A delineation hole confirming the dyke-like nature of the Stellaria kimberlite on the Kikerk Lake joint-venture property in the Coronation Gulf region of Nunavut has yielded a modest microdiamond count.
In August, Ashton further tested Stellaria with an angle hole that intersected 21 metres of hypabyssal kimberlite. Based on data from the two holes, Stellaria is interpreted to be a steeply dipping, 13-metre-wide dyke. A 110.7-kg kimberlite sample collected from the second hole returned 45 micros and 22 macros, including 10 diamonds exceeding 0.5 mm in two directions. (A macro is here defined as measuring greater than 0.5 mm in one dimension.) The biggest stone recovered measures 2.3 by 1.4 by 0.9 mm, suggesting potential for larger diamonds.
Ashton had originally recovered 66 micros and 13 macros from a 105.4-kg sample of the discovery hole. The largest stone measured 0.8 by 0.6 by 0.4 mm.
The Stellaria dyke occurs along a geophysically defined, 2-km-long linear feature. A portion of this feature sits directly up-ice from an indicator mineral train hosting a significant G10 garnet population. During the summer, Ashton drilled three additional holes into geophysical anomalies along the linear feature but failed to intersect any kimberlite.
Stellaria is 700 metres east of the diamond-bearing Potentilla kimberlite pipe, discovered more than a year ago by Ashton and its joint-venture partners,
Potentilla initially returned a promising microdiamond count of 230 micros and 22 macros from a 207.8-kg aggregate drill sample of two distinct kimberlite facies. Potentilla hosts an upper kimberlite breccia phase underlain by hypabyssal kimberlite.
A 5.8-tonne mini-bulk drill sample of Potentilla was collected this past spring to test the pipe’s potential for larger stones. The sample consisted of 4.5 tonnes of kimberlite breccia and 1.3 tonnes of the lower hypabyssal phase. When a square-aperture screen was used, the 4.5 tonnes of breccia returned 1.07 carats of diamonds larger than 0.8 mm, or 0.86 carat based on a higher, 1-mm cutoff. The largest diamond recovered was a 0.34-carat colourless composite crystal with small inclusions.
The 1.3-tonne hypabyssal sample yielded 0.21 carat using a bottom-size cutoff of 0.8 mm, or 0.16 carat based on a 1-mm cutoff. Overall, the 5.8-tonne mini-bulk sample returned a grade of only 0.22 carat per tonne at a 0.8-mm cutoff, or 0.175 carat per tonne at a cutoff of 1 mm. The bulk-sample drilling showed Potentilla to have a surface dimension of 110 by 50 metres.
The joint-venture partners remain encouraged by the discovery of two diamondiferous kimberlite bodies on the Kikerk Lake property. The analysis of 269 heavy-mineral samples taken from the property during the 2002 summer field season will determine the scope and nature of the 2003 winter program.
The Kikerk Lake property is held 52.5% by Ashton, 30% by Northern Empire and 17.5% by Caledonia. Ashton can increase its interest to 59.5% by carrying Caledonia through to completion of a feasibility study. Northern Empire retains its 30% participating interest.
The microdiamond distribution from the most recent angle hole drilled on the Stellaria dyke is shown in the accompanying table. The figures are based on the more detailed square mesh, sieve-size classification.
Sample Size:110.7 kg
+1.180 mm 1
+0.850 mm 0
+0.600 mm 3
+0.425 mm 3
+0.300 mm 7
+0.212 mm19
+0.150 mm17
+0.100 mm17
Total67
See ASHTON Page 6
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