Dia Met finds seven new kimberlite pipes — Ekati mine scheduled to open in mid-October

Exploration drilling on the Ekati mine site project in the Northwest Territories has identified seven additional kimberlite pipes, raising to 107 the number found there to date.

Six of the seven pipes are in the core zone claims, reports Dia Met Minerals (DMM-T). The remaining pipe is most likely situated in the Buffer claims, which lie just outside the core block. Results from microdiamond analysis are pending.

Eighty-one of the 107 pipes known to exist on the property lie in the core block of claims, which is held 51% by BHP Diamonds, a subsidiary of Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP-N), 29% by Dia Met, 10% by Dia Met founder Charles Fipke and 10% by Fipke’s former prospecting partner, Stewart Blusson.

The Buffer claims are owned 51% by BHP, 31.2% by Blusson, 10% by Fipke and 7.8% by Dia Met.

During the past summer, Dia Met bulk-sampled the Pigeon kimberlite. Using reverse-circulation drilling methods, the company put down 12 holes and collected about 540 dry tonnes of kimberlite. The bulk sample was processed at the Koala dense media plant, and results are expected in late September.

In 1995, the Pigeon pipe returned 60 carats from a 154-tonne bulk sample grading 0.39 carat per tonne. The stones were valued at US$51 per carat.

Construction at the Ekati diamond mine is almost complete. Proven and probable reserves from the five pipes — Panda, Misery, Koala, Sable and Fox — total 65.9 million tonnes grading 1.09 carats per tonne, and the average diamond value is US$84 per carat.

Commissioning of the processing plant is well under way as well, and the mine is scheduled to open officially on Oct. 14 — on time and on budget.

Kimberlite ore is said to be exposed in the Panda pit, and some of it has been stockpiled at the primary crusher in preparation for the final commissioning of the process plant.

Meanwhile, a permanent workforce has been hired and all environmental and socio-economic commitments have been met; construction of the sorting and valuation facility at the Yellowknife airport is scheduled to begin in September and should be completed in the first quarter of 1999; and recruitment for the marketing office in Antwerp, Belgium, is under way.

Dia Met reports that it has notified the Toronto Stock Exchange of its intention to stage a normal course issuer bid to buy back up to 150,000 Class A and 350,000 Class B shares up until Sept. 15, 1999.