DIAMOND PAGE — More diamonds pulled from Buffalo Hills kimberlite

A second sample from the promising K14C kimberlite at the Buffalo Hills project in north-central Alberta has yielded one macrodiamond and 94 microdiamonds from 45.6 kg of drill core.

An earlier 43.4-kg sample from the same hole returned a previously reported 93 macros and 328 micros, which included a high number of diamond fragments.

(A macro is defined as equal to, or greater than, 0.5 mm in at least one dimension.) When the diamond fragments are excluded, the number of stones recovered falls to three macros and 58 micros.

Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T), operator of the project, reports that the fragments represent larger stones that were smashed during the drilling process. No fragments were recovered in the second sample. Wayne Hiller, vice-president of exploration, says this contrast illustrates the nugget effect of the bigger stones in the kimberlite.

The samples are from a vertical, rotary percussion hole that was abandoned at a depth of 30 metres because of water inflows. A core drilling program will extract a mini-bulk sample from K14C, as well as further delineate the nearby K14B kimberlite, which has yielded a total of two macros and 55 micros from 78 kg of material recovered from surface test-pitting.

The K14C kimberlite is defined by a magnetic anomaly 250 metres east of K14B and 300 metres northeast of the prospective K14 pipe, which has returned a total of 12 macros and 190 micros from 204.1 kg of drill core.

At a recent diamond investment seminar, David James, an analyst with Canaccord Capital, reported that Ashton thought “the K14 kimberlite could be part of one complex, and if so, the complex diameter could be in the region of 500 metres.”

Ashton can earn a 42.5% interest in the original, 1.4-million-acre Buffalo Hills property from Alberta Energy (AEC-T) by spending $5 million on exploration. Pure Gold Resources (PUG-T) holds the right to a 15% interest.

The partners share ownership of an additional 4.4 million acres and have acquired a position in an additional 21 million acres of ground in the Buffalo Hills area from Cayo Resources (CAYO-C). Pure Gold and Cayo have announced plans to merge the two companies.

Since the beginning of the year, 16 kimberlite bodies have been found on the original property. Ashton has collected mini-bulk samples of 27 tonnes from K14 and 10 tonnes from K14B, initial results of which are expected in late October. In addition, 5 tonnes of kimberlite were collected from K5, and 8.5 tonnes were pulled from K6. The K5 kimberlite had previously yielded 1 macro and 74 micros from a 300.8-kg sample, whereas K6 returned 5 macros and 53 micros from 321.5 kg of sample.