American West Metals Limited (ASX: AW1) has confirmed that the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) has received a US Federal grant to study critical and strategic metals at the West Desert Project in Utah.
Large resources of zinc, an essential component for many metal alloys, and copper, one of the most important commodities for electric vehicles and efficient energy grids, have been defined at West Desert. Significantly, the West Desert deposit also contains unusually high levels of indium – which is classified as a critical metal in the US and widely used in the defense, energy and telecommunications sectors.
No indium was produced in the United States in 2021. The West Desert deposit is the only established domestic resource of indium and is ideally positioned to potentially provide long-term supply of this critical metal to the US market.
“We are excited for the opportunity to study the unique geology of this deposit and learn more about why so many important critical mineral resources are concentrated here,” Dr Stephanie Mills, Senior Geologist with the UGS and principal investigator of the study, said.
“This study is a great example of government and industry collaboration and knowledge sharing to further a common goal: understanding what domestic mineral resources we have and what we can learn from them towards finding future deposits.”
American West Managing Director, Dave O’Neill, said the geopolitical alignment of supply chains in the resources sector has emerged as an important global issue for governments.
“This study is recognition of the unique characteristics of West Desert and its importance to the supply of critical and strategic metals in the US,” he said.
“West Desert is uniquely placed in the US as an exciting development opportunity with outstanding exploration upside.
“Utah is one of the world’s top mining jurisdictions and I can’t speak highly enough of the local government and mining industry. They have been fantastic to work with and have been strongly supportive of our strategy to advance this project.
“We look forward to continuing the relationship with our partners at the UGS on this important programme.”
Critical Metals Study
The $300,000 grant will run over three years and is being conducted by the Utah Geological Survey (UGS). The UGS research will focus on how the West Desert deposit formed, the deportment of the indium throughout the deposit and mineral district, and exploration indicators that may help find similar deposits in the future.
The collaboration will allow UGS unprecedented access to geological information and data related to West Desert, and support research into how this important deposit formed.
The results of the study will be shared with American West throughout the duration of the project and will be used to assist in project development and exploration targeting.
About Indium
Indium is considered a critical and strategic mineral because of its use in the aerospace, defense, energy, and telecommunications sectors. In 2021, the U.S. was a 100 percent net importer reliant on indium from China, Canada, Republic of Korea, and France (U.S. Geological Survey, 2022).
Indium is most commonly recovered from sphalerite, a zinc-sulphide mineral, wherein the indium occurs in quantities of less than one part per million (ppm) to 100 ppm (U.S. Geological Survey, 2022). In the U.S., indium is mostly found in porphyry and skarn deposits.
The West Desert deposit in Utah is the only deposit in the U.S. with a modern National Instrument 43- 101 (NI 43-101) compliant resource estimate of indium (Dyer and others, 2014), and over 56 million ounces of indium have been estimated within the deposit (InZinc PEA 2014). Only 35% of drill samples used in the 2014 PEA were assayed for indium, suggesting that the scale of the indium endowment at West Desert is potentially much larger than currently defined.
About The West Desert Project, Utah
The West Desert Project is located 160km southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, within the heart of the Sevier Orogenic Belt which hosts the world class Bingham Canyon copper deposit and Tintic Mining District. The Project comprises 330 acres of private land, 336 unpatented lode mining claims and a single State Metalliferous Mineral Lease, for a total land holding of approximately 32 sq. km.
The West Desert Deposit is 100% owned by American West Metals and contains a historical and foreign resource (Ni 43-101 compliant) of over 59Mt, which contains a higher-grade core of approximately 16.5Mt @ 6.3% Zn, 0.3% Cu and 33g/t In (1.03Mt Zn, 45Kt Cu and 545t In).
For further information please visit: https://www.americanwestmetals.com/
