Latest Exploration Results Confirm Potential of Kelvin Kimberlite to Host High-Grade Diamond Resource
January 28, 15
Kelvin - Faraday Drilling 2014
(IDEX Online News) – Kennady Diamonds Inc. has received further diamond recovery results from the Kelvin 2014 summer/fall mini-bulk sample program at its wholly owned Kennady North diamond project in the Canada's Northwest Territories. The mini-bulk sample was recovered by drilling along the north lobe of the Kelvin kimberlite.
Approximately 18.88 tonnes of kimberlite was processed by dense media separation (DMS) at the Geoanalytical Laboratories Diamond Services of the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), and a further 5 tonnes was processed by caustic fusion, with 3.77 tonnes being processed at the SRC and 1.23 tonnes being processed at the Rio Tinto diamond laboratory in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
“We are very pleased with the latest diamond recovery results, which confirm that the Kelvin kimberlite has the potential to host a high-grade diamond resource,” says Kennady Diamonds CEO Patrick Evans. Based on drilling and sampling completed to date, Evans estimates that the Kelvin – Faraday kimberlite cluster has the potential to host between 9 and 12 million tonnes at a grade of between 2 and 2.5 carats per tonne.
The three largest diamonds recovered from the Kelvin caustic fusion sample are described as a 0.73-carat off-white, transparent, octahedral with minor inclusions; a 0.61-carat white/colorless, transparent, octahedral with minor inclusions; and a 0.48-carat white/colorless, transparent, octahedral with minor inclusions.
In related news, the company has resumed drilling to extend the strike of the Kelvin kimberlite to the northwest. Kimberlite has been intersected in the first drill hole of the 2015 drill season.
To date Kennady Diamonds has recovered a total of 53.15 tonnes of kimberlite from Kelvin by drilling. Processing of that kimberlite by DMS and caustic fusion methods has yielded 124.90 carats greater than 0.85mm. The largest diamond recovered from that sample weighed 2.48 carats.
According to Evans, the company is currently preparing to take a 500- to 700-tonne bulk sample from Kelvin starting next month, while continuing delineation drilling at the Kelvin and Faraday kimberlites. “We also look forward to commencing our exploration drill program at the diamond-bearing MZ and Doyle kimberlites as well as a number of new exploration targets,” he says.