Sampling south of Lake Superior

A 3-company joint venture is exploring for diamonds in the Lake Superior region of the Michigan-Wisconsin area of the U.S.

Owner of a 51% interest in the project is Ashton Mining of Australia. Ashton is committed to spending more than US$1 million on exploration work during 1992 and may spend a total of US$3.6 million during a 3-year period to maintain its interest.

The other two partners are Crystal Mining N.L. of Australia and Dow Chemical Co., which had uncovered 12 kimberlite pipes prior to the start of this year’s work program. Sixty microdiamonds (each less one millimetre in size) were recovered from seven of the pipes.