Rockinghorse returns micros

A kimberlite discovery by Kennecott Canada Exploration on Tahera‘s (TAH-T) Rockinghorse property in Nunavut has yielded a significant number of stones.

An aggregate 276-kg sample of core from the discovery hole on the Anuri kimberlite returned 156 macrodiamonds and 278 micros (a macro measures greater than 0.5 mm in at least one dimension). Four of the macros did not pass through a 1-mm-sq. mesh sieve.

The Anuri kimberlite was discovered near the head of the prominent Tak Lake indicator mineral train. Angled at 45, the discovery hole intersected 134 metres (true width) of kimberlite from 71.4 to 260.7 metres down-hole. A second hole was drilled at a right angle to the first, cutting 90 metres (true width) of kimberlite from 204 to 331 metres down-hole, starting at a vertical depth of 150 metres. About 370 kg of kimberlite samples remain to be processed.

Anuri marks the second kimberlite body that Kennecott has discovered this year at the Rockinghorse property, situated 120 km northwest of Tahera’s Jericho project. During spring drilling, Kennecott cut a shallow-dipping kimberlite sill with eight widely spaced holes over an area measuring 1,400 by 600 metres. The sill varies in width between 0.1 and 2.5 metres. Although microdiamond results are still pending for these holes, Kennecott sought a fast analysis of the more recent Anuri discovery hole. Grant Ewing, Tahera’s vice-president of investor relations, had earlier told The Northern Miner that the Tak Lake indicator mineral train “showed decent diamond inclusion chemistry.”

Under a revised joint-venture agreement, Kennecott — a division of Rio Tinto (rtp-n) — can earn an initial 25% interest in the Rockinghorse and Hood River properties by spending $25 million on exploration by 2008. Kennecott can earn up to a 62.5% stake by funding all costs up to, and including, a bankable feasibility study. The company has spent more than $18 million to date and has budgeted a further $2.2 million for 2001.