THE DIAMOND PAGE — Surveys planned for Camsell Lake

An exploration program budgeted at $1.6 million is about to begin at the Camsell Lake diamond project, 140 miles northeast of Yellowknife, N.W.T.

The 277,000-acre project is a joint venture between Winspear Resources (WSP-V), the operator, and Aber Resources (ABZ-T) with 42.7% and 57.3% interests, respectively.

The work will focus on the Snap Lake area, where diamondiferous boulders and till samples were discovered last summer. Detailed airborne and ground geophysical surveys will be followed by 15,000 ft. of diamond drilling.

The area of interest comprises 6 sq. km on the northwestern side of Snap Lake and is marked by the presence of pyrope garnets and chromites in many of the till samples.

Five separate locations of kimberlite boulders and fragments were found in the area. A total of 143 diamonds, including 33 macros, was recovered from boulder material taken from two of the sites. The diamonds weighed 34.05 kg in total. Further macrodiamond analysis on additional 5-kg samples from each of the two sites yielded 6 macros in each of the samples.

In and around the area of the kimberlite boulders, 20 additional diamonds were recovered from seven till samples. Near one of the boulder sites, a 60-kg sample of green clay material yielded another eight stones.

An isolated, circular, magnetic-high feature, about 100 metres in diameter, is coincident with the site of the green clay.

The main area of interest is tectonically complex and comprises several sets of intersecting structures that range from several hundred metres to several kilometres in length. The abundant linear and circular features coincide with topographic low areas.

Elsewhere in the immediate area, four diamonds were recovered from a till-sample site on an island in the northeastern arm of Snap Lake. In addition, two diamonds were recovered from another till-sample site on the lake’s southern shore.

More than one kimberlitic source is believed to exist in the Snap Lake area, based on the abundance and distribution of indicator minerals and diamonds.