AW1 hits visual mineralisation - 430m away from the largest Indium deposit in the US
Our US critical minerals Investment American West Metals (ASX: AW1) just hit visual mineralisation from its first drill hole of its 2026 drill program…
AW1 is in the middle of a drill program on its West Desert Project in Utah - the largest undeveloped JORC-compliant indium resource in the United States.
And it looks like the resource could be about to get bigger with the first hole hitting 77.65m of structure “similar” to the area where the existing resource sits:
(source)
And big takeaway from today’s announcement, that first hole may actually be a sign of what to expect from the rest of that ~4km long (PREVIOUSLY UNTESTED) magnetic trend that sits to the east of AW1’s giant indium resource:
(source)
What we need to see next is if that 77.65m interval is mineralised - that’s what assay results will tell us.
AW1 explicitly said it would be assaying for zinc, copper, indium, gallium, germanium and tellurium, so any strong results could change the way the market views the asset.
What we do know now though is that:
- The 4km magnetic anomaly is real, this is the geological model used to define the target area so it’s a big positive to see it validated here.
- The deposit footprint may be a lot bigger than the current resource implies, this hole was drilled 430m to the east of the known resource along strike.
We note that these are visual estimates only so laboratory assays will be required to show the actual content of the drill holes.
For more on the original drill program design and why we think this project could be key to the US critical minerals macro, see our QuickTake: AW1 starts drilling at the USA’s biggest indium project.
When AW1 kicked off the drill program a month ago, it laid out three exploration ideas it was testing, with all of these coming outside the existing resource estimate.
Hole 1 is testing one of them, the “look-alike” geophysical targets along the 4km magnetic trend that runs through the project area, here is an image form before this program and today:
(source)
(source)
There is also an interesting bonus from today’s announcement
AW1’s drillhole also intersected a combined ~230.33m of pyrrhotite.
We are not Geo’s and have to admit we know very little about the different types of rocks.
BUT AW1 did say the drill hole hit rock textures and alteration that visually look like an epithermal gold and gold skarn mineralising environment.
And that portable XRF (a field-based screening tool, not lab assay) returned:
- Up to 1,000ppm tungsten
- Up to 2,000ppm arsenic
- Up to 135ppm bismuth
Generally, these are things found within or nearby gold bearing systems, so this could be something to keep an eye on.
So in addition to the existing indium / zinc / copper / silver story, AW1 may now have some gold to add to the West Desert story.
We have written before about projects that combine strategic critical metals (like indium and gallium) with predictable revenue commodities (like gold and copper) tend to be much easier to finance.
JP Morgan has been on the record talking about exactly this dynamic when it comes to financing critical minerals projects.
(source)
Any meaningful gold results at West Desert could be quite handy as the project progresses and may open up more favourable avenues for development and financing (this is very much down the track though).
(Again, these assays are pending and visual estimates are not a substitute for lab analysis)
Second hole already underway
AW1 has already moved the rig to the second drill hole.
Hole 2 is targeting the Juab Fault about 400m southeast of the existing West Desert Deposit, which is a known host of high-grade zinc, copper, silver, indium and gallium.
The Juab Fault is the second of the three exploration ideas AW1 set out at the start of the program specifically targeting the gallium analogue to the Apex Mine.
The Apex mine was the highest-grade gallium-germanium mine ever operated in the US, which sits ~300km south of West Desert.
(source)
Part 3 of the program is drilling for "look-alike" geophysical targets - The existing deposit sits on just one part of a 5.6km magnetic trend that runs through the project area.
After part 2, AW1 will be testing more of that trend outside of the current resource:
(source)
See more on what AW1 is aiming to achieve and the macro from before AW1 began drilling here: AW1: Drilling in the USA for critical metals... that China controls
What's next for AW1?
🔄 5,000m drill program (ongoing)
Here AW1 is testing resource expansion targets, the Goldilocks Zone polymetallic skarn, gallium targets along the Juab Fault, and look-alike geophysical anomalies that are similar to the Apex Mine.
AW1 has flagged the potential to upsize this drill program, so if this happens it could be an early sign that management are liking what they see from the drilling. (source)
Here are the milestones we are tracking for the US indium project.
This is where the visuals came from in today’s announcement.
- ✅ Resampling of historical core for indium and gallium (completed - confirmed high grades) (source)
- 🔄 Drilling underway - running 24/7 with Major Drilling Group source)
- 🔲 Resampling assays - expected in 3-5 weeks
- 🔲 Drill results - expected over the coming months
- 🔲 Updated resource estimate (post drilling)
🔄 Pre-Feasibility Study for Canadian copper project
AW1 also has its Storm Copper Project in Canada where a PFS is in progress, which in the quarterly was expected to deliver in Q1, so might not be far away.
With copper prices having run the past year or so, we want to see this delivered, along with the environmental studies and key permits needed to advance the project. (source)
🔄 Strategic and government engagement
AW1 appointed Ervin Graves (Washington DC firm) earlier this year to lead government engagement. (source)
With drilling now underway, and the Section 232 Proclamation on the books, this is something we could see some movement and momentum on.
Especially for potential US government funding that would position AW1 as a domestic critical minerals supplier.
