Ashton sizes up new kimberlite finds

The first set of caustic fusion results from three of the nine new kimberlites discovered during the 1998 winter exploration drilling program on the Buffalo Hills project in north-central Alberta shows a small number of both micro and macrodiamonds in the WP kimberlite.

Ashton Mining of Canada (ACA-T), the operator of Buffalo Hills, holds a 42.5% interest in the original 566,000-ha core package. Alberta Energy (AEC-T) also holds a 42.5% share, with the remaining 15% held by Pure Gold Minerals (PUG-T).

The joint-venture partnership also covers an 1.6 million ha of surrounding ground. A broader package, comprising 9.2 million ha, is held 49% by Pure Gold, with the remaining 51% split equally between Ashton and Alberta Energy.

An 89-kg, reverse-circulation (RC) drill sample of rock chips from WP returned 2 macros and 2 micros. (A macro is defined here as exceeding 0.5 mm in at least one dimension.) The two larger stones measured 1.6 mm and 0.6 mm in their maximum dimensions.

The WP kimberlite sits between the K-14 complex and K-91, two of the more promising Buffalo Hills kimberlites tested to date. WP is 550 metres north of the K-14 complex, while K-91 is 2.3 km north-northwest of K-14.

During the winter program, Ashton collected a 450-tonne bulk sample from K-14 using two RC drill rigs. That sample will be processed at a new 10-tonne-per-hour, modular dense-media-separation diamond recovery plant that is being installed on site. Results are not expected until much later in the year.

A 40-tonne, mini-bulk sample was also collected from the K-91 kimberlite.

This material is being processed in Ashton’s North Vancouver plant, and results are expected early in the third quarter.

Microdiamond testing of two recent kimberlite finds, dubbed K-3 and K-95, recovered no diamonds from samples weighing 180.2 kg and 90 kg, respectively. The two kimberlites occur in a southern cluster, 25 km south and southwest of the K-14 kimberlite complex.

Ashton says the results are consistent with ones that seem to show fewer of the kimberlites in this cluster are diamondiferous.

The results for the other six new kimberlites — K-10, K-11, K-15, K-32, K-92 and K-93 — are expected within the next few weeks. These discoveries were made about 30 km to the east and southeast of kimberlite K-14.

Since January 1997, Ashton has found a total of 23 kimberlite bodies in the Buffalo Hills region. Unlike previous drilling programs, the 1998 winter program utilized RC drilling instead of core drilling. At Ashton’s annual meeting, President John Auston acknowledged that core drilling was the best method to use, but noted that RC drilling allowed for a quicker and cheaper way to test a greater number of magnetic targets.

This summer, Ashton will complete reconnaissance surveys in order to prepare targets for drilling next winter. Auston says there are many anomalies left to examine in the central portion of the original Buffalo Hills property.

In addition, Ashton is just starting to receive results from large aeromagnetic surveys flown over the surrounding land packages. “It looks as if there are further anomalies to be checked there,” said Auston. “I anticipate there will be many more to come on the new surveys.” Meanwhile, Ashton has made plans to continue its exploration efforts in the Northwest Territories in 1998. Last year, the company staked three new properties — Ric, Roc and Bel — to the north, west and east of Lytton Minerals’ (LTL-T) Jericho project. Ten properties covering a total of 182,794 ha are now held under the Slave joint venture, 76% owned by Ashton and 24% by Pure Gold.

Ashton plans to follow-up on a first-pass, heavy-mineral sampling program completed in 1997 over the Con, Ric and Roc properties. Targets at the 28,732-ha JC project will also be evaluated.

More work is planned for the Roundrock property, west of the Lac de Gras region, where several small diamondiferous kimberlites have been discovered, including the Aquila kimberlite fissure.

Drilling completed during 1997 on six geophysical anomalies intersected two kimberlite dykes up to three metres in width at sites 500 metres and 1,500 metres north of the Aquila kimberlite.

Ashton can earn 51% interests in both the JC and Roundrock properties, which are held on a 50-50 basis by Lytton and Pure Gold.

In northern Quebec, Ashton will be continuing a reconnaissance sampling program and following-up on any prospective anomalies. The Quebec program is a joint-venture partnership with Quebec government-owned Soquem.