DIAMOND PAGE — Verena to explore in Brazil

Toronto-based Verena Minerals (VMCO-C) has acquired exploration rights to a producing diamond property in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state.

The property comprises 20,000 ha of alluvial terraces, with mineralized gravels averaging more than 2 metres in thickness. Artisanal work in the area dates back 50 years and is ongoing.

The largest diamond found by Verena in a preliminary program weighs 73 carats and is said to be of good quality, while the highest-quality diamond weighs 33 carats. The average weight of the diamonds found is 0.8 carat, and the average sale price was US$200 per carat.

An extensive and continuous gravel horizon measuring 2-3 metres thick has been found to cover a 1-by-5-km area. Bulk samples of about 15 cubic metres each recovered 0.3, 0.5 and 0.03 carat per cubic metre.

Also recovered were a number of colored, or “fancy,” diamonds, including pink, green and blue stones. A single pink diamond weighed 6.7 carats.

Determined to identify kimberlite sources, the company has begun a program of mapping, bulk-sampling and ground geophysics.