Exploration for a specific mineral will sometimes lead to the discovery of an entirely different commodity, as happened in the mid-1990s, at Voisey’s Bay, Labrador, when two prospectors found a world-class nickel deposit while searching for diamonds. More recently,
Tracey Hurley, mining analyst for Wolverton Securities, rates Majescor a “speculative buy,” suitable for aggressive investors only, owing to “inherent risk common to all junior exploration and mining companies.” The junior has 11.6 million shares outstanding (16 million fully diluted) and trades at about 49 in a 52-week range of 30-55.
Hurley says sampling on Majescor’s Portage property in the Eastmain-Otish Mountains region has shown “excellent” indicator mineral chemistry, “as good as, if not superior to, that of the diamond-producing Lac de Gras area [in the Northwest Territories].”
An exploration program is attempting to define targets on the Wemindji project, near James Bay, with drilling scheduled to follow in late summer or early fall. This project is more advanced than Portage, based on recent sampling, and geophysical and geochemical programs.
Hurley notes that Majescor’s success in Quebec has sparked interest and subsequent land acquisition by other juniors. “Ashton Mining of Canada, in a joint venture with [Quebec government-owned] Soquem, had already acquired a large land position in the Otish Mountain area following positive results from their own reconnaissance exploration.”
Diamond exploration in the James Bay region owes much to the initial efforts of Monopros (since renamed De Beers Exploration Canada), which, in early 1996, tracked a 30-km-long train of G10 garnets. Drilling tested nine weak magnetic anomalies but failed to intersect kimberlite, prompting the De Beers subsidiary to cease work in 1999. This decision may have been premature, Hurley suggests. She notes that Majescor has obtained far higher indicator mineral counts than those initially reported by Monopros, and, in at least two locations, the garnets are believed to exist near their sources.
Recent geophysical programs at Wemindji have identified at least 12 priority targets (representing possible kimberlite pipes), plus almost 100 other targets. “Several of the geophysical targets reportedly correspond with anomalous mineral indicator sites,” Hurley states. “According to the company, none of the highest-priority targets were drill-tested by Monopros.”
Wemindji is at the junction of the Kapuskasing structural zone (which trends southwest to a kimberlite cluster near Wawa, Ont.) and an east-northeast-trending extension zone that potentially extends across James Bay to the Attawapiskat kimberlite field.
Hurley says evidence for the presence of kimberlite is compelling. “The geochemistry of the indicator minerals also suggests that the kimberlites sampled the mantle within the diamond stability field, and the ilmenite compositions indicated reducing conditions favourable for diamond preservation.” However, she cautions that while geochemistry is a good tool for rating potential targets, “only the discovery of kimberlites and sampling will determine whether or not commercial-sized diamonds are present.”
The first-phase program now under way at Wemindji is budgeted at $500,000. Meanwhile, at the Portage property, north of the Eastmain River, a $800,000 program is planned for the coming field season. Several major companies have shown interest in the project, and Majescor is considering taking on a joint-venture partner to fund ongoing work.
When it comes to the odds of success, Hurley allows diamond exploration statistics to speak for themselves. On a global scale, less than 30% of kimberlites are diamondiferous, and fewer than half of all known kimberlites have been developed into mines.
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