King drilling advances

Vancouver — Diamondex Resources (DSP-V) is stepping up the pace of exploration at its wholly owned King property in the Northwest Territories.

The junior is drilling holes 4 and 5 as part of a $2.7-million program aimed at testing a possible downdip extension of the Snap Lake dyke.

Lying 220 km northeast of Yellowknife, the King property adjoins the northern boundary of the Snap Lake underground diamond project, which was acquired last year by De Beers Consolidated Mines from Winspear Diamonds and Aber Diamond (ABZ-T) for $480 million.

Last year’s drilling by Winspear confirmed the continuation of the main NW dyke downdip within several hundred metres of the King property boundary. The dyke extends 3.2 km north-south, 3.1 km east-west and to a depth of 1 km. It is generally 2-3 metres thick, but narrows to 1.3 metres at the eastern margin.

The structure — a gently dipping, intrusive kimberlite sheet — contains an indicated and inferred resource of 21.3 million tonnes grading 1.97 carat per tonne, equivalent to 42 million carats. The value of the Snap Lake stones is pegged at US$100 per carat.

Diamondex collared its first two vertical holes 800 metres apart and 200 metres north of the property boundary. The first hole was completed to a depth of 1,343 metres and intersected 17 gently dipping, narrow kimberlite dykes over a 60-metre interval, beginning at a depth of 1,101 metres. The dykes range in thickness from 2 cm to 33 cm and have an overall cumulative thickness of 1.7 metres.

The third hole was collared 800 metres west of hole 2 and drilled to a depth of 1,529 metres. Eight kimberlite dykes, ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1.21 metres, were cut over a 7.76-metre section, starting at a depth of 1,439 metres. These kimberlite intervals combine for a total of 1.36 metres.

Drilling is under way at holes 4 and 5, which are located 800 metres north and 550 metres northwest of hole 2, respectively. So far, the drilling indicates that the minimum strike length of the kimberlite dyke within the King Property is 1.6 km.

Diamondex has also completed an airborne geophysical program over the property, along with a detailed till-sampling program.

The company expects to have the evaluation of an experimental, two-dimensional reflection seismic survey by September. The survey is being conducted over Snap Lake and a portion of the King property, in collaboration with De Beers Canada Mining and the University of British Columbia. If it identifies the kimberlite dyke system at depth, a 3-D survey will be carried out on the King property in 2002 to guide further drilling.

An $860,000 budget has been approved for the Carat joint venture property, which adjoins the northern boundary of the Ekati diamond mine property, also in the Northwest Territories.

Diamondex plans to further evaluate the newly discovered CT-55 kimberlite. The body lies 20 km northeast of Ekati’s Sable pipe, one of eight pipes slated to be mined over the 18-year life of the operation.

Diamondex continues to evaluate several other geophysical targets for drill-testing in the vicinity of CT-55. The rig is expected to start turning by the middle of the month.

The junior holds a 60% interest in the Carat property and can earn a further 10% from Tyler Resources (TYS-V) by spending $1 million on exploration before the end of 2002.

At Diamondex’s wholly owned Hilltop project, detailed sonic drilling has been completed over a 7.5-km-long indicator train. Sixty samples were collected from 52 locations. Drilling is expected to begin in September.

The Hilltop property lies 185 km northeast of Yellowknife and adjoins the southwestern corner of the Camsell Lake claim block, which hosts the Snap Lake diamond deposit.

Diamondex was incorporated in 1999, when the non-core assets of Winspear Resources were spun off into a separate public company. Under this arrangement, Diamondex acquired 2,500 sq. km of prospective exploration properties in the Slave Province.