). The massive sulfides are interpreted to be the
source of the MLEM anomaly. This geophysical method detects electrical conductance in high-
sulfide content rock (typically >6% sulfide), which is typically contained within larger volumes
of lower-sulfide, but still strongly mineralized, rock. Elsewhere at Storm, copper-rich massive
sulfide bodies associated with MLEM anomalies are contained within larger bodies of breccia-
fill and fracture-associated mineralization that contain greater than one percent copper.
The lower interval is interpreted to be the same distinctive sediment-hosted mineralized horizon
as encountered within diamond drill holes ST22-10, ST23-01 and ST23-02 (Figures 2 & 3).
Despite being relatively narrow (~2m), the presence of strong chalcocite, the mineral common in
the core of these sediment hosted systems, is highly encouraging. Significantly, ST23-03 is the
first deep drill hole to be drilled to the south of the Southern Graben Fault and is located over
1.7km from the other deeper drill holes (Figures 2 & 3). This discovery confirms the
prospectivity of the area to the south of the main graben where multiple large gravity anomalies
remain untested by drilling (Figure 3). Further diamond drilling is planned to test these features.
Figure 3: Total Bouguer gravity image of the Storm area, fault architecture and drill hole
locations
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
Table 1: 2023 program drill hole details and copper mineralization summary.
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.
DRILL HOLE ST23-03 DETAILS
ST23-03 was drilled to a downhole depth of 396m and intersected two main zones of visual
copper mineralization. The drill hole was designed to test a near-surface MLEM conductor
approximately 1km to the west of the high-grade copper 2750N Zone, and the edge of a
moderately dense gravity anomaly close to the Southern Graben Fault (Figure 3). Corresponding
upper and lower zones of copper sulfide mineralization were intercepted.
The upper zone of copper mineralization encountered within ST23-03 is a 76m thick interval of
strong breccia and vein-style copper sulfides, with broad zones of semi-massive to massive
sulfide from 32m downhole. The massive sulfides are dominantly chalcocite, with bornite and
chalcopyrite (Figures 1 & 4), and represent a significant new discovery of near-surface copper
mineralization.
The thickness and intensity of the mineralization of the new zone (now named ‘Thunder'), and
high-grade 2750N and 2200N Zones along strike to the east, suggest that this high-grade
mineralization and structural setting may be directly related to their proximity to the Southern
Graben Fault. These faults are interpreted to be the primary source of plumbing for both the
near-surface, and deeper copper mineralization.
Figure 4: Massive chalcocite (dark grey) in drill hole ST23-03 from approximately 57.4m
downhole.
The lower zone of mineralization was intersected at 273m downhole and is interpreted to
correlate with the sediment hosted copper mineralization intersected in drill holes ST22-10,
ST23-01 and ST23-02. The 2m mineralized interval consists of broad fractures and dense
anastomosing veins of chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite (Figure 5).
The copper sulfides are hosted within a sequence of organic rich and vuggy dolomudstones that
are visually very similar to ST22-10, ST23-01 and ST23-02.
Figure 5: Breccia chalcocite (dark grey), bornite (purple/grey) and chalcopyrite (brassy) in drill
hole ST23-03 from approximately 272.9m downhole.
Hole ID From
(m) To (m) Min Description
ST23-03 0 25 Cape Storm Formation
25 32 Allen Bay Formation
32 41 br, cp,
cc
Intermittent breccia and veinlets (1.5%)
41 53 cc, br, ct Breccia and veinlets (2.5%)
53 59 cc, cp,
br
Breccia with semi-mass/massive (10%)
59 63 cc, br,
cp
Intense breccia sulfides (2.5%)
63 80 br, cc, ct Crackle breccia and veinlets (1%)
80 90 cp, ml Fine crackle breccia and veinlets (0.5%)
90 94 py, Cu Vug sulfide infill and minor Cu (0.8%)
94 95 cp Cp selvage in calcite veining (1%)
95 102 py, br,
cp
Fracture infill and veinlets (0.5%)
102 108 cp, cc,
br
Veinlets and breccia (1%)
108 273 Massive floatstone and minor dolomustone
273 275 cc, cp,
br
Dense veining and broad fractures (2.5%)
275 347 Floatstone with minor dolomudstone
347 347.5 cc Veinlets and fracture fill (0.5%)
347.5 396 Floatsone and minor dolomudstone
Table 2: Summary geological log for drill hole ST23-03. 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.
Figure 6: NW - SE geological section through drill hole ST23-03.