Ashton, Soquem prove up Foxtrot property

In less than a year, Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) and partner Soquem have established a new diamond camp based on the discovery of a small cluster of eight diamondiferous kimberlitic bodies on the Foxtrot property in the Otish Mountains region of north-central Quebec.

Led by encouraging microdiamond counts in the discovery holes, the partners have collected mini-bulk samples from three of the bodies, Renard 2, 3 and 4, with plans to sample a fourth this winter.

A 4.8-tonne drill sample from the Renard 4 pipe yielded 3.11 carats of diamonds greater than 0.85 mm in diameter, for an estimated diamond content of 0.647 carat per tonne (or 64.7 carats per 100 tonnes). The four largest stones weighed 0.32, 0.29, 0.28 and 0.26 carat apiece. Two of these diamonds are pale-brown and two are colourless.

The mini-bulk drill-sample consists mainly of kimberlitic breccia and lesser amounts of brecciated country rock encountered near the surface in the northwestern portion of the pipe. Ashton recovered 2.73 carats from 4.11 tonnes of kimberlite breccia, giving an implied grade of 66.4 carats per 100 tonnes.

The remaining 0.7 tonne, consisting of brecciated country rock containing 30% macrocrystic kimberlitic, held 0.38 carat of diamonds, including a 0.28-carat stone, for an implied grade of 54.3 carats per 100 tonnes.

The Renard 4 pipe has minimum surface dimensions of 140 by 60 metres, based on the five holes drilled to date.

As reported in June, a 2.4-tonne sample from the Renard 2 pipe returned 1.69 carats of diamonds greater than 0.85 mm in diameter, giving an estimated diamond content of 0.693 carat per tonne (or 69.3 carats per 100 tonnes). The five largest diamonds ranged from 0.1 to 0.16 carat in size.

Based on drilling data, Renard 2 appears to be about 120 by 65 metres in size. This past summer, about 1.8 tonnes of sample were collected from Renard 2 and sent for processing to a dense-media-separation (DMS) plant. Results are pending.

Ashton is encouraged by the diamond results received to date from the Renard cluster. The mini-bulk sample results from Renard 2 and 4, though preliminary in nature, are significant and represent some of the best publicly disclosed diamond grades for kimberlites in North America outside of the Slave Craton in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Moreover, the best may be yet to come, as diamond results are pending for a 4.3-tonne sample from the highly prospective Renard 3 body.

During the initial microdiamond testing of Renard 3, Ashton believes at least two stones greater than 3 mm were broken, accounting for some 2,500 recovered fragments. In addition to the fragments, the original 101.5-kg sample held 10 microdiamonds and nine macros, including seven stones greater than 0.5 mm in two dimensions. (A macro here is defined as equivalent to or exceeding 0.5 mm in one direction.) A second, 56.4-kg sample from Renard 3 was processed in a manner designed to prevent crushing of larger stones. A further 11 micros and eight macros were recovered, including five diamonds greater than 0.5 mm in two dimensions. The second sample contained a 4-by-2.7-by-1.9-mm colourless whole crystal weighing 0.13 carat. Based on drill results, Renard 3 appears to be 120 by 20 metres in size.

The two other bodies, Renard 5 and 6, have the potential to host larger stones, as was illustrated by the DMS testing of core samples from the discovery holes.

The Renard cluster of eight small kimberlitic bodies occurs within a 2-km diameter. Ashton initially tested each kimberlitic discovery with a vertically drilled hole and a follow-up angle hole. About 150 kg of core from each discovery were initially tested for microdiamonds using caustic fusion analysis. The remaining core was then processed at Ashton’s DMS plant to provide an early indication of the potential for larger stones above a 0.85-mm cutoff.

A 0.92-carat grey composite crystal was one of four diamonds, with an aggregate weight of 0.95 carat, recovered from a 364-kg sample of Renard 5. Ashton recovered a single translucent colourless diamond crystal weighing 0.26 carat from 457 kg of sample taken from Renard 6.

Renard 5, which lies partially under a small lake, will be mini-bulk-tested in early 2003 during colder conditions. Ashton and Soquem will use the results from this year’s extensive indicator mineral sampling and ground geophysical surveys on the Foxtrot and other Quebec properties to set out an exploration budget for 2003. Given the encouraging mini-bulk sample results from Renard 2 and 4, further delineation drilling and bulk sampling of these pipes is likely.

“We’re really working on two parallel things at the moment,” says Brooke Clements, Ashton’s vice-president of exploration. “We have this cluster of bodies that we want to learn more about and [advance to] the resource stage, and just as important is to find more kimberlitic bodies outside of the cluster.”

Ashton and Soquem, a Quebec Crown corporation, are equal partners in a joint venture holding more than 3,800 sq. km of mineral permits in the province’s northern region.