Rockinghorse yields large number of stones

Additional microdiamond results from the newly discovered Anuri pipe on Tahera‘s (TAH-T) Rockinghorse property in Nunavut indicate that the kimberlite body is significantly diamondiferous.

Six hundred and fifty-six kilograms of kimberlite core processed by caustic fusion 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 Anuri kimberlite was discovered this summer by Kennecott Canada Exploration 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 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.

Grant Ewing, Tahera’s vice-president of investor relations, says the pipe-like body is in the range of 100-120 metres in diameter.

Analysis of the mineral train emanating from the Anuri kimberlite area leads Kennecott to believe that additional kimberlites may exist in the vicinity. The width of the mineral train is quite extensive, and Ewing says it looks as if there should be more kimberlite bodies at the head of the train to support such a large indicator fan. In addition, “the chemistry of some of the indicator minerals in the train does not match with what we see in the pipe,” Ewing says.

Kennecott has staked further ground in the area, focusing on a 20-km radius around Anuri, and for the next month the company will continue an aggressive exploration campaign. The program will include additional helicopter-borne magnetic and electromagnetic surveys, infill till sampling and gravity grids, leading to a number of drill holes in the area. “Some of the targets are close to Anuri,” says Ewing.

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.

Earlier this 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. Kennecott plans no further work on the Amaraq sill.

In the meantime, Tahera mobilized a field crew in early August to its wholly owned Jericho properties, 430 km northeast of Yellowknife, N.W.T. The summer program includes further regional and infill till sampling, ground geophysical surveys and some drilling using a small portable rig.