Results from four samples taken on the Leopold Downs lamproite pipe in Western Australia indicate that the pipe’s diamonds can be recovered by gravity separation, says Hemisphere Development (VSE).
The Vancouver junior, which is earning an 80% interest in the property from Capricorn Resources Australia, is also encouraged by the number of indicator minerals — including chromite, phlogopite, zircon and pyrope garnet — evident in the samples.
Globally, diamonds are usually associated with the volcanic rock kimberlite and less commonly with kimberlite’s cousin, lamproite. But in Western Australia, it’s a lamproite pipe that hosts Argyle, the world’s most productive diamond mine.
Earlier this year, the partners mined 1,000 tonnes from the 7-hectare Leopold Downs pipe. A 35-kilogram sample from the stockpile returned three white diamonds with some graphic inclusions. The weight of the diamonds was not reported.
At the end of April, the partners plan to run the entire 1,000-tonne sample through a separation plant in Perth.
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