DIAMOND PAGE — Ashton continues hunt

Sampling of the last two of six kimberlites discovered during winter drilling by Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) on the Buffalo Hills and Birch Mountain properties has yielded no diamonds.

Small representative samples taken from kimberlites BH-229 on the Buffalo Hills property and BM-16 on the Birch Mountain property, both of which are in north-central Alberta, proved barren.

Of the four remaining kimberlites identified during that drill program, BH-225 is the most promising, the company reports.

BH-225 was discovered near the K-14 kimberlite complex under 34 metres of overburden. It has a magnetic signature measuring 125 by 100 metres.

A 96.4-kg sample yielded five macrodiamonds and 67 microdiamonds. (A macro is defined as exceeding 0.5 mm in at least one dimension.) The two largest stones recovered measured 1.4 by 0.6 by 0.5 mm and 1.1 by 0.6 by 0.6 mm. Ashton is considering further work on this kimberlite.

BH-155 returned 32 micros from a 275-kg drill sample, but only a single micro was recovered from kimberlite BH-230. No stones were found in a 26.2-kg sample of the LL-7 kimberlite.

Since 1997, Ashton has discovered 32 kimberlites in the Buffalo Hills region. Twenty of these are diamondiferous. A second round of mini-bulk sampling tested five kimberlites with high microdiamond counts. Ashton has been encouraged by the presence of commercial-sized stones, but none of the pipes tested to date appears to be economic.

The Buffalo Hills project is a joint venture among Ashton, Alberta Energy (AEC-T) and Pure Gold Minerals (PUG-T).

Once this year’s $7.4-million program wraps up, Ashton and Alberta Energy each will hold a 45% interest in the central 5.5-million-acre land package. The remainder will be held by Pure Gold. Ashton and Alberta Energy each will hold a 35% stake in the 21.3-million-acre Cayo package, leaving Pure Gold with 30%.

During the winter exploration program, ground geophysical surveys were completed on about 100 anomalies, confirming several high-priority drill targets. This summer, Ashton continues to investigate promising aeromagnetic anomalies through detailed airborne and ground magnetic surveys, and heavy mineral sampling.

Ashton is also conducting summer sampling and ground geophysical programs on its properties in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and northern Quebec.