Latest Tenby venture results fail to excite

The latest results from the Tenby diamond claims in the Northwest Territories were described by analysts as disappointing. But the analysts also stress that the exploration program is still in its early phases.

The Tenby joint venture, consisting of Aber Resources (TSE), Commonwealth Gold (VSE) and SouthernEra Resources (TSE), reports that a total of three microdiamonds — including two clear fragments and one clear octahedron — were found in two of the five remaining pipes on its claims just south of the Dia-Met/BHP block. Sample weights ranged from five to eight kilograms. In the type of strong market reaction that has come to characterize news-generated trading of the diamond stocks, Aber lost 70 cents to $2.25, SouthernEra dropped $1.30 to $3.50 and Commonwealth shed 43 cents to 85 cents the day after the release was issued. Dia Met Minerals (TSE) lost $1.62 to $38.25.

“The results . . . are disappointing in that they do not compare with any of the Dia Met/BHP Minerals results and so we have yet to see an economically interesting diamondiferous kimberlite discovered outside the Dia Met block,” says Dave James at Richardson Greenshields.

The results confirm that three of the seven kimberlites pipes outlined by the group during last summer’s drilling program on the Tenby claims contain a total of six microdiamonds.

By comparison, all 10 of the kimberlites tested by Dia Met contain significant quantities of macrodiamonds (T.N.M., Dec. 14/92). Dia Met’s samples were at least three times as large.

“We’re a bit disappointed,” said Aber President Grenville Thomas. “But we also recognize the fact that we will drill a lot more kimberlites in the future. There will be a whole spectrum of results coming out of this program.” Even though the samples taken from the Tenby kimberlites are too small to be considered representative, Thomas said it is unlikely that the group will return to drill the pipes a second time.

About 30 targets remain to be tested on the consortium’s land packages around Lac de Gras. Thomas said drilling would resume in late March, after fuel, infrastructure for two or three camps, and drilling equipment have been moved north along Echo Bay Mines’ winter road. The ice road, which stretches from Yellowknife, N.W.T., to the Lupin mine, is expected to open in late January. About 600 samples collected during last summer’s sampling program also remain to be processed.

The group will be meeting with Kennecott later this month to discuss priority targets and budgets.

In other diamond developments:

— Winspear Resources (VSE) reports that its option agreement with Greater Lenora Resources (TSE) has been terminated. The option calls for Lenora to earn a 60% interest in Winspear’s 8,000-acre block on Lake Providence by making cash payments totalling $300,000, issuing 200,000 treasury shares and spending $1 million on exploration. Greater Lenora, which recently staked 285,000 acres northwest of the Dia Met-BHP block for itself, says it disputes Winspear’s right to terminate the agreement.

— Rich Capital (VSE) has applied for nine separate mineral permits covering an area of 300 square miles in the northwest corner of Alberta near Buffalo National Park.

— Kalahari Resources (VSE) has resumed staking in the Northwest Territories, and expects to add significantly to its current landholding of 1.07 million acres. The junior, in a joint venture with Kennecott Canada, has outlined a total of 97 geophysical targets on its MacKay Lake and Back Lake options and has taken 254 till, esker and beach samples.