Winspear joins Tyler on Carat project

Winspear Resources (WSP-V) has entered into a joint-venture option agreement with Tyler Resources (TYS-T) to acquire up to a 70% interest in the Carat property, north of the Lac de Gras region in the Northwest Territories.

Winspear will be required to issue 200,000 shares, in lots of 50,000, over an 18-month period and spend up to $2 million on exploration by Dec. 31, 2002.

The 38,000-ha property adjoins the northern claim boundary of the Ekati mine property. A detailed electromagnetic (EM) and magnetic airborne survey is expected to begin during April, with till sampling scheduled for later in the year.

Winspear is in the midst of a winter-spring exploration drilling program on the Camsell Lake property, situated a short distance south of Lac de Gras and 220 km northeast of Yellowknife. The company has collected 100 tonnes from a subcrop of a shallow-dipping kimberlite dyke on the northwestern peninsula at Snap Lake. An additional 100-tonne sample is being taken from a second site, about 250 metres from the first. The purpose of the combined 200-tonne mini-bulk sample is to determine the grain-size distribution of the diamonds in the dyke and to obtain a preliminary valuation.

The kimberlite dyke was intersected by previous drilling over a strike length of 1,000 metres and a downdip length of 500 metres. Its true thickness averages 2.47 metres. Past drilling yielded 149 macrodiamonds and 252 micros from a 137.4-kg composite sample. (A macro is defined here as measuring greater than 0.5 mm in at least one dimension.) Twenty-five of the macros exceeded 1 mm in at least one dimension, with the largest stone measuring 1.79 mm.

Elsewhere in the Snap Lake area, a 4,500-metre drilling program is testing a variety of geophysical targets in the search for the source of diamond-rich kimberlite breccia boulders discovered last fall on the southwestern shore.

To date, drilling has intersected numerous kimberlite dykes, as well as several small bodies of kimberlite breccia. One hole, collared 400 metres east of the most easterly intersection on the Northwest Peninsula dyke, intersected a 2.8-metre-thick section of similar dyke material at the projected depth.

In the CL 25 area, where previous drilling defined two sub-economic diamond-bearing pipes, a 1,200-metre drilling program will test seven targets.

The Snap Lake and CL 25 areas of the Camsell Lake property are part of the Haywood project. Upon completing the planned program, which is budgeted at $2.1 million to June 30, Winspear will have increased its interest in Haywood to 68.5%. Aber Resources (ABZ-T) will hold the balance.

West of, and contiguous with, the Haywood block is the Athenia project, held 55% by Winspear and 45% by Aber. Of the dozen geophysical targets tested by ground geophysics, half have been selected for follow-up drill testing. A 1,500-metre program is under way.

Southwest of the Camsell Lake property, Winspear has staked the 77,000-ha Hilltop property. An airborne EM survey is to be carried out prior to spring breakup, with till sampling scheduled to follow.