Astro signs agreement with Caldera

Australian-based Caldera Resources (CDR-M) has dealt an option to earn a 60% interest in its Abminga diamond project, on the northern border of South Australia, to Australian diamond explorer Astro Mining.

Under the agreement, Astro has six months during which to complete 1,000 metres of drilling, process core already drilled and review Caldera’s project records. Astro may then pay Caldera A$100,000 and spend A$1 million on exploration in order to earn a second option. Astro can earn its interest once it has paid Caldera a further A$500,000 and completed A$16 million in exploration work.

Work done to date by Caldera (worth more than A$2 million) has identified 250 targets; only 15 have been drilled and one has proved to be a diamond-bearing kimberlite. The company has been searching for a partner with pockets deep enough to move the project up another level.

Astro is the diamond-exploration arm of the Gutnick group of companies, whose chief producing assets are held in Australian gold producer Great Central Mines. Astro holds a number of diamond exploration properties in the Yilgarn block and the Nabberu Basin of the Western Australian shield, and also has properties in China. Its Perth offices have a diamond testing laboratory.

Caldera will continue to work on the project while Astro completes its investigation. Composite samples submitted to Lakefield Research for heavy-mineral identification showed “abundant [kimberlite] indicator minerals,” including chromite, ilmenite, diopside and several types of garnet. Lakefield also found one small diamond in the samples.