THE DIAMOND PAGE — Kensington recovers Saskatchewan gems

A 30-hole drill program has yielded macrodiamonds at the Fort a la Corne diamond project in Saskatchewan.

The project is a joint venture between Kensington Resources (KRT-V) and partners Uranerz Exploration & Mining, Cameco (CCO-T) and Monopros, a subsidiary of De Beers Consolidated Mining.

Twenty-two of the holes were drilled into new targets, while the remainder served to evaluate previously drilled kimberlites. To date, all but four of 71 kimberlite bodies on the property have been drilled.

Out of 54 kimberlites found to be diamond-bearing, 27 have yielded macrodiamonds. Only those stones measuring greater than 1 mm in one dimension are defined by the partners as macros.

In the latest phase of drilling, diamonds were recovered by caustic dissolution on samples from 20 of the holes. Some of the more significant results were returned from previously tested kimberlites 123 and 145. The third hole into kimberlite 123 yielded 13 micros and 1 macro from 86.3 kg of sample. The single macro weighed 0.2747 carat.

A 120-kg sample from the fifth hole into kimberlite 145 returned 23 diamonds, including 1 macro weighing 0.0171 carat. Results are consistent with earlier data.

Kensington is encouraged by results from freshly drilled kimberlites 176, 220, 221 and 223. A 115.3-kg sample from kimberlite body 176 yielded 93 micros, as well as a single macro which weighed 0.1381 carat.

Thirty-six stones were recovered from a 50.9-kg sample of kimberlite 220, including 1 macro weighing 0.0164 carat. Kimberlite 221 returned 30 diamonds, including 2 macros weighing 0.0266 carat from a 131.6-kg sample, while a 68-kg sample from kimberlite 223 yielded 10 micros. Mini-bulk samples from the most interesting holes are currently being processed for macros, and drilling of an additional seven holes is planned.