American West (ASX: AW1) (OTCQB: AWMLF) shares are up 35% this morning. AW1 shares have jumped on the announcement of their copper find at Storm. This is good news, no doubt about that, but it’s worth noting that as yet this is all very preliminary. On the other hand we - humanity - have been looking at copper ores for several thousand years now, so folk do know what they look like. A visual is therefore a useful guide, even if not proof as yet.
The announcement itself from American West: “Major copper discovery at the Storm Copper Project, Canada. Diamond drilling of large gravity target intersects thick intervals of copper sulphides. The discovery drill holes show similarities to many of the world’s major sediment-hosted copper systems, including the deposits of the Kalahari Copper Belt and Central African Copper Belt.” To translate that out of the jargon and into English. Using aerial surveys and the like it was possible to work out that some parts of the underlying rock were heavier - ie, more metallic - than is usual. So, we drilled to have a look and found what looks to be like copper. This also looks much like two of the world’s other very large copper deposits.
All of which is very good of course. Copper sulfides, how to mine and treat those is well known. Been known for centuries in fact. So, assuming the minerals are there in the quantities indicated then this is a useful mining opportunity.
American West Metals share price from Google Finance
However, it’s also worth making a slightly more cautious note. This find is very preliminary. It’s most certainly not to be taken as any form of proof. They’ve drilled a few holes, found certain types of rock. But they don’t actually “know” what they’ve found, they’re running by look and little handheld instruments. They’re still waiting for the laboratory to confirm the mineral contents: “ Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Laboratory assays are required to determine the presence and grade of any contained mineralisation within the reported visual intersections of copper sulphides. Portable XRF is used as an aid in the determination of mineral type and abundance during the geological logging process.” That’s more than just a legal reminder. On the other hand, as we say, copper ores are well known and are pretty easy to test for.
What has really been found so far is some likely copper ore and then some assumptions have been made. Further testing is required to prove those assumptions. So, yes, interesting value additive, but very early days as yet.
