Anuri East surrenders more stones

Caustic fusion analysis of another 51.4 kg of drill core from the Anuri East kimberlite on Tahera‘s (TAH-T) Rockinghorse property in Nunavut has returned more diamonds.

In all, 50 microdiamonds and 18 macrodiamonds were recovered (a macro measures greater than 0.5 mm in at least one dimension). Three of the macros were larger than a 0.5-mm square mesh screen size.

Since its discovery in September, the Anuri East kimberlite has yielded a total of 109 stones from 129.4 kg of kimberlite, including 34 macros; 5 exceeding a 0.5-mm square mesh and just one exceeding a 1-mm square mesh.

The Anuri East kimberlite lies immediately east of the highly diamondiferous Anuri kimberlite that was discovered in July 2001. Previously, 656 kg of kimberlite core from Anuri returned 337 macros and 600 micros. Sixty-one of the macros were larger than a 0.5-mm square mesh screen size, and nine of the stones exceeded a 1-mm square mesh size. The largest stone recovered weighed in at three-quarters of a carat.

Kennecott, a division of Rio Tinto (RTP-N), can earn up to a 62.5% interest in the property by funding all costs on discoveries up to and including a production decision.

Staking by the partners following the Anuri discoveries has increased the land covered by the joint venture in the region to 1,500 sq. km. The two plan an aggressive exploration program at Rockinghorse beginning in February. The program is aimed at increasing the kimberlite resource in the area, and continuing to evaluate the economic potential of the existing Anuri kimberlite bodies. About 25 kimberlite targets will also be tested.