AW1 to drill the USA’s biggest indium project

Our US critical minerals Investment American West Metals (ASX: AW1) is now weeks away from drilling its giant indium deposit in Utah.

AW1 expects to have crews out on site later this month with drilling to start soon after.

(source)

AW1’s project already hosts the biggest indium resource inside the USA - even though only ~35% of the project has been assayed for indium.

With this next round of drilling we want to see AW1 test other parts of the project and upgrade the indium resource as well as testing the other mineralisation potential on the project.

(including copper/gold/silver and the gallium potential).

AW1 recently resampled one of the old holes on the project, which intersected a combined total of 518m of gallium with a peak grade of 77.3 g/t.

Those results haven’t really been followed up on despite AW1’s project sitting in a similar geological setting to the Apex mine (also located in Utah).

The Apex Mine was actually the only mines developed in the Western world primarily for germanium and gallium production and had peak germanium grades up to 7,000g/t and gallium grades up to 20,000g/t.

That was the only primary gallium mine ever operated in the USA… and it sits ~300km away from AW1’s project.

AW1’s theory is that its project is analogous to the APEX mine.

(source)

We think that IF AW1 can show its project also hosts a large gallium resource, the strategic importance of the project will increase significantly.

At the moment, the USA has zero domestic indium OR gallium production, relying 100% on imports to meet its demand.

China dominates controls ~70% of indium production and ~98% of gallium production globally.(source)(source)

AW1 has already previously said that it has been receiving “unsolicited interest” from US investors to position the stock as a “US focused critical minerals company” on the NASDAQ or New York Stock Exchange:

(Source)

And before that, AW1’s MD is on the record saying “We have been approached by the Department of War, Department of Energy and local government to move this forward” (listen to the soundbite here)

We think that the drill program early next year could accelerate all of that interest.

Especially if the gallium exploration potential materialises and AW1’s project all of a sudden has the USA’s biggest indium resource AND a big gallium resource to go with it.

So we don't even know how big AW1’s indium (and maybe gallium) resource actually is…

It could end up being the biggest in the USA across two critical minerals…

We also want to see AW1 drill for copper-silver and gold

AW1’s project also has copper-silver and gold targets.

So for this next round of drilling we are hoping to see AW1 drill out as much of the project as possible to expand the current resource and bring into the resource the minerals that it thinks it can best recover from the project.

(source)

We have seen how some of the biggest critical minerals projects in the US have been primary precious metals deposits with critical mineral by-products.

JP Morgan also talked about how financing projects where there are more predictable revenue streams to go with the strategic critical minerals is a lot easier.

Here is that comment from JP Morgan’s Co-CEO of Investment Banking:

(source - Reuters article)

So next year's drilling program could be a lot more material than just expanding the resource in terms of how AW1 can position its project when it comes time to engage with any potential financiers (like the US government or JP Morgan).

Here are the areas we want to see AW1 drill:

(source)

What’s next for AW1?

Drilling to start on US critical minerals project 🔄

Now that AW1 has fully permitted its 2026 drilling program we are looking forward to the program getting underway.

As mentioned earlier, there is still so much to find out about the project, given only 35% of the project has been assayed for indium, the copper/gold/silver potential and the gallium potential.

We think the gallium exploration could surprise the market to the upside…

Pre Feasibility Study (PFS) for Canadian copper project 🔄

We are looking forward to news from the company’s Canadian copper project.

Especially now with copper prices running.

We want to see AW1 deliver its Pre-Feasibility Study this quarter, and in time, the key permits related to developing the project. (source)

Here are the milestones we will be tracking:

🔄 Pre-Feasibility Study

🔄 Environmental Studies

🔄 Mining/development permits

Strategic & Government Engagement 🔄

The project is being positioned as a key domestic supplier for the US "Project Vault" initiative.

So we want to see discussions on 2 main fronts:

• Critical Metals Supply Chain: Engagement with US Government agencies to discuss production and supply, specifically indium (The West Desert Project is the largest undeveloped indium resource in the US).
• Federal Funding/Support: Continuing to align the project with Department of the Interior programs, specifically the "Effort to Unlock Critical Minerals from Mine Waste." (source)