DIAMOND PAGE — Twin Gold boosts Ungava land position

The discovery of high-quality diamonds has prompted Toronto-based Twin Gold (TWG-T) to expand further its land position in the Torngat Mountains of northwestern Quebec.

Two newly granted exploration permits have boosted the company’s holdings to 444 sq. km on the east coast of Ungava Bay. The additional ground covers areas where linear and circular features were observed in aerial photographs. The combined land package now covers a 20-km-long lineament corridor, which includes the existing diamond-bearing dykes.

To date, the company has extracted 161 diamonds, including 22 macrodiamonds (more than 0.5 mm in one dimension), from 277 kg of kimberlite. The stones are described as “of consistent high quality, mostly white and transparent.”

The most recent diamond counts were from grab samples taken from the Torngat 2 and 3 dykes in the Torngat Mountains. The latest, 27-kg sample contained 16 diamonds, of which five were macrodiamonds. Three of these exceeded 1 mm, and the largest stone recovered was 1.85 mm. All the stones were transparent and all but one was white. The latest results reflect a significant increase in stone size from those previously recovered.

Earlier, a grab sample collected from kimberlite rubble at the base of the parallel Torngat 2 and 3 dykes returned 26 diamonds, 22 of which were microdiamonds. Results from sampling of the Torngat 1 dyke are still awaited.

The company recently discovered four new kimberlite dykes about 10 km southwest of Torngat 1, 2 and 3. The largest of the new dykes is about 3 metres wide.

The new Torngat South discovery yielded seven micros, all of which were white and transparent to translucent.