AW1 - PFS due for copper project in Q3-2026 with copper price near all time highs

Published 24-JUN-2026 16:47 P.M.

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Our critical minerals Investment American West Metals (ASX: AW1 | OTCQB: AWMLF) just put out a project wide update on its advanced stage copper project in Canada.

We are primarily Invested in AW1 for its critical mineral (indium) project in the USA (the single biggest indium resource inside US borders)

We covered the indium asset in detail in a note yesterday here: AW1 has the biggest indium resource in the USA - just as China threatens export controls

The US project aside, we have always thought that AW1’s copper asset is advanced enough (and big enough) to justify AW1’s current $50M market cap.

Especially now with the copper price running so hard:

(source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

The project has a current JORC resource of 28.2 million tonnes at 1.0% copper and 3.3 g/t silver.

(276,000 tonnes of contained copper + 3.0 million ounces of contained silver)

The current 28.2Mt resource sits on less than 5% of the project's prospects.

The full horizon is 110km long - so it could get a whole lot bigger with more drilling.

(source)

AW1 completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment for the project back in March last year which demonstrated: (source)

Post-tax NPV: US$149M
Initial CAPEX: US$47.4M
Mine life: ~6 years (with 10 years of processing)

That study was based on a copper price of US$4.60/lb and silver at US$25/oz.

Today's spot is ~US$6.31/lb copper and ~US$65/oz silver.

(source)(source)

So the current economics of AW1’s copper project could be a lot stronger.

AW1 confirmed today that a Pre Feasibility Study (PFS) was due for the project in Q3-2026.

AW1 says the final process design confirms the ore can be upgraded using simple, low-impact methods, at capital intensity in line with the PEA.

See our deeper dive into the asset from our latest AW1 note here: AW1 also has an advanced-stage Canadian copper project

AW1 also gave an update on permitting, exploration and community engagement

AW1 confirmed that its mine permits were now submitted to the Nunavut Planning Commission and would now be looked at by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

AW1 is still targeting regulatory approval for the project by ~2028.

On the exploration side, AW1 is about to start a project-wide structural and geochemical review across Storm's 110km copper belt, where high-grade copper has already been found at eight separate prospects.

There have also been some high grade samples taken in the south of the project away from the current resource, with grades seen up to 38.2% copper and 30.8% zinc:

(source)

What's next for AW1?

US indium project (West Desert, Utah)

Here we want to see AW1 run its upsized drill program, grow its resource and hopefully define a gallium & germanium resource to go with it.

Here are the milestones we are tracking:

✅Drilling commenced
✅First hole hit 108.4m at 25.2g/t indium (plus gold, silver & zinc) 430m east of resource, along the 4km magnetic anomaly
🔄 Historical core resampling for gallium & germanium.
🔲 Assays from drilling
🔲 Resampling assay results