Equal partners Uranerz Exploration and Mining and Cameco (TSE) have recovered 160 diamonds from kimberlites on their Fort a la Corne prospect east of Prince Albert, Sask.
Although the average weight of the stones is 0.04 carats, one among the group weighs half a carat. Uranerz says the macrodiamonds (greater than 0.5 mm in diameter) appear to be of gem quality.
But Uranerz added that projected grades, which are 2-10 carats per 100 tonnes of kimberlite, are too low to support a minable deposit.
Kimberlite, which usually occurs as a vertical pipe structure, is an igneous intrusive rock often associated with diamonds.
The partners sampled a total of 186 tonnes from 15 separate kimberlite pipes. The samples were processed at the Saskatchewan Research Council’s diamond recovery plant in Saskatoon to identify any macrodiamonds (stones greater than 0.5 mm in diameter).
The diamond recovery represents the fruits of Uranerz’s $700,000, 1991 exploration program along the 50×20-km corridor from Prince Albert to Nipawin, Sask. More than 70 kimberlite pipes have been identified within the corridor since the late 1980s.
Although no further work is planned for this year, the partners believe further testing is warranted.
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