Ashton, Soquem unearth more kimberlite

With spring break-up fast approaching in the Otish Mountains region of north-central Quebec, Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T) and provincially owned Soquem have uncovered another small kimberlitic body in the core area of the Foxtrot property.

The equal partners discovered the Renard 9 kimberlitic intrusion by drilling a previously untested high-priority geophysical anomaly, which sits 150 metres south of Renard 4. A fan of three angle holes were drilled from the same setup across a geophysical anomaly that measures 160 metres long and 20 to 60 metres wide. The anomaly lies just offshore along the northern edge of a lake that extends a couple of kilometres in a north-south direction. A small portion of the Renard 4 kimberlitic body lies under this lake.

Drilled at a 50 angle from horizontal, the first hole passed through a couple of metres of water to intersect 15 metres of kimberlitic breccia further down-hole at a depth of 40-65 metres, followed by a 5-metre intercept of similar material from 94 to 99 metres. The hole ended in country rock at a down-hole depth of 126 metres.

A second hole collared from the same site at an angle of minus 60 encountered 76 metres of kimberlitic breccia from 52 to 128 metres down-hole, including a 20-metre intercept of hypabyssal material at 73-93 metres.

A third hole, drilled from the same site at minus 55, encountered 34 metres of kimberlitic breccia from a down-hole depth of 47-81 metres, followed by a 31-metre interval of similar material at 91-122 metres.

The nine Renard kimberlitic bodies are tightly grouped along an elongated, 1.5-km-long area. With the exception of Renard 1 and 7, seven of the bodies occur in a core area measuring less than half a square kilometre.

The Foxtrot property, covering 1,530 sq. km, is centred about 1,000 km north of Montreal and 150 km southwest of Hydro Quebec’s LG-4 generating station. The Eastmain gold deposit is 55 km south of the property. Ashton and Soquem each retain a half-interest of Foxtrot. Relief within the Otish Mountains properties consists of steep-sided hills, with rounded tops separated by muskeg covered valleys. Elevations range from 400 to 800 metres above sea level, and all areas have abundant lakes, ponds and small rivers. Several of the Renard kimberlitic bodies are covered by small lakes, including Renard 2 and 5.

40 tonnes

This winter, as part of their $6-million exploration program in 2003 in Quebec, Ashton and Soquem have been carrying out delineation drilling and mini-bulk sampling in the core area of the Foxtrot property. The objective is to recover some 40 tonnes of kimberlitic material to ensure a cumulative mini-bulk sample of about 10 tonnes from each of Renard 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. During the spring and summer of 2002, mini-bulk samples of slightly less than 5 tonnes were recovered from each of the Renard 2, 3 and 4 bodies. The processed samples returned an estimated diamond content of 0.67 carat per tonne for Renard 2, 1.34 carats per tonne for Renard 3, and 0.65 carat per tonne for Renard 4. The dense media separation (DMS) analytical process recovered only diamonds larger than 0.85 mm using a square aperture screen.

This winter’s delineation drilling has so far expanded the surface dimensions of Renard 3 (145 by 25 metres) and 4 (180 by 70 metres), while supporting the initial size estimates of Renard 2 (120 by 65 metres). Work on Renard 4 and 5 is in progress and will continue until spring conditions bring the program to a halt.

In the meantime, Ashton is busy in Canada’s Far North, where it has been active since 1993. Field activities are under way on properties held under the Slave joint venture with Pure Gold Minerals (PUG-T). Work is focused on the Ric and Kim properties in the Coronation Gulf region of Nunavut, and on the Green property in the Northwest Territories, 160 km north of Yellowknife.

Ground geophysical surveys are being conducted on as many as 10 high-priority airborne geophysical targets, some of which are associated with well-defined indicator mineral trains. Up to six of these targets may be drilled before spring break-up in mid-May. Ashton is the operator of the Slave joint venture, with an 89.4% stake. Pure Gold holds the remainder. The 2003 program on the Slave properties is budgeted at $2 million. The summer phase of the program will include heavy mineral sampling to define known indicator mineral trains and upgrade geophysical targets.

Kikerk Lake

Elsewhere in the Coronation Gulf district, Ashton and joint-venture partners Northern Empire Minerals (NEM-V) and Caledonia Mining (CAL-T) are spending $600,000 on the Kikerk Lake property investigating several prominent airborne geophysical targets. Of particular interest are three electromagnetic anomalies and associated indicator minerals underlying lakes 1 km west of the diamondiferous Potentilla kimberlite.

Ground geophysical surveys began in early April. A summer program of regional heavy mineral sampling will include sampling up-ice of several unexplained anomalies.

Ashton has exercised an option to increase its interest in Kikerk Lake to 59.5% by carrying Caledonia until the completion of a feasibility study. Caledonia will hold a 10.5% position, whereas Northern Empire retains a 30% working interest.

Meanwhile, Ashton continues to be active in the north-central region of Alberta known as Buffalo Hills. This winter’s drilling of three electromagnetic anomalies resulted in the discovery of two new kimberlites: K296 and K300. The two discoveries bring to 38 the total number of kimberlites identified by Ashton and its Alberta joint venture partners, EnCana (ECA-T) and Pure Gold. Six of the bodies have grades in excess of 3 carats per 100 tonnes, including K252, discovered in 2000, with a diamond content of 55 carats per 100 tonnes. K252 was the first kimberlite discovered under the Alberta program with virtually no magnetic signature, and it yielded the best grade.

During the winter program, Ashton tested the southern vent of the K6 pipe with a single vertical hole. Samples from K296, K300 and K6 are being tested for microdiamonds by caustic dissolution at Ashton’s laboratory in North Vancouver. Results are expected in the next month and a half.

Ashton and EnCana each hold a 45% interest in the Buffalo Hills project, with Pure Gold picking up the remainder. The project covers a core position of about 3,000 sq. km.