METALEX RECOVERS ADDITIONAL LARGE DIAMONDS FROM U2
posted on
Apr 20, 2011 11:26AM
"Explorations In Canada, Greenland, Angola, Mali and Morocco"
Primary recovery of diamonds from the fourth hole is now complete. The hole contains 300 commercial sized stones (greater than 0.425mm) including the previously reported 0.72 carat diamond.
The diamonds recovered to date in the fourth hole (U2-RC-05) are as follows:
Depth | Sampled | Diamonds | Sampled | Grade | |||||
From | To | Interval | Material | # | Ct | Weight | |||
(m) | (m) | (m) | (kg) | (cpht) | |||||
0 | 60 | 60 | Overburden, limestone crater infill with small sections with up to 40% kimberlite - low grade | 8 | 0.059 | 12,194 | 0.5 | ||
60 | 75 | 15 | Crater-kimberlite transition with high country rock content (7 to 60%) - very high grade | 11 | 0.842 | 2,764 | 31.4 | ||
75 | 105 | 30 | Kimberlite - low grade | 18 | 0.040 | 5,208 | 2.1 | ||
105 | 180 | 75 | Kimberlite - high grade | 100 | 1.727 | 11,458 | 15.1 | ||
180 | 270 | 90 | Kimberlite - moderate grade | 76 | 0.694 | 10,038 | 6.9 | ||
270 | 342 | 72 | Kimberlite - moderate to high grade | 87 | 0.752 | 7,414 | 10.1 |
Audit sample results from this hole have not yet been received which could improve the above grades.
The size distribution of the diamonds is very coarse with a high proportion of the diamonds being in the large size categories. This is important for a high average carat value. The following table contains the size distribution of the diamonds recovered and described to date:
Hole | Sieve Sizes (Through / On) | Total | ||||||
0.6mm | 0.85mm | 1.18mm | 1.7mm | 2.36mm | 3.35mm | 4.75mm | ||
0.425mm | 0.6mm | 0.85mm | 1.18mm | 1.7mm | 2.36mm | 3.35mm | ||
U2-RC-02 | 61 | 81 | 56 | 24 | 4 | 3 | - | 229 |
U2-RC-03 | 50 | 121 | 79 | 38 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 302 |
U2-RC-04 | 29 | 96 | 68 | 21 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 227 |
U2-RC-05 | 58 | 137 | 65 | 30 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 300 |
Total | 198 | 435 | 268 | 113 | 32 | 9 | 3 | 1,058 |
Characterization of the colour of all natural diamonds recovered and described to date from the first four holes are presented in the following table:
Hole | White | Yellow | Green | Pink | Brown | Grey | Total | |||||||
# | # | # | # | # | # | # | ||||||||
U2-RC-02 | 97 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 70 | 229 | |||||||
U2-RC-03 | 121 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 84 | 68 | 302 | |||||||
U2-RC-04 | 134 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 56 | 227 | |||||||
U2-RC-05 | 172 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 66 | 300 | |||||||
Total | 524 | 85 | 5 | 5 | 179 | 260 | 1,058 |
To date, as presented in the above table, 49.5% of the diamonds are white; 24.6% are grey; 16.9% are brown; 8% are yellow; 0.5% are pink and 0.5% are green. The proportion of white diamonds continues to improve with increasing diamond size. Of the 44 largest diamonds (greater than 1.7mm), 30 are white, 1 is yellow, 8 are grey and 5 are brown. By weight, white diamonds comprise 59.5% of the parcel and yellow, pink and green diamonds comprise 6.7%.
Metalex is most encouraged by the recovery of two 0.72 carat diamonds from the first four holes of the bulk sample. As shown in the photographs on display on the Company's website (www.metalexventures.com), many of the large diamonds recovered to date from the very large 9.3 hectare U2 kimberlite are spectacular. Furthermore, the high proportion of white and coloured diamonds is exceptional.
Regards,
Hg