EXPLORING FOR DIAMONDS AND THE NORTH — Aber-Kennecott active

One of the first juniors to join the diamond exploration rush in this northern region was Vancouver-based Aber Resources (TSE). Today, the company holds varying interests in the 600,000-plus hectares that constitute the Diavik property.

Kennecott Canada can earn 60% of Aber’s interests (ranging from 25% to 100%) in Diavik by spending $10 million over five years. The first work program, in 1992, consisted of a 20,000-km airborne geophysical survey and the collection of more than 1,200 till and esker samples.

“The idea was to get an overview of the property and to prioritize areas for more detailed ground geophysics and sampling,” Aber President Gren Thomas told The Northern Miner during a site visit in late July. (The junior manages the programs, which are funded by Kennecott.)

In 1992, Aber also drilled eight holes totaling 1,411 metres. Seven of the holes intersected kimberlite pipes, and three of those contained small quantities of micro-diamonds. Nevertheless, the results were viewed as disappointing relative to more advanced projects in the area. During this drill phase late last year, tiny colored stones (canary yellow and green) were reported from the Tenby claims, a joint venture with SouthernEra Resources (TSE) and Commonwealth Gold (VSE). But as it turned out, synthetic drill-bit diamonds had been mistaken for natural stones derived from kimberlite. It was an embarrassing setback for the group, though perhaps not surprising considering that most Canadian juniors have insufficient experience in diamond exploration.

“This year’s second-phase program is more involved,” said Aber geologist Ira Thomas. “About 80% of our sampling is focused on new targets.” Thirty targets have been drilled since the programs began. Drills are used as exploratory tools, the objective being to get at least 100 metres of kimberlite from each target. The costs for each hole of this type are about $20,000.

Twelve kimberlites were discovered in the early stages of this year’s program; and although drill core was sent to a British lab for testing, results have not yet been released. Indeed, it is not yet known whether any of these targets are diamondiferous. (The kimberlites occur on Aber ground held either 100%, 51% or 25%.)

This year’s program also includes ground geophysics, drilling and more heavy mineral processing of samples collected last summer.

Aber has the right to a 10% interest in the WO claims, where Kennecott and partners DHK Resources reported a significant discovery on the DO-27 (Tli Kwi Cho) and DO-18 kimberlite targets. Kennecott, owned by RTZ (NYSE), recently announced plans to extract a 5,000-tonne bulk sample this winter from the DO-27 pipe.