A bulk sample of surface boulder material from the Lynx kimberlite occurrence in north-central Quebec has yielded two large pale brown diamonds, and one of them, the operator says, is the largest found to date in Quebec.
Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) and joint-venture partner Soquem announced that the 4.6-tonne sample of boulders from the Lynx South area graded 256 carats per hundred tonnes. A second sample of 5.66 tonnes from Lynx North graded 47 carats per hundred tonnes, and the two taken together graded 141 carats per hundred tonnes.
That is a relatively high diamond grade, particularly considering the small size of the sample. By comparison, larger bulk samples from reverse-circulation drill holes on the Renard kimberlites, 2 km to the east of Lynx, returned grades around 90 carats per hundred tonnes.
The sample from Lynx South yielded two pale brown stones of cuttable shape, one of 5.66 carats and the other of 1.17 carats. The Lynx North sample turned up one stone of 0.27 carats.
The Lynx occurrence is an area of glacially-transported kimberlite boulders on surface; they evidently come from a north-striking dyke system that has been traced for 3.7 km by drilling. Sampling from the middle of the dyke system in the 2003-2004 winter season returned a grade of 120 carats per hundred tonnes.
The size of the large Lynx South stone suggests it may bias the grade estimate, so the partners have also calculated a composite grade of 133 carats per hundred tonnes, based on all their bulk samples and neglecting the single large stone.
Drilling continues on the Lynx dykes and on four of the Renard kimberlite pipes, with the hope of having enough drilling done before breakup to calculate an updated tonnage estimate on Renard. Other geophysical targets are also to be tested.
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