East Meliadine returns poor diamond results

Some of the shine on the Churchill diamond play in eastern Nunavut has tarnished following the release of microdiamond results from the Meliadine East project: they show that nine of the 11 kimberlite bodies discovered by Cumberland Resources (CBD-V) and Comaplex Minerals (CMF-T) are barren of diamonds.

Representative composite drill core samples, each weighing between 32 and 48 kg, were collected from 10 of the kimberlite bodies. The samples were processed by caustic fusion methods at the laboratories of Saskatchewan Research Council. A 32-kg sample from a tenth kimberlite body returned three small microdiamonds measuring less than 0.212-mm square-mesh screen. The three recovered stones, considered insignificant by the joint-venture partners, are clear, white octahedral shapes.

Covering 371 sq. km and centred 20 km north of Rankin Inlet, the Meliadine East project is a 50-50 joint venture between Cumberland and Comaplex. The joint-venture partners are awaiting additional petrographic and indicator mineral analyses.

In the meantime, Shear Minerals (srm-v) and Stornoway Diamond (swy-v) (the merged entity of Northern Empire Minerals and Stornoway Ventures) continue to expand the discovery area on their neighbouring Churchill project, north of Meliadine East, bringing to nine the number of kimberlite bodies discovered on the project.

With a 51% interest, Shear is the project’s operator, which covers more than 4,164 sq. km in eastern Nunavut. Stornoway is earning 35% by contributing $750,000 to exploration, and the remaining 14% is held by BHP Billiton (BHP-N). The newly merged Stornoway Diamond has 43.5 million shares outstanding, or 51.5 million fully diluted, and $7.8 million in working capital.

The first six kimberlite discoveries (Qaumallak and Kalluk 1-5) occur in a 12-by-12-km area. The eighth kimberlite, Tuvaaq 2, was found close to Tuvaaq 1, about 10 km to the northeast. Tuvaaq 2 is a roughly circular magnetic high anomaly roughly 150 metres in diameter. The first of two holes drilled at Tuvaaq 2 was vertically positioned to a depth of 42 metres and intersected 23 metres of kimberlite. A second angle hole was drilled across the anomaly and intersected 52 metres of kimberlite before shutting down while still in kimberlite at a down-hole depth of 68 metres.

The nearby Tuvaaq 1 is a magnetic high, with a coinciding electromagnetic (EM) signature, measuring 125 metres in diameter. A vertically drilled discovery hole cut a 94-metre section of kimberlite before terminating in kimberlite at a depth of 109 metres.

The ninth kimberlite, Tuktu 1, was discovered 30 metres from the Kalluk bodies. The target is a double-lobed magnetic low anomaly measuring 150 by 200 metres. Kimberlite was encountered under 13 metres of overburden.

Ongoing ground geophysical surveys have identified 11 additional targets, on top of the 15 originally scheduled to be tested during this first round of drilling. Recent work has identified kimberlite float at one of the new targets.

The joint venture has launched an airborne magnetic geophysical survey to cover areas of the project not previously explored. Promising targets will be followed-up on the ground with prospecting, heavy mineral sampling, and geophysics. Last fall a high-resolution airborne magnetic survey totalling 16,307 line km revealed 226 anomalies.