While preparing to process a kimberlite breccia sample taken this past winter during mini-bulk sampling on the Renard 65 pipe in the Otish Mountains of Quebec, Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) found a large, 4-carat diamond embedded in the drill core.
The stone, with exposed surface dimensions measuring 8.8 by 8.2 by 4.8 mm, is a colourless octahedral composite crystal. The recovery of such a large stone shows the potential of the Renard bodies for containing big-carat diamonds.
The core containing the diamond was recovered from a hole drilled in the northern part of the 1.5-hectare Renard 65 pipe during the collection of a 17-tonne mini-bulk sample. Ashton expects to complete the dense-media-separation analysis of the sample by the end of July.
Ashton and Soquem are 50-50 partners in a joint venture that is exploring for diamonds in northern Quebec.
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