COAL, URANIUM & OIL SANDS — Tahera starts winter drilling in Nunavut

Formed through the amalgamation of Lytton Minerals and New Indigo Resources, Tahera (TAH-T) is in the midst of exploration drilling on its Contwoyto and Jericho area projects in Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut.

Tahera recently completed preliminary delineation drilling on the Contwoyto-1 kimberlite pipe, which was discovered in the fall of 1998, about 30 km east of the Jericho JD-1 and JD-3 pipes. Contwoyto-1’s discovery hole yielded 169 stones from a 90.2-kg sample of drill core. Twenty-six of the diamonds exceed 0.5 mm in one dimension, 12 are greater than 0.5 mm in two dimensions, and one measures more than 1 mm in two dimensions.

Preliminary estimates put the size of Contwoyto-1 in the 3-million-tonne range. Tahera’s 1999 winter program included the completion of an additional 14 holes totalling 1,800 metres on Contwoyto-1. Though the objective of the drilling was to delineate the pipe’s shape to a depth of 140 metres, the kimberlite body was probed to a maximum depth of 220 metres and appears to be open. Tahera found the pipe to be pear-shaped, with horizontal dimensions of about 60 by 80 metres. Caustic fusion analysis will be performed on all representative sections of drill core.

Tahera is currently drilling prospective targets in the immediate area of Contwoyto-1, followed by targets in the vicinity of the JD-1 and JD-3 pipes. Current plans call for 10-14 targets to be drill-tested. The drilling program is expected to continue until the end of April.

JD-1 is a land-based pipe estimated to contain a resource of 6.1 million tonnes grading 0.94 carat per tonne to a depth of 300 metres. A 10,539-carat parcel of diamonds recovered from an underground bulk sample was valued at an average of US$59.61 per carat. An open-pit mining plan indicates a minable resource of 3.8 million tonnes grading 1.01 carats per tonne to a depth of 180 metres, with a projected stripping ratio of 4.2-to-1.

The JD-3 pipe lies under a small lake 7 km west of JD-1 and is estimated to contain a resource of 10.5 million tonnes to a depth of 300 metres. Based on the recovery of 16.6 carats of stones from a 46.6-tonne sample collected from large-diameter core and reverse-circulation drilling, JD-3 has an implied grade of 0.36 carat per tonne.

In the meantime, Kennecott Canada Exploration is conducting a separate drilling campaign on three properties held under a joint venture with Tahera.

Kennecott, division of London-based Rio Tinto (RTP-N), can earn a half-interest in the Hood River, Ice and Rockinghorse properties from Tahera by spending $50 million over eight years. So far, the company has spent $10.8 million on geophysical and geochemical surveys.

The drilling is budgeted at $4.1 million, and about 30-35 targets are scheduled to be drill-tested. Kennecott is targeting the Hood River property first, before moving on to Ice and Rockinghorse. The current program is expected to continue until early May.