Dia Met expands hunt

Since Monopros, the exploration arm of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBRSY-Q), dropped most of its stake in the Victoria Island diamond play in Nunavut, Dia Met Minerals (DMM-T) has stepped in to pick up the slack.

Dia Met is engaged in the Tahoe Lake joint-venture project with partner Major General Resources (mgj-v). Dia Met holds an option to earn a 51% interest in Major General’s claims by spending $4.5 million by the end of April 2004.

The 395,520-ha property is adjacent to ground formerly optioned to Monopros. Dia Met’s exploration of the property includes geophysical surveys, sampling and prospecting with the goal of discovering the source of anomalous indicator mineral samples.

Earlier this year, five closely spaced till samples yielded anomalous indicator minerals, and one of these samples is reported to have a high diamond potential.

The sample contained a total of 97 kimberlitic indicator minerals. Thirty-one of these were eclogitic garnets, two were harzburgitic (G10) garnets, and 65 were lherzolitic garnets (G9 and G11). Each of the eclogitic garnets is said to exhibit chemical characteristics consistent with high-diamond-content eclogitic kimberlite. Also, an examination of the garnet grains reveal glacial abrasion textures, indicating short down-ice movement. These textures are described as similar to ones found in the indicator mineral grains that led to the discovery of the nearby Snowy Owl kimberlite.

Since receiving these sample results, Dia Met has staked an additional 115,600 ha of ground in the area and completed a 5,900-km helicopter-borne magnetic survey.

Dia Met also operates and manages the nearby Mariner project. The 64,329-ha property is held equally by partners Major General and Ascot Resources (AOT-V). Dia Met stands to earn a 51% interest in the property by spending $2.5 million by April 30, 2004. To date, Dia Met has spent $250,000.

In late February, Monopros elected to abandon its option to earn a 51% interest in the 70,306-ha project known as Victoria Island, which it held with Major General and Ascot. The mineral claims are now held equally by Major General and Ascot, and the former has planned a $350,000 program of geophysics and sampling, which will focus on previously identified targets. The program will be partially funded by Monopros, in accordance with a pre-existing exploration commitment of $250,000.

The junior has also arranged to acquire Monopros’s winterized exploration camp on the island; it will be shared with Dia Met during the field season. In addition, Dia Met will acquire 29 of Monopros’s mineral claims in return for a gross overriding royalty and the right to market any diamonds recovered from these claims.

Over the past two years, Monopros spent $1.3 million exploring the project and made cash payments totalling $50,000 to the vendors. Monopros discovered five diamondiferous kimberlites on the property: Golden Plover, Longspur, Phalarope, Whimbrel and Snowy Owl. These have microdiamond counts ranging from one micro per 100 kg to 180 micros per 100 kg. In 1999, two more kimberlite bodies were discovered: Horned Lark and Arctic Tern. Only limited drilling was performed and no microdiamond results were released for these kimberlites.

An exploration program is also planned for Major General’s 36,000-ha Yankee property, where Hawkeye Gold International (HGO-V) holds an option to earn a half-interest.

The property hosts 11 favourable targets that have been interpreted from remote-sensing and airborne magnetic surveys. One of these is adjacent to an extensive diabase dyke, similar to the setting of the Snowy Owl kimberlite.

Hawkeye is in the midst of a $200,000 program that includes airborne magnetic surveys, satellite imagery, ground magnetic surveys, down-ice till sampling and prospecting. The company hopes to begin drilling by year-end.