Ashton cuts second body

Vancouver — Two of the four geophysical anomalies tested during a newly completed drill program by Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) cut ultramafic igneous rock described as “consistent with kimberlite” in the Otish Mountains region of north-central Quebec.

Situated 1-km south of the first geophysical target, which hit a 98-metre interval of kimberlitic-looking rock, a second magnetic anomaly yielded a similar ultramafic igneous rock some 18 metres under overburden.

Drilled vertically, the hole was stopped in the body at a depth of 101 metres. A second hole was collared from the same site and drilled at 60 degrees, hitting similar material from 22-to-35 metres down-hole. The remainder of the hole hit gneiss with intervals of kimberlitic rock down to a depth of 105 metres.

Two other anomalies tested during the first-round program failed to return any ultramafic material.

Despite the apparent discovery of two kimberlite bodies, Ashton is taking a cautious approach and won’t make a definitive call on whether the ultramafic rock is a kimberlite until petrographic laboratory tests have been completed.

Ashton holds more than 1,760 sq. km in the Otish Mountains in a joint venture with Quebec government-owned Soquem. Since 1996, the pair has been searching for diamonds in the northern Quebec portion of the Superior craton.

After carrying out reconnaissance programs of heavy-mineral sampling and airborne magnetic surveys on more than 450,000 sq. km of prospective terrain, the joint venture initially staked 1,000 sq. km of key ground in two areas of Quebec during the second half of 2000. Ashton zeroed in on the Otish Mountains region, 275 km northeast of Chibougamau, and the Caniapiscau area, 500 km east-northeast of Radisson.

Ashton flew a geophysical survey over the original central property in the Otish Mountains claim group in late 2000 and followed up with a ground geophysical survey over eight targets in March. The summer was spent further investigating these anomalies, with more than 350 heavy mineral samples collected.