ASX-listed American West Metals says early findings from the first exploration drill hole completed at its fully owned West Desert project in Utah, United States show the possibility of a significant extension of the site’s known deposit.
Diamond drilling intersected wide intervals of magnetite skarn mineralisation 250m south of the existing resource envelope.
The hole was drilled to test a large magnetic anomaly with the same geophysical signature as the West Desert deposit and is interpreted as a faulted extension of the existing resource.
Geological logging and portable X-ray fluorescence results indicate broad intervals with elevated levels of zinc, copper and silver punctuated by high-grade zinc and copper zones.
Laboratory results for the outstanding drill holes are pending and expected in the coming weeks.
According to American West, the geology intersected appears similar to the deep zone of the West Desert deposit, with magnetite-rich stratiform banding hosted within layered dolomite and marble.
The company says the volume of magnetite is significant, with more than 190m of skarn and carbonate replacement deposit-style mineralisation intersected within a number of intervals.
American West Metals, Managing Director David O'Neill says: “The visual observations and portable XRF results indicate broad zones of zinc, copper, silver and molybdenum mineralisation, and confirms that our interpretations about the geophysical targets — including potential West Desert lookalikes — are correct.”
“This has huge implications for the exploration upside and potential to extend the known West Desert deposit, with a number of large magnetic and gravity features in the pipeline for drill testing.”
Recent assays from a diamond probe confirmed the presence of near-surface extensions of zinc, copper, gold and indium mineralisation.
The West Desert project is about 160km south-west of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Sevier Orogenic Belt and includes the Tintic mining district.
West Desert comprises about 300 acres of private property, 336 unpatented lode mining claims and a single state mineral lease covering almost 32 square kilometres.
The project boasts a historical resource base of more than 59 million tonnes, with a 16.5 million-tonne high-grade core at 6.3 per cent zinc, 0.3 per cent copper and 33 g/t indium.
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By Matt Birney
