Aston Bay Announces New Assays Confirming Significant High-Grade Copper at Storm Project, Nunavut
Aston Bay Announces New Assays Confirming Significant High-Grade Copper at
Storm Project, Nunavut
TORONTO, Ontario, November 3, 2022 – Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF)
("Aston Bay" or the "Company”) today reports final assay results from the 2022 drill season,
confirming significant near surface high-grade copper at the Storm Copper Project (“Storm” or
the “Project”) on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. This is the maiden drilling program for
American West Metals Limited (“American West”), who are the project operator, since entering
an option agreement with Aston Bay in March 2021.
Highlights
• Diamond drilling continues to define near surface high -grade copper at Storm, more than
doubling the mineralized envelope at the 2750N Zone and substantially enhancing the
resource potential
• New significant intersections include:
• 19m @ 2.08% copper (Cu) from 58 metres (m) downhole, including;
o 2m @ 15.98% Cu from 70m downhole (ST22-06)
• 10m @ 2.36% Cu from 53m downhole, and;
• 7m @ 1.08% Cu from 79m downhole (ST22-04)
• 2m @ 1.81% Cu from 36m downhole, and;
• 7m @ 1.00% Cu from 40m downhole, and;
• 1m @ 5.75% Cu from 13m downhole (ST22-07)
• A high volume of near -surface high -grade copper at the 2750N Zone has now been
confirmed with mineralization open to the west along a 1km prospective strike length
• Potential to further define near-surface high-grade copper deposits, with future drilling of
the 2200N and 4100N Zones where multiple intersections of massive copper sulfides have
been discovered by historical drilling
• Drill core samples from the 2022 program are being shipped to Perth for further
beneficiation test work, to follow -up the initial test work that produced a Direct Shipping
Product with a grade >53% Cu
“These drill results confirm the near-surface high grade copper mineralization at the 2750N
Zone, likely doubling the volume of mineralization, once again demonstrating the enormous
potential of the Storm Project,” stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. “We look forward to
next season’s drill campaign, which aims to define further resources at the 2750N Zone as well
at other areas of near-surface high-grade copper mineralization, such as the 2200N and 4100N
Zones.
“Samples are enroute for the next phase of beneficiation test work to be conducted over the
winter, with the objective of developing a definitive flowsheet for a potential direct shipping
product mining operation. We are excited by the very successful efforts of our partner
American West to so rapidly advance the project.”
The final batch of assays results has been received for diamond drill holes ST22-03, ST22-04,
ST22-06, ST22-07 and ST22-08 (Table 1). A total of 997m of shallow drilling was completed at
the 2750N Zone during the 2022 program (See Table 3 for previously reported significant
intervals).
Figure 1: Plan view of the 2750N Zone showing drilling and gossans over aerial photography. Stated drill hole
intersections are all core length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 95% of core length.
All drill holes completed at the 2750N Zone were designed to test the continuity and extensions
to the copper mineralization encountered in historical drilling (Figure 1) and to confirm the
potential for potentially mineable volumes of copper mineralization.
Thick intervals of copper mineralization in these recent drill holes located in the western
portion of the 2750N Zone give strong indications that the mineralization may continue across a
large north-south oriented gully (interpreted to be a fault). High-grade copper at surface and
extensive geochemical anomalies along strike of the 2750N Zone supports the growth potential
of the prospect to extend a significant distance to the west.
Drilling within the east portion of the 2750N Zone shows that the mineralization may pinch out
or be offset by faulting. The results of surface geochemistry to the east supports the apparent
waning in the strength of near surface mineralization in this direction.
Faults are believed to be a major control on mineralization. Further drilling will aim to define
the structural architecture of the 2750N Zone and to expand the economic potential of the
Storm Project by defining additional resources at the highly prospective 2200N and 4100N
Zones. These opportunities offer outstanding upside and large-scale potential for a low-
footprint, direct shipping product (DSP) type operation.
Figure 2: Orthographic view of the 2750N drilling showing mineralized envelope (>0.5% Cu) and
copper grades
Drill Hole Details
Drill holes ST22-06 and ST22-07 were drilled in the western part the 2750N Zone and
successfully encountered thick intervals of copper sulfides.
Mineralization encountered in these two drill holes is similar to that observed in other drill
holes in this area and, importantly, is dominantly chalcocite. Mineralization at Storm is typically
zoned, with a margin of pyrite-chalcopyrite-sphalerite-galena mineralization surrounding a
copper-rich chalcocite core (chalcocite contains 79.9% copper). The presence of chalcocite
suggests that these two drill holes are in the core of the mineralized system, with additional
mineralization potentially located to the west.
Drill holes ST22-03, ST22-04 and ST22-08 are all located in the eastern portion of the 2750N
Zone.
ST22-04 was drilled within the same section as ST22-05 and encountered strong copper
mineralization, including 2m @ 4.04% Cu and 1m @ 8.29% Cu within a broader interval of 10m
@ 2.36% Cu from 53m downhole.
The assay results for ST22-03 and ST22-08 shows intervals of lower grade copper, which is a
function of the fined grained/veinlet style of the mineralization encountered in these drill holes.
The assays also indicate that some mineralization initially logged within ST22-03 and ST22-08 is
sooty pyrite and marcasite, not chalcocite, and this would support the interpretation that this
may be a marginal part of the ore system to the east within this zone.
Another interpretation is that the mineralization in the east may be offset by a series of north-
south oriented faults. The presence of brecciated rock in drill hole ST22-02 and at the surface,
accompanied with very fine-grained (sooty and potentially milled) pyrite and apparent left-
lateral offset of the zone may indicate fault offsets of the mineralization.
The drill holes completed this year within the 2750N Zone have confirmed the thicknesses and
grade of the historical copper intersections and continuity between drill holes. The mineralized
system is interpreted to be open to the west and we expect further discoveries along strike.
Early indications suggest that given the high grades, increasing volumes and shallow nature of
the copper mineralization, there is high potential that the 2750N Zone could support an initial
small footprint DSP type operation.
Table 1 summarises the significant intersections in drill holes ST22-03, ST22-04, ST22-06, ST22-
07 and ST22-08. Intersections are expressed as downhole widths and are interpreted to be
approximately 60 to 95% of true width. A cut-off grade of 0.5% copper is used to define a
significant intersection and is based on sulphide mineralogy, mineralization habit and expected
beneficiation performance. Previously announced significant drill intervals from the 2022
drilling program are presented in Table 3.
Hole ID From
(m)
To (m) Width Cu % Zn % Ag g/t
ST22-03 11 12 1 0.97 - -
96 98 2 0.55 - -
106 108 2 0.81 - -
ST22-04 39 41 2 0.63 - -
53 63 10 2.36 - -
Including 57 59 2 4.04 - -
And 61 62 1 8.29 - -
71 72 1 0.56 - -
79 86 7 1.08 - -
ST22-06 53 54 1 1.33
58 77 19 2.08 - -
Including 70 72 2 15.98 - -
83 86 3 0.54 - -
95 97 2 0.58 - -
ST22-07 13 14 1 5.75 - -
17 23 6 0.52 - -
36 38 2 1.81 - -
40 47 7 1.00 - -
Including 44 45 1 3.89 - -
ST22-08 55 56 1 2.05 - -
65 66 1 0.51 - -
69 70 1 0.57 - -
Table 1: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill holes ST22-03, ST22-04,
ST22-06, ST22-07 and ST22-08 (>0.5% Cu).
Expansion Potential of Near Surface Mineralization
This drill program has highlighted the continuity of the near surface copper mineralization and
the potential for significant tonnages within the 2750N Zone. This zone is one of five major
zones of high-grade mineralization that has been identified by historical exploration; four
remaining zones await follow-up drilling to confirm potential additional copper mineralization.
The areas of immediate exploration interest are the 2200N and 4100N Zones, where thick
intervals of copper mineralization have already been defined by historical drilling. Additional
drilling at these zones is expected to significantly increase the scale of the near surface copper
mineralization within the Storm Project area.
Figure 3: Plan view of the 2200N and 2750N Zones showing copper grade distribution within drilling,
shallow and deep EM anomalies, outcropping copper mineralization and faults overlaying regional
geology. The largely untested 2200N Zone has a strike extent of at least 300m. Stated drill hole
intersections are all core length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 95% of core length.
2200N Zone
The 2200N Zone is located approximately 540m to the south of the 2750N Zone and is
characterized by extensive outcropping of chalcocite over several hundred metres. The 2200N
Zone is also located within an area of faulting related to the main graben structures.
Historical drilling has intersected bornite and chalcocite mineralization including 6.4m* @
7.38% Cu from surface and 22.35m* @ 1.56% Cu from 22.9m downhole (ST97-03), similar to
the 2750N Zone. Drill hole and geochemical data indicate that the main part of the 2200N Zone
may be up to 300m long, 60m wide and 40m thick.
Extensions to this zone are supported by the presence of a shallow and strong Fixed Loop
Electromagnetic (FLEM) anomaly that was defined in the 2021 survey (see December 14, 2021
news release) and historical Induced Polarization (IP) data.
Both the 2750N and 2200N Zones are located above a large, flat lying and deeper 1,800 x
1,000m Fixed Loop Electromagnetic (FLEM) anomaly that was also identified in the 2021 EM
program. This feature is coincident with strong gravity anomalism between the major graben
faults (Figure 5), which is an ideal location for the accumulation of sedimentary copper
mineralization.
4100N Zone
The 4100N Zone is a blind zone of mineralization defined by a historical Versatile Time domain
Electromagnetics (VTEM) anomaly that is over 1km long, and multiple untested shallow FLEM
plates that were defined in the 2021 survey. Given the lack of false-positive anomalies
encountered in drilling to date and extensive copper mineralization in historical holes, these EM
conductors could represent further occurrences of copper sulfide mineralization.
Historical drilling at the 4100N Zone includes 15m* @ 3.88% Cu (ST99-47), and 4.8m* @ 3.7%
Cu and 5.8m* @ 3.6% Cu (ST99-53). The copper mineralization intersected to date is
dominantly chalcocite, which occurs in breccias and steeply dipping veins (typical of the near
surface mineralization at Storm).
The 4100N offers considerable room for expansion (Figure 4). The known mineralization in the
zone extends over an area of at least 1,000m x 400m and is open to the north, east and west,
with potential for deep extensions to the mineralization across a fault on the south side of the
Zone. Seventeen holes have been drilled at spacings of 100m to 200m, and all have
encountered copper mineralization. The mineralization drilled to date is irregular but extensive
and lies at a predictable stratigraphic position.
Figure 4: Plan view of the 4100N Zone showing copper grade distribution within drilling, shallow/deep
EM anomalies and faults overlaying regional geology. The main 4100N Zone has drill hole copper
intersections supported by untested EM anomalies over 1km of strike. Stated drill hole intersections are
all core length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 95% of core length.
The recent drill results from hole ST22-10 (see September 28, 2022 news release) suggest that
near surface mineralization is related to a large sedimentary copper style system at depth. This
large-scale potential is highlighted by a series of coincident EM, IP and gravity anomalies in the
4100N Zone, which are over 5km in length (Figure 5).
The 2200N and 4100N zones present as compelling and high priority target areas to add further
potential high-grade copper resources at surface, and to significantly increase the scale of the
copper endowment within the Storm Project. In addition, there remains considerable discovery
potential in exploration of the deeper FLEM conductors that may represent sedimentary copper
style mineralization.