Partners cut new MacFadyen kimberlite

Drilling by partners Spider Resources () and KWG Resources (KWG-V) has intersected a new kimberlite pipe on the MacFadyen property in the James Bay Lowlands region of Ontario.

The discovery hole encountered a few metres of weathered crater facies kimberlite at a vertical depth of 47.5 metres after passing through several layers of glacial till. Thereafter, the hole cut 129.5 metres of hypabyssal kimberlite to a vertical depth of 177 metres, at which point it entered sedimentary rocks that persisted to a depth of 189 metres. The hole was designed to test a magnetic target measuring 100 metres in diameter.

The hypabyssal facies shows a bimodal distribution of olivine containing chrome diopsides. Corroded, orange pyrope garnets were also observed. Xenolithic fragments, pyrope garnets, and the larger olivine macrocrysts have a distinct reaction rim, seen in other diamond bearing kimberlites in the region.

The latest discovery, dubbed “Good Friday,” is 300 metres northeast of the MacFadyen No. 1 kimberlite (discovered in 1994), and 600 metres northeast of the MacFadyen No. 2 kimberlite. Both No. 1 and No. 2 are within 8 km of the advanced-stage Victor diamond project of De Beers, and 1.5 km east of De Beers’ Tango and Tango Extension kimberlites.

Further drilling will test other nearby targets plus a linear, 7-km-long, 250-metre deep magnetic feature situated elsewhere on the property.

Limited testing has confirmed that MacFadyen No. 1 and No. 2 are diamondiferous, though further work is required. A previous, 33.4-kg drill core sample from MacFadyen No. 1 yielded two macrodiamonds and two micros. Combined, the macros tip the scales at 0.065 carat for a sample grade of 1.94 carats per tonne. The stones were described as resorbed-irregular to twinned-octahedral by Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) in 1994.