Aston Bay Holdings intersects copper at Storm project, Nunavut
Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. [BAY-TSXV; ATBHF-OTCQB] provided an update on a significant new visual copper sulphide mineralization intercept from the fourth diamond drill hole at the Storm copper project on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The program, still underway, is being conducted by American West Metals Limited [AWMLF-OTCQB], 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 sulphide 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.”
The drilling is continuing to test key geophysical and geological copper targets in the Storm area. Laboratory assays for the RC and diamond drilling are pending and are expected within the coming weeks.
An earn-in agreement for the Storm and Seal properties was signed with American West Metals in March 2021. Under the terms of the agreement, an expenditure of C$10m will earn 80% ownership of the property for American West. Aston Bay is carried for all expenditures to the completion of a feasibility study and production decision. If Aston Bay chooses not to participate and is diluted below 10% ownership, the ownership converts to a 2% Net Smelter Royalty, half of which is purchasable by American West for C$5m at first production. Aston Bay received a cash payment of C$500,000 on signing.
A summer 2023 program plans further delineation drilling of the near-surface high-grade copper zones to advance them toward maiden resource reports by late 2023. Diamond drilling is planned to test new high-priority gravity targets and environmental baseline studies will be initiated.
Aston Bay is 100% owner of the Storm Project property, which hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit.