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West Australian
5 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
American West to leverage US executive order with critical minerals cocktail in Utah
American West Metals is dialling up the heat on its critical minerals ambitions, with a new exploration blitz aimed at unlocking copper, molybdenum, gallium and indium at its 100 per cent-owned West Desert Project in Utah. In the wake of United States President Donald Trump's March executive order directing all government agencies to fast-track domestic mineral production, the company has wasted no time moving to drill-ready status - armed with permits and a portfolio of metals that read like a Pentagon wish list. Top of that list is indium, a rare but essential metal used in smart devices, defence tech and solar panels, which the US currently imports in full. American West's West Desert project already has the country's largest undeveloped indium resource and sits within Utah, ranked the world's number one mining jurisdiction by the Fraser Institute. The project's existing JORC resource includes 33.7 million tonnes grading 3.83 per cent zinc, 0.15 per cent copper and 9.08 grams per tonne (g/t) silver for 1.29Mt of zinc, 49,053t of copper and nearly 10M ounces of silver. Silver recently came very close to achieving $US35 (A$54) an ounce for the first time in years. A further JORC-compliant resource for indium contains 23.8M ounces, yet only 35 per cent of historical drill samples have been assayed for the metal - giving American West plenty of room to grow the figure. But it's the company's recent focus on molybdenum and gallium that's likely to catch attention. Molybdenum is vital to strengthen high-performance alloys, widely used in missiles, fighter aircraft and advanced manufacturing, and recent West Desert intercepts have raised eyebrows. New drilling results include 417.55 metres at 0.02 per cent Mo, 194.14m at 0.05 per cent Mo, including 19.66m at a high-grade 0.2 per cent, and a 10.5m hit at a serious grade of 1.03 per cent Mo, with an internal hit of 1.67m at a blistering 4.05 per cent Mo. American West says a maiden molybdenum resource model is now underway. Gallium - another US-imported critical metal - was intersected across a staggering 628m, with hits including 10.4m at 40.9g/t and 4.12m at 65.95g/t. Notably, less than 10 per cent of the project has been assayed for gallium to date, highlighting the upside potential. While the critical metals narrative builds, the company is also advancing a new high-grade copper zone — including hits such as 17.22m at 1.04 per cent copper, 0.58g/t gold and 12.46g/t indium and 3.05m at 2.58 per cent copper, 0.91g/t gold, 10.7g/t silver and 36.31g/t indium, sitting just outside the current resource envelope. Even the iron ore at West Desert may not go to waste. The project's zinc-copper-silver-indium mineralisation is hosted in magnetite skarn, which has already shown potential to yield an iron ore concentrate grading up to a very significant 68 per cent iron as a byproduct. This is well above the international iron ore benchmark of 62 per cent. Outside the known deposit, drilling continues to hit high-grade sniffs. One hole delivered 0.92m at 20.42 per cent zinc, 0.76 per cent copper, 1.04g/t gold, 33.13g/t silver and 54.47g/t indium in a previously untested zone. Another historic hole encountered 3m at 3.5 per cent copper, 7.65 per cent zinc and 28g/t silver from nearly 900m depth beneath the circa-1900 Utah mine. The company says it is weighing up a potential spin-out or earn-in deal for West Desert, which would allow it to maintain its focus on its flagship Storm Copper Project in Canada. A 10-year mine plan for the project has already been tabled, and a PEA has modelled a net present value of US$149 million (A$230M), annual EBITDA of US$46.8M and a US$47.4M capex. With drilling imminent, federal support rising and wars raging, American West's push for a critical metals stronghold on US soil could be coming at just the right time. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
Sydney Morning Herald
06-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Welcome to Starbase: The world's richest person is making his own city
While the vote will not give Musk free rein to adopt any regulations he wants, city officials will be able to do things such as close roads during rocket launches and build new housing for SpaceX staff. The company has complained of being prevented from building enough housing for the hundreds of workers who want to live near the headquarters. A recent attempt to build more accommodation was rejected by local county officials. In addition to the incorporation, locals elected Bobby Peden, a 36-year-old SpaceX employee who has worked at the company since 2013, as the town's new mayor alongside two city commissioners. Little is known about the town's new leaders, who are all connected to SpaceX and ran unopposed with no campaigning. An X account was created for the new city shortly after the results emerged. In its first post, it said: 'Becoming a city will help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity's place in space.' Musk is not the only tech billionaire looking to create his own new enclave. Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist known for inventing Netscape, and Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, are among the backers of California Forever, a real estate company plotting a new city after buying more than 20,000 hectares of land near San Francisco. PayPal tycoon Peter Thiel was one of the first investors in Seasteading, a libertarian project aimed at building floating cities in the middle of the ocean. Crypto entrepreneurs have also tried to create their own utopia in Puerto Rico. Victory for Musk's SpaceX was widely expected given that almost all the 283 eligible voters in the area were employees and their families. Despite this, the vote did face protests amid concerns SpaceX would be granted the power to shut down access to the town's public beach whenever it wanted. The bust of Musk was last month defaced by vandals. Loading Rene Medrano, who grew up going to the Boca Chica beach, told the Texas Tribune: 'It's just such a disgrace on what's happening out here. There's a lot of upset community people who are seeing there's a great chance that we may lose this beach.' Musk has recently relocated many of his companies and headquarters from California to Texas as he seeks out more favourable regulation in the Republican-run state. He recently bought a $US35 million ($54 million) compound in Texas, which is designed to house 11 of his 13 children by different mothers. County officials will canvass the results of the vote in the next fortnight before the official incorporation is declared by a judge. However, Remi Garza, the elections administrator for Cameron County, said: 'It's officially statistically impossible for the measure to fail. Cameron County is about to have a new city.'
Sydney Morning Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Welcome to Starbase: Elon Musk to get his own city in Texas
While the vote will not give Musk free reign to adopt any regulations he wants, City officials will be able to do things such as shut down roads during rocket launches and build new housing for SpaceX staff. The company has complained that it has been prevented from building enough housing for the hundreds of workers who want to live near the headquarters. A recent attempt to build more accommodation was rejected by local county officials. In addition to the incorporation, locals elected Bobby Peden, a 36-year-old SpaceX employee who has worked at the company since 2013, as the town's new mayor alongside two city commissioners. Little is known about the town's new leaders, who are all connected to SpaceX and ran unopposed with no campaigning. An X account was created for the new city shortly after the results emerged. In its first post, it said: 'Becoming a city will help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity's place in space.' Musk is not the only tech billionaire looking to create his own new enclave. Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist known for inventing Netscape, and Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, are among the backers of California Forever, a real estate company plotting a new city after buying tens of thousands of acres of land near San Francisco. PayPal tycoon Peter Thiel was one of the first investors in Seasteading, a libertarian project aimed at building floating cities in the middle of the ocean. Crypto entrepreneurs have also tried to create their own utopia in Puerto Rico. Victory for Musk's SpaceX was widely expected given that almost all of the 283 eligible voters in the area were employees and their families. Despite this, the vote did face protests amid concerns SpaceX would be granted the power to shut down access to the town's public beach whenever it wanted. The bust of Musk was last month defaced by vandals. Loading Local Rene Medrano, who grew up going to the Boca Chica beach, told the Texas Tribune: 'It's just such a disgrace on what's happening out here. There's a lot of upset community people who are seeing there's a great chance that we may lose this beach.' Musk has recently relocated many of his companies and headquarters from California to Texas as he seeks out more favourable regulation in the Republican-run state. He recently bought a $US35 million ($54 million) compound in Texas, which is designed to house 11 of his children by different mothers. County officials will canvass the results of the vote within the next fortnight before the official incorporation is declared by a judge. However, Remi Garza, the elections administrator for Cameron County, said: 'It's officially statistically impossible for the measure to fail. Cameron County is about to have a new city.'
The Age
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Welcome to Starbase: Elon Musk to get his own city in Texas
While the vote will not give Musk free reign to adopt any regulations he wants, City officials will be able to do things such as shut down roads during rocket launches and build new housing for SpaceX staff. The company has complained that it has been prevented from building enough housing for the hundreds of workers who want to live near the headquarters. A recent attempt to build more accommodation was rejected by local county officials. In addition to the incorporation, locals elected Bobby Peden, a 36-year-old SpaceX employee who has worked at the company since 2013, as the town's new mayor alongside two city commissioners. Little is known about the town's new leaders, who are all connected to SpaceX and ran unopposed with no campaigning. An X account was created for the new city shortly after the results emerged. In its first post, it said: 'Becoming a city will help us continue building the best community possible for the men and women building the future of humanity's place in space.' Musk is not the only tech billionaire looking to create his own new enclave. Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist known for inventing Netscape, and Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, are among the backers of California Forever, a real estate company plotting a new city after buying tens of thousands of acres of land near San Francisco. PayPal tycoon Peter Thiel was one of the first investors in Seasteading, a libertarian project aimed at building floating cities in the middle of the ocean. Crypto entrepreneurs have also tried to create their own utopia in Puerto Rico. Victory for Musk's SpaceX was widely expected given that almost all of the 283 eligible voters in the area were employees and their families. Despite this, the vote did face protests amid concerns SpaceX would be granted the power to shut down access to the town's public beach whenever it wanted. The bust of Musk was last month defaced by vandals. Loading Local Rene Medrano, who grew up going to the Boca Chica beach, told the Texas Tribune: 'It's just such a disgrace on what's happening out here. There's a lot of upset community people who are seeing there's a great chance that we may lose this beach.' Musk has recently relocated many of his companies and headquarters from California to Texas as he seeks out more favourable regulation in the Republican-run state. He recently bought a $US35 million ($54 million) compound in Texas, which is designed to house 11 of his children by different mothers. County officials will canvass the results of the vote within the next fortnight before the official incorporation is declared by a judge. However, Remi Garza, the elections administrator for Cameron County, said: 'It's officially statistically impossible for the measure to fail. Cameron County is about to have a new city.'
