EXPLORATION OF PROMISING AREAS IN MINK-ASHTON KENIEBA DIAMOND
CONCESSION UNDERWAY
January 28, 1998
The Company is pleased to announce having selected with its joint venture partner the most promising
areas in the Kenieba diamond concession and relinquished the balance to the Mali government. The bases
for selecting the present 18,000 sq km (4,447,800 acres) area by the Mink-Ashton joint venture in which
to conduct the 1998 and succeeding exploration programmes include:
the locations of macro and micro diamonds discovered during the recent regional stream sediment,
loam and soil sampling programme;
the locations of significant positive indicator minerals (viz: pyrope garnets, kimberlitic chromite
and picro-ilmenites) identified during the same sampling regime;
the locations of aeromagnetic anomalies already identified by Ashton geophysicists from a 65,000
line kilometre high sensitivity aeromagnetic survey that was conducted by Aerodat Inc. of
Toronto, Ontario in 1997
the locations of ground magnetometer and SLINGRAM geophysical anomalies, again identified by
Ashton Geophysicists, three of which have already been proven as kimberlite pipes.
High Sense Geophysics, which took over from Aerodat Inc., has advised the Company that it now has
technical personnel dedicated exclusively for processing the voluminous data from the 65,000 line km
aeromagnetic survey. The former estimates this work to be completed by mid-February 1998. Based on
the positive indicator mineral results then recovered in the selected area, the Mink-Ashton joint venture is
optimistic that many more aeromagnetic anomalies will be identified by Ashton geophysicists upon High
Sense submitting the final survey results.
The Company is also pleased to announce the start of its detailed kimberlite exploration and evaluation in
the selected area. The primary anomalies being tested are the top ten (10) priority targets selected by
Ashton geophysicists and Dearn Lee, former Chief Mineralogist of Ashton Mining and now Mink
International's Diamond Consultant. The activities involved in evaluating each of these priority targets
include a combination of two or more of the following: diamond drilling, trenching, test pitting and
ground geophysical surveys.
ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY
O.L. de la Cuesta
President |
