DIAMOND PAGE — Ashton finds more kimberlites in Alberta

A program of early winter drilling is proving auspicious for Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T), which has uncovered two more kimberlites in the Buffalo Hills region of north-central Alberta.

The first of these, kimberlite LL-8, was discovered on the Loon Lake property, 21 km southeast of the K-11 kimberlite. LL-8 lies under 75 metres of overburden.

The second discovery, BM-2, was found on the Birch Mountain property, 16 km southeast of K-11. BM-2 is covered by 63 metres of overburden.

Samples from the two holes will be analyzed for microdiamonds at Ashton’s laboratory in North Vancouver.

LL-8 and BM-2 raise to 25 the number of kimberlites thus far uncovered by Ashton in the Buffalo Hills area. Of these, 16 have been confirmed as diamondiferous, while four — K-14, K-91, K-5 and K-6 — have yielded disappointingly low grades.

In the meantime, processing of a 17-tonne reverse-circulation (RC) mini-bulk drill sample of kimberlite K-11 is continuing at the company’s lab. K-11 lies 30 km east of K-14. A previously reported RC hole sunk into the kimberlite yielded 14 macrodiamonds and 106 micros from 189.5 kg of sample. The largest stone had a maximum dimension of 1.7 mm in one direction. (A macro is defined as measuring greater than 0.5 mm in at least one dimension.)

Ashton operates the Buffalo Hills project, which includes the neighboring Loon Lake and Birch Mountain properties, and holds a 42.5% interest. Alberta Energy (AEC-T) also has a 42.5% stake, with the remainder held by Pure Gold Minerals (PUG-T).