Drilling sizes up Knife

Drilling has cut wide zones of kimberlite at the newly discovered Knife pipe, 80 km south of Coronation Bay in Nunavut.

De Beers Canada Exploration, which can earn a 70% interest in the project from Rhonda (RDM-V), is following up three holes drilled last fall. The holes yielded nine macrodiamonds and 208 microdiamonds from 397 kg of kimberlite.

Hole 1 cut 222 metres of kimberlite after passing through 9 metres of water and overburden. The hole was drilled to the west at an angle of minus 60.

Drilled from the same location, but vertically, hole 2 bottomed in kimberlite at 264 metres below surface. Again, from the same location, but drilled to the east at minus 60, hole 3 returned 217 metres of kimberlite after passing through 9 metres of overburden.

Situated 270 km north of the Ekati diamond mine, the Knife pipe has been outlined by drilling for 230 metres in an east-west direction. Geophysics suggest it is larger in the north-south direction.

To earn its stake, De Beers must spend $10 million on exploraiton over six years.

Drilling is continuing.