Aston Bay and American West Metals Confirm Discovery of Sediment Hosted Copper System at Depth and 76m of 2% Cu from 32m at Thunder from the Storm Copper Project, Canada Discovery of large sediment hosted copper system confirmed by diamond drilling:
Aston Bay and American West Metals Confirm Discovery of
Sediment Hosted Copper System at Depth and 76m of 2% Cu from
32m at Thunder from the Storm Copper Project, Canada
Discovery of large sediment hosted copper system confirmed by diamond drilling:
• Assay results for diamond drill holes ST23-01, ST23-02 and ST23-03 indicate
that all three holes have intersected sediment hosted copper beneath the near-
surface copper deposits at Storm
• ST23-02 has intersected a 24 metre (m) thick interval of copper sulfides at
depth with copper values up to 2.7% Cu, indicating the potential of the deeper
system to host high-grade mineralization
• The wide-spaced location of the holes - between 600m to 2 kilometre (km)
spacing - highlights the broad lateral scale of the sediment-hosted copper
system
• The results confirm the correlation between the sediment-hosted copper and
gravity anomalies, highlighting large-scale exploration potential with more
than 14km prospective strike untested by drilling
High-grade new near-surface discovery at Thunder:
• Diamond drill hole ST23-03 has returned assays of:
o 76m @ 2% Cu from 32.4m, including
o 48.6m @ 3% Cu from 32.4m, and including,
o 20m @ 6.2% Cu from 40.8m
• The Thunder discovery - located 1km from the known near -surface Storm
copper deposits - highlights the resource expansion and exploration potential
of the near-surface mineralization
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 26, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.
(TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to report
assay results that confirm the discovery of sediment hosted copper system at depth, as
well as high-grade results from one of the new near-surface discoveries at the Storm
Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The drill
holes were part of a program conducted by American West (as defined below) as
operator of the Project pursuant to the Option Agreement (as defined below).
"I am pleased to report the exploration diamond drill holes have confirmed the
presence of the sediment hosted copper sulfide mineralization at depth at Storm,"
stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. "The assays confirm the presence of
copper, locally over wide intervals up to 24m thick, in widely spaced drill holes that
suggest lateral extent and continuity. With values up to 2.7% copper, these results
point to the size and grade potential of this deeper mineralization. Mineralogical
zonation at Storm suggests the intercepts are on the periphery of the system and
provide a vector toward anticipated higher copper grade within this large copper
mineralized system."
"Every deep exploration drill hole has intersected sulfide mineralization as predicted
by both the geological and geophysical models. We clearly have a powerful
exploration toolkit for discovery at Storm. Kilometre-scale geophysical anomalies in
highly prospective stratigraphy remain untested, and planning has already begun for
a major drill program in 2024 to determine the extents of the system and target grade
and size."
"In addition to the deep discovery, the near-surface Thunder Prospect has yielded
high grades up to 49.6% copper. Just discovered this season, Thunder highlights the
resource potential in the near surface, with grades rarely seen in open pit mining
opportunities."
Figure 1: Drill core from resource diamond drill hole ST23-02 showing chalcocite (dark grey)
copper sulfide breccia at approximately 354.7m downhole.
HIGH-GRADE POTENTIAL OF SED-HOSTED COPPER SYSTEM
CONFIRMED
Diamond exploration drill holes ST23-01, ST23-02 and ST23-03 were part of four
holes completed during the 2023 season to confirm the sediment-hosted copper
model, with each of the holes designed to test different geophysical and structural
targets (Figure 2). The drill holes are widely spaced between 600m and 2km apart.
Results from the fourth hole, ST23-04, are pending.
Significantly, all drill holes have intersected copper sulfide mineralization up to 24m
thick at the same stratigraphic level, with grades up to 2.7% Cu (ST23-02) indicating
the potential of the system to host high-grade mineralization. The copper
mineralization and geology within the drill holes is highly similar and suggests that
the stratigraphy of the deeper mineralized system is laterally very extensive.
The Storm area shows clear geological similarities to many of the world's major
sediment-hosted copper systems, including the deposits of the Kalahari Copper Belt
(Botswana) and Central African Copper Belt (DRC, Zambia). These copper deposits
typically have metre scale thicknesses and kilometre scale strikes of the ore zones.
Figure 2: Plan view of the Storm area showing the gravity data, fixed loop electromagnetic
plates, near-surface mineralization footprint, major faults, and diamond deep drill hole
locations.
DRILL HOLE ST23-01 DETAILS
In addition to intersecting the sediment-hosted system at depth, ST23-01 has
intersected strong copper intervals within the near-surface 4100N Zone with assays
returning:
• 7.2m* @ 2.2% Cu from 58.1m, including,
o 0.9m* @ 12.8% Cu from 58.1m
▪ 1.9m* @ 1% Cu, 0.8% Zn from 75.6m
▪ 6.8m* @ 1.2% Cu from 80.7m
ST23-01 was drilled to a downhole depth of 416m and intersected two main zones of
copper mineralization (Figure 4). The drill hole was designed to test the northern
extent of the high-grade 4100N Zone, and to test the large gravity anomaly at depth,
below the near-surface copper mineralization.
The first zone of copper mineralization encountered within ST23-01 is located near-
surface within the 4100N Zone and consists of 16.9m of very strong breccia and
fracture-hosted chalcocite and minor chalcopyrite (Figure 4) over three major
intervals from 58.1m downhole. This mineralization is typical of the near-surface
copper mineralization at the 4100N Zone and indicates that the mineralization remains
open to the north.
Figure 3: Chalcopyrite (brassy) in vugs and veinlets in drill hole ST23-01 from approximately
342m downhole.
The deeper zone of mineralization was intersected at 332m downhole, is 15m thick
and consists of mosaic breccia and replacement-style chalcopyrite cement. Assays up
to 0.48% Cu (at 342m downhole - Figure 3) confirm the presence of chalcopyrite.
Sphalerite (up to 0.6% Zn) is present within the lower part of the sequence.
Mineralization at Storm is clearly zoned, with a core of chalcocite mineralization
grading into zones bornite±covellite, then chalcopyrite, pyrite and into an outer
sphalerite±galena zone, reflecting progressive reduction of the metal-bearing fluids by
interaction with hydrocarbons in the permeable zones of the rock.
Importantly, the deeper mineralization encountered in ST23-01 suggests this drill hole
intercepted the outer chalcopyrite/pyrite/sphalerite zone of the sediment hosted
system.
Figure 4: N - S geological section through drill hole ST23-01. . Stated drill hole intersections are
all down hole length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 100% of stated length.
Hole ID From
(m)
To (m) Width Cu % Zn % Ag
g/t
ST23-01 48.5 49 0.5 1.8 - 2
58.1 65.3 7.2 2.2 - 4.7
Including 58.1 59 0.9 12.8 - 24
75.6 77.5 1.9 1 0.8 16.5
80.7 87.5 6.8 1.2 - 6.7
100 101 1 1.2 - 2.8
341.7 342.3 0.6 0.42 - 0.7
Table 1: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole ST23-01 (>0.2%
Cu).
DRILL HOLE ST23-02 DETAILS
Drill hole ST23-02 was drilled to a downhole depth of 602m and assays have
confirmed that it intersected a 24m thick zone of copper mineralization from 346m
downhole (Figure 6).
The assay results have confirmed the presence of chalcocite and highlight the
potential for the deeper stratigraphic horizon to host economic copper mineralization.
This is a significant milestone for the project and confirms the large sediment-hosted
copper system potential.
The mineralized interval is variably brecciated and fractured with chalcocite as the
dominant copper sulfide mineral. The lower section of the interval contains very
strong mineralization in a number of narrow bands with grades up to 2.7% Cu
(356.5m downhole). Sphalerite (zinc sulfide) occurs with chalcocite in the lower part
of the mineralized sequence with grades of 1.7% Zn (also at 356.5m downhole).
The presence of chalcocite suggests that drill hole ST23-02 is potentially vectoring to
the higher-grade portions of the copper system.
Figure 5: Chalcocite (dark grey) breccia fill in drill hole ST23-02 from approximately 354.7m
downhole.
Hole ID From
(m)
To (m) Width Cu % Zn % Ag
g/t
ST23-02 346 370 24 0.2 0.14 -
Including 351.5 358.3 6.8 0.53 - -
Including 354.7 355 0.3 1.4 - 8
And 356.5 358.3 1.8 1.3 0.7 19
Including 356.5 357 0.5 2.7 1.7 -
366.5 367 0.5 1 0.9 3
Table 2: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole ST23-02 (>0.2%
Cu).