American West ups Canadian copper resource as mine study looms

American West Metals has dropped a bumper resource upgrade at its flagship Storm copper project in Nunavut, Canada, increasing the deposit’s contained metal by more than 20 per cent and upgrading the resource confidence.

The boosted inventory now sits at 28.2 million tonnes of mineralisation grading one per cent copper and 3.3 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, for 276,000 tonnes of copper and 3.0 million ounces of silver – a 36 per cent lift in silver ounces.

More importantly, more than 65 per cent of the resource now falls in the higher confidence indicated category, providing a solid base for upcoming development studies, including the pre-feasibility study (PFS), slated for this quarter.

The upgrade was driven by a 2025 drilling assault across the sprawling project, delivering fresh discoveries and refined geotechnical data that have opened the door to new geological domains for this year’s push.

American West also took the opportunity to lower the resource’s cut-off grade amid all-time high copper prices.

As part of the overall upgrade, the company also for the first time included a resource from its high-grade Gap deposit, which recently lit up with intercepts such as 12.6 metres at 5.6 per cent copper and 21g/t silver from 70m, still to be included in the resource.

In total, the new mineral estimate covers seven deposits at Storm, including Cyclone, Chinook, Corona, Cirrus, Thunder, Lightning Ridge and the Gap. 

Cyclone features flat-lying, laterally extensive mineralisation, while others show structural controls.  All deposits remain open at depth, laden with high-grade copper sulphides.

American West believes its monster project still has room for substantial growth, with multiple untapped high-grade finds and large regional targets still revealing themselves as future drilling prospects.

American West Metals managing director David O’Neill said: “The Storm Copper Project is set up for future expansion with the known copper deposits remaining open, new high-grade copper discoveries yet to be included in the MRE and large new regional copper targets to be drill tested. Accelerating the definition of further copper resources within Storm and the regional areas will be a focus of future drilling programs.” 

With copper prices tearing into record territory this week at more than US$6 (A$9) a pound, the market appears to be doing Storm plenty of favours. The pricing tailwind has amplified the appeal of a near-term, low-capex development, giving American West a rare chance to push the project forward while sentiment and pricing are firmly on its side.

The project spans a massive 2200 square kilometres, yet less than 5 per cent of the 110km prospective copper strike has been systematically explored. Eight additional high-grade prospects, previously flagged by majors Antofagasta and BHP for their scale, remain undrilled.

Building on the company’s scoping study 12 months ago, the project was touted as carrying a minimum net present value of US$149 million (A$220 million) for a US$47.4 million (A$70 million) initial capital outlay and 46 per cent internal rate of return. However, with copper prices now more than 50 per cent higher, it's anyone’s guess as to what the new numbers might look like.

Elsewhere, the company’s West Desert critical minerals project in Utah is also rolling towards a pivotal drilling campaign later this year.

West Desert hosts the largest known indium resource in the US, with some 23.8 million ounces of contained indium and 119,000 ounces of gold, recently added to the existing resource base of 1.3 million tonnes of zinc, 49,000 tonnes of copper and 10 million ounces of silver.

The company says it has identified multiple new targets for indium expansion and Apex-style gallium mineralisation in oxidised zones along the hosting faults, where weathering could enrich near-surface grades in a setting analogous to the historic Apex mine. 

With domestic critical mineral supply currently top of Washington’s agenda, American West’s potential to locally produce indium is unlikely to have gone unnoticed.

With copper demand climbing and continued supply constraints showing no signs of imminent relief, Storm looks set to emerge as a perfect district-scale copper play, ready to take up the mantle.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au