Kimberlites found at Ekati

Drilling this past summer at the Ekati mine property in the Northwest Territories resulted in the discovery of 11 additional kimberlite pipes, raising the number of confirmed kimberlites to 136.

Nine of the discoveries were made in the Core group of claims, where 97 pipes have been discovered. The Core block centres on the Ekati diamond mine and is held 51% by Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP-N) and 29% by Dia Met Minerals (DMM-T). The remaining 20% is split between Charles Fipke and co-discoverer Stewart Blusson.

Two new pipes were found on the outlying Buffer zone claims, where the total now stands at 39. The Buffer claims are held 51% by BHP, 31.2% by Archon Minerals (ACS-V), 10% by Fipke and 7.8% by Dia Met.

Three of the recent kimberlite finds — Kodiak, Pegasus and Wildebeest — returned significant microdiamond results. The Kodiak pipe occurs in the Core zone, whereas Pegasus and Wildebeest are in the Buffer zone, 22 km east of the Ekati plant site.

A 300-kg core sample of the Kodiak pipe returned 74 micros and 17 macros weighing a total of 0.087 carat (a macro is defined as measuring more than 0.5 mm in at least one dimension). The Pegasus pipe yielded 291 micros and 62 macros, weighing 0.33 carat, from a 295.3-kg core sample of kimberlite. Wildebeest returned 41 micros and 11 macros weighing 0.032 carat from a 35-kg sample.

During the past winter, BHP bulk-sampled the Cougar, Wolverine and Zach pipes on the Core claims, as well as the Lynx pipe on the Buffer zone, by large-diameter, reverse-circulation drilling.

A 168.5-tonne sample of the Lynx pipe returned 140.74 carats of diamonds, indicating a grade of 0.83 carat per tonne. These stones will be evaluated over the next several weeks. The Lynx pipe comprises 0.6 ha and is 3 km southwest of the Misery pipe.

The Cougar, Wolverine and Zach pipes all yielded low diamond recoveries. A 74.3-tonne sample of the Cougar pipe returned 0.72 carat, for a preliminary grade of 0.01 carat per tonne. Wolverine yielded 8.59 carats from 130.8 tonnes of drill sample, equal to 0.07 carat per tonne. An 11.3-carat parcel was recovered from a 63.3-tonne sample of Zach, indicating a grade of 0.18 carat per tonne.

In related news, the Ekati mine achieved a significant milestone on Nov. 14, when production reached 5 million carats of rough diamonds since the mine commenced operation in October 1998. Large diamonds continue to be recovered, including a recent low-quality stone weighing 182.6 carats.