Rockinghorse yields another kimberlite

Exploration drilling by Kennecott Canada Exploration on Tahera‘s (TAH-T) Rockinghorse property in Nunavut has uncovered another new kimberlite body.

The kimberlite, dubbed Qamutiik, was cut by two diamond drill holes. A vertical hole cut 59 metres (from 6 metres below surface) of kimberlite, and a second hole (angled at 50), from the same site, returned 78 metres of kimberlite interspersed with 19 metres of broken granite.

The core will be sent to Kennecott’s diamond laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ont., for caustic fusion analysis to determine Qamutiik’s preliminary diamond content.

The land-based Qamutiik kimberlite brings to three the number of kimberlite bodies found on Rockinghorse since the current exploration program began in July of this year.

Qamutiik sits about 9 km northwest of the recently discovered Anuri and Anuri East kimberlites.

In July, Kennecott discovered the Anuri kimberlite near the head of a prominent 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 sunk at a right angle to the first, cut 90 metres (true width) of kimberlite from 204 to 331 metres down-hole, starting at a vertical depth of 150 metres. The pipe-like body is in the range of 100-120 metres in diameter.

Caustic fusion of a 650-kg sample of kimberlite core from Anuri returned 337 macrodiamonds and 600 micros. (A macro measures greater than 0.5 mm in at least one dimension.) Sixty-one of the macros were larger than a 0.5-mm square mesh screen size, and nine of the stones exceeded a 1-mm square mesh size. The largest stone recovered weighed in at three-quarters of a carat.

The extensive nature of the mineral train emanating from Anuri led Kennecott to stake further ground in the area, focusing on a 20-km radius around the discovery. The large indicator fan and varied nature of the minerals suggested that additional kimberlites might exist in the area.

Then in early September, a hole angled at 45 was collared immediately east of the Anuri kimberlite, and cut 36 metres (from 294 m below surface) of kimberlite. Core from this discovery, named Anuri East is also headed for caustic fusion at Kennecott’s lab. Geophysics indicates that further drilling is warranted during the winter.

Earlier in the year, Kennecott discovered another kimberlite body on the Rockinghorse property, which lies 120 km northwest of Tahera’s Jericho project. During spring drilling, Kennecott intercepted a shallow-dipping kimberlite sill, dubbed Amaraq, with eight widely spaced holes over an area measuring 1,400 by 600 metres. The sill varied in width between 0.1 and 2.5 metres. A single micro was recovered from 13.9 kg of kimberlite processed. No further work on Amaraq was planned.

Kennecott will wait for microdiamond analysis of material from Qamutiik and Anuri East before planning further work. The company has completed an airborne geophysical survey and till-sampling program in the area of the new discoveries.

Kennecott, a division of Rio Tinto (RTP-N), can earn up to a 62.5% interest in the Rockinghorse and Hood River properties by funding all costs up to, and including, a bankable feasibility study.