The first round of drilling on the Portage project in the Otish Mountains region of central Quebec, by the diamond division of BHP Billiton (BHP-N) has come up empty handed.
In all, 18 holes totalling 1,087 metres were drilled to test pipe-like geophysical anomalies identified during last year’s 8,500-line-km, high-resolution airborne geophysical survey. None of the holes cut kimberlite.
BHP Billiton can earn a 56% interest in the property from Majescor Resources (MAJ-V) by funding all costs through to production. Under the deal, BHP Billiton also transferred its 520-sq.-km land position in the area to the joint venture.
The partners intend to forge ahead at Portage and have planned a program of geophysical surveying and till sampling over areas exhibiting numerous “good quality” kimberlitic indicator minerals, the sources for which remain unexplained.
The partners note that many of the areas are not directly down ice from Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) and Soquem‘s six Renard kimberlitic bodies on the adjoining Foxtrot property.
Earlier this year, microprobe analysis of kimberlite indicator minerals from portage suggested the presence of diamondiferous source rocks. Some 30% of the pyrope garnets fall in the G10 field, with more than three-quarters containing more than 8 wt% Cr2O3. The ilmenite grains compositions are typical of kimberlitic ilmenite, with elevated Cr2O3and MgO contents.
The diamond inclusion composition chromite grains indicate that kimberlite has potentially sampled diamondiferous mantle. Olivine is abundant and is consistent with derivation from kimberlite. A few chrome diopsides were also recovered.
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