Projects

Nunavut Overview

Property Overview

The Nunavut Property is 100% owned by Aston Bay and located 112 km south of the community of Resolute Bay, Nunavut on western Somerset Island. The property is adjacent to tidewater on Aston Bay and comprises 12 prospecting permits and 118 contiguous mineral claims, which comprises of Storm Copper and Seal Zinc, covering an area of approximately 664,081 acres (268,744 hectares). The property has good access to shipping lanes, and the landscape provides favorable conditions for development of roads and a protected deep-water port. Exploration is supported through excellent infrastructure in the nearby hamlet of Resolute Bay.

Historical exploration around the Nunavut Property has defined two distinct styles of mineralization, each associated with its own specific stratigraphic horizon. The stratabound Seal Zinc (“Zn”) deposit occurs in Early to Middle Ordovician Ship Point Formation rocks. The stratigraphic and structurally controlled Storm Copper (“Cu”) showings occur at least 800 metres (“m”) higher in the stratigraphic column in the Late Ordovician to Late Silurian Allen Bay Formation (Cook and Moreton, 2000).

Mineralization at the Seal Zn deposit is primarily hosted within a quartz arenite unit with interbedded dolostone and sandy dolostone of the Ordovician Ship Point Formation. Mineralization at the Storm Cu showings is epigenetic, carbonate-hosted and lies within an intracratonic rift basin that has been modified by folding and faulting. The mineralization is spatially associated with the north and south boundary faults of the Central Graben. This structure is interpreted as a pull-apart basin developed as a result of translational movement along basement-rooted faults. The basal Aston Formation red beds are thought to be a plausible source of metals for the mineralization at both the Seal Zn and Storm Cu showings.

The area has been an exploration target since 1960 when mineralization was first discovered while conducting oil and gas exploration in the region. From early 1964 until 2007, Teck Resources Ltd., formerly Cominco Ltd. (“Teck”), was actively conducting exploration within Aston Bay’s property. Commander Resources Ltd. acquired prospecting permits in the area after the land package held by Teck lapsed in 2007.

Located in the Qikiqtani Region

The Aston Bay Property is located within the Qikiqtani Region of Nunavut. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name for Baffin Island. Home to 14,000 Inuit, The Qikiqtani (Baffin) Region includes 13 communities from Grise Fiord in the High Arctic to Sanikiluaq (Belcher Island) in the south and also hosts the Nunavut capital Iqaluit. Aston Bay’s exploration activities are operated from the nearby hamlet of Resolute (Qausuittuq).

Aston Bay Option Agreement with American West Metals Limited

On March 9, 2021, Aston Bay entered into an option agreement with American West Metals Limited (AWML), to earn an 80% interest in Aston Bay’s 100% owned property located on western Somerset Island, Nunavut which hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit.

Highlights of the Option Agreement

  • American West can earn an 80% undivided interest in the Storm Project by spending a minimum of C$10 million on qualifying exploration expenditures over a period of up to nine years, including not less than C$2 million in Expenditures during the first two consecutive field seasons;
     
  • American West will make a cash payment of C$500,000 to Aston Bay on closing;
     
  • American West will be the operator;
     
  • Upon exercise of the Option, American West and Aston Bay will form an 80 / 20 joint venture;
     
  • Aston Bay has free carry until mine decision, interest converted into a 2% net smelter return if diluted to below 10%;
     
  • Thomas Ullrich appointed to Advisory Board of American West; and
     
  • Planning is underway for the summer 2021 field season, expected to include: high powered surface EMP geophysics, followed up with potential drilling; camp and equipment are already staged on site.