The Kelvin winter camp last March at Kennady Diamonds Inc.'s Kennady Lake diamond project. The company has released the results of ore grading from a mini-bulk sample. - Bill Braden photo courtesy Kennady Diamonds Inc. |
Results bolster junior company
Kennady Diamonds posts recent diamond grades
Walter Strong
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 12, 2015
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Kennady Diamonds Inc. (TSX.V:KDI) has moved that much closer to proving it has a prospective diamond mine in its sights.
On Dec. 24, the company released the diamond recovery results from a nearly 19 tonne mini-bulk sample collected from its Kennady North diamond project located approximately 280 km northeast of Yellowknife near Gahcho Kue.
An independent diamond lab returned a grade of 2.59 carats per tonne (c/t), which is an improvement on a previous 25-tonne bulk sample collected in the winter of 2013-14 that returned 2.15 c/t.
"We are very pleased with the latest diamond recovery results," said Kennady Diamonds CEO Patrick Evens in a press release. "Based on drilling and sampling completed to date, we estimate that the Kelvin–Faraday kimberlite cluster has the potential to host between nine and 12 million tonnes."
The Kelvin-Faraday kimberlite cluster is a collection of potentially diamond-bearing kimberlites along what is approximately a two kilometre corridor connecting the main Kelvin and Faraday kimberlites to in west-east orientation.
Kennady Diamonds acquired the 61,000 hectare property in 2012 from Mountain Province Diamonds, a co-developer of the Gahcho Kue diamond mine with De Beers, and expects to have a first resource estimate in hand by the middle of this year.
The mini-bulk sample was collected after more than 27,000 metres of drilling last year that produced approximately 55 tonnes of kimberlite ore.
In addition to the 25 tonnes that produced the grade announced, a combined total of five tonnes were sent to other labs for testing, although those results are not yet in.
The highest sample grade from the mini-bulk collection was 4.21 c/t contained in 5.87 tonnes.
The lowest was 0.37 c/t from a 2.62 tonne sample. In total, 720 diamonds larger than 0.85 mm were contained in the 18.88 tonne sample.
The largest diamonds were a 1.11 carat off-white, transparent aggregate with inclusions, a 1.10 carat white/colourless, transparent irregular with inclusions, a 0.95 carat off-white, transparent, octahedral with no inclusions and a 0.90 carat white/colourless, transparent, dodecahedron with no inclusions.
The company recently commissioned a new 50-person winter camp for its 2015 winter drilling program already underway. This winter's program is intended to produce a 500-to-700 tonne bulk sample and to advance Kennady's understanding of two more kimberlites on the property.
