A drilling program designed to locate the source of last year’s Yuryi kimberlite boulder find is under way at Munn Lake, northeast of Camsell Lake, in the Northwest Territories.
Munn Lake is part of the Back Lake project, held 70% by SouthernEra Resources (SUF-T). The interests of the minority partners — Kalahari Resources (KLA-V), with 19.38%, and Island-Arc Resources (IAR-V), with 10.62%, are carried to a production decision. Kennecott Canada, a division of Rio Tinto (RTP-N), holds a back-in right to a 30% interest from SouthernEra.
Drilling will test 10 to 13 targets in Munn Lake as SouthernEra searches for the source of diamond-bearing kimberlite boulders exposed during a follow-up sampling program on a strong indicator-mineral train. A 666-kg sample of weathered kimberlite, recovered from surface pits, yielded 62 macrodiamonds and 164 micros. Five of the diamonds weighed 0.01 carat or better, with the largest weighing 0.12 carat. The majority of the diamonds are described as clear and colorless.
The area of Yuryi kimberlite float is 150 metres in diameter. Some of the larger pieces of kimberlite have diameters in the 10- to 20-metre range.
The exposure was tested with a 6-hole drilling program last fall. Four of the holes intersected narrow kimberlite dykes ranging in width from 0.1 to 1.5 metres. A comparison of the chromite microprobe chemistry between the kimberlite dyke material and the kimberlite float suggests the two are not related.
On the basis of further test-pitting, SouthernEra concluded the likely source of Yuri is up-ice, beneath Munn Lake. The company reports a strong development of “kimberlite mud” along the shoreline.
During the late part of 1997, a 175-line-km grid was established and magnetometer, horizontal-loop and time-domain electromagnetic surveys were completed, along with a bathymetry survey (lake-bottom depth) and the collection of 180 lake-bottom-sediment geochemical samples.
The bathymetry survey is used to outline depressions on the lake bottom, which may represent softer kimberlite material that has been eroded or scoured by glacial action.
The above work delineated 16 potential kimberlite targets, including three new targets found 2 km east of Munn Lake, under a portion of Margaret Lake.
The new Margaret Lake targets will be tested during the current phase of drilling.
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