American West Gearing up for Transformational Year at the Storm Copper

“Gossans are zones of surface-weathered metal mineralization, and the chalcocite and sphalerite in these zones are associated with EM geophysical anomalies over a 4 km-long trend. The magnetic signature here suggests that the older underlying basement rocks are close to the surface – that contact between the metamorphic basement and sedimentary rocks is a favourable zone of permeability to potentially host mineralization, while the basement rocks themselves can be a source of metal as well.”

Figure 1: Zinc and lead-rich gossan in outcrop from the Tempest Prospect, Storm Project, Nunavut. Sample ID Y010803.

COPPER AND ZINC MINERALIZATION CONFIRM OUTSTANDING EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITY

The Tempest Prospect is located approximately 40 kilometres south of the known copper discoveries at Storm (Figure 6). The area was discovered through historical rock and soil sampling which defined copper gossans over 250m, with assays returning copper grades up to 32% Cu from historic select grab samples.

The geology of the area is interpreted to contain the southern extension of the highly prospective Storm sediment-hosted copper horizon, overlapping much older Proterozoic rocks that outcrop to the west. This geological setting and the unconformity between two main geological terranes are interpreted to be highly prospective for base metal mineralization.

A small reconnaissance sampling and field mapping program during the 2023 field season was aimed at expanding the understanding of the area. The mapping revealed a series of gossans that are significantly more extensive than originally defined. The gossans have now been traced over 4km of strike to the north and south of the original Tempest Prospect, significantly upgrading the exploration potential of the area.

Seven select grab samples were taken of gossanous rock outcrop and float, and one was taken from exposed gneiss basement. Several gossanous samples contain highly anomalous base metals with copper grades up to 38.2% Cu (chalcocite-mineralized dolostone with heavy malachite weathering rind Y010804) and zinc grades 30.8% Zn (sphalerite-mineralized dolostone with rusty-coloured weathering Y010801).

The gossan samples at Tempest differ in composition from those typically found at Storm with higher abundances of zinc, lead and gold. The Storm gossans generally contain only copper +/- silver, with only trace abundances of zinc and lead. This may indicate that the gossans at Tempest are derived from a different style or combination of styles of mineralization.

Tempest remains underexplored and further, more detailed, and extensive geochemical sampling is required to fully define the highest priority target areas.