American West Metals Limited (AW1: ASX) has announced the completion of key milestones in its strategic partnership with Ocean Partners Holdings Ltd (OP) for the development of the Storm Copper Project in Nunavut, Canada. American West Metals is an Australian clean energy mining company focused on growth through the discovery and development of major base metal mineral deposits in Tier 1 jurisdictions of North America. The company strives to develop mines that have a low-footprint and support the global energy transformation.
The agreement includes a US$2 million private placement, granting OP a 9.4% shareholding in American West, and a binding offtake agreement. The offtake agreement secures Ocean Partners rights to 100% of the base production of copper, silver, and gold products from the Storm Project. This applies for either eight years or the resource life of the Storm Copper Project, as defined in the Preliminary Economic Assessment released in March 2025.
Ocean Partners will also provide debt finance for up to 80% of the initial capital required for the project’s development, subject to a bankable feasibility study and formal documentation. According to American West, the collaboration with Ocean Partners is already positively impacting the project, with processing development and optimisation activities underway.
Dave O’Neill, American West’s Managing Director, stated that the completed milestones significantly de-risk the short- and long-term funding strategy for the project. He highlighted that the funding package will enable American West to pursue both exploration and streamlined development in 2025. O’Neill also emphasised Ocean Partners’ experience with ore-sorting and DSO copper products being a natural fit with the Storm project.
