FRANKIE!!!
September 26, 2000
Toronto Stock Exchange: ACA
For Immediate Release
PERSEUS KIMBERLITE DISCOVERED AT HEAD OF DIAMONDIFEROUS INDICATOR MINERAL
TRAIN IN NUNAVUT
Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton")
announces the discovery of a kimberlite body, named Perseus, on the Ric
property in Nunavut and reports on other summer 2000 program activities
under the Slave Regional joint venture.
Ric Property
On the Ric property, approximately 250 km northwest of the Ekati mine, the
2000 sampling program uncovered diamonds in till. A 25 kg till sample and a
follow-up till sample of 100 kg collected at the same site produced a total
of 14 microdiamonds, all of which are greater than 0.25 mm in size. A
microdiamond is defined as being greater than 0.1 mm and less than 0.5 mm in
all dimensions. Another till sample collected 550 m to the east contained a
macrodiamond measuring 0.85 x 0.60 x 0.60 mm.
Follow-up prospecting work in the area identified abundant kimberlite float
widely distributed over a strike length of 1.4 km. The float coincides with
till samples exhibiting highly anomalous concentrations of indicator
minerals, including mineral grains with adhering kimberlite. Four separate
samples of float were tested by caustic fusion and all contained
microdiamonds. The best results came from a 31 kg sample which returned
nine microdiamonds.
The kimberlite float sample with the highest microdiamond count is located
in a 300 m wide indicator mineral train that leads to a 400 m by 600 m lake.
The lake is associated with a geophysical anomaly. Drilling commenced at
this location in mid-September and resulted in the discovery of the Perseus
kimberlite when the first hole, drilled to the south at a 45 degree angle,
intersected 11.6 m of kimberlite at a depth of 45.7 m. Three subsequent
holes drilled from the same location at different angles encountered similar
intersections of kimberlite, suggesting the presence of a north-dipping
kimberlite sill with an approximate true width of 10 m. One additional hole
will be drilled into the Perseus kimberlite and at least one additional
geophysical target will be tested before winter shut-down. Core will be
processed for microdiamonds at Ashton's laboratory in North Vancouver.
Ashton is very encouraged by the discovery of diamonds and a new kimberlite
body on the Ric property. A number of indicator mineral trains remain to be
explained, and additional results are expected in early 2001 from the 386
till samples collected on the property during the summer 2000 program.
Further geophysical surveys will be conducted upon receipt of these results
to identify targets for drilling in spring 2001. Claims have recently been
added to the Ric property increasing its size to approximately 51,100
hectares.
Roc, Bel, Con and Kim Properties
Heavy mineral sampling programs were also completed on the other Slave
Regional joint venture properties in Nunavut: Roc, Bel, Con and Kim. The
2000 program focused on encouraging concentrations of indicator minerals
discovered on the Roc, Bel and Con properties in previous years, while a
first round of heavy mineral samples was collected on the Kim property.
Situated approximately 25 km north of the Ric property, the recently staked
Kim property is 53,100 hectares in size. |
