Yes, they are nice diamond photos - thanks. My interest, however, is in the potential for an economic diamond deposit at Jackson Inlet, i.e tonnage and grade. So far, tonnage is implied only by an artist’s unrealistic rendition of the Freightrain kimberlite. The indicated grade to date is 0.2 c/t.
Bruce Jago's comments, reported by Rob Robertson in a recent Northern Miner article, don't provide much comfort either:
“Now that a larger parcel of stones from Freightrain has been recovered, Lakefield's manager of mineralogical services, Bruce Jago, says he definitely sees some boart, or non-gem quality, stones.
The boart comprises a fairly low proportion of the overall parcel. A lot of these stones are strongly resorbed, meaning they have lost a fair bit of diamond, leading Jago to believe that the boart and the uglier, structurally less-sound stones might break up and dissolve far more easily than the durable, gem-quality stones.
Jago says diamonds could dissolve in the mantle if conditions border between the diamond and graphite stability field or if oxidizing fluids flux through the mantle. Diamonds can also be "resorbed" during kimberlite emplacement into the upper crust if, for whatever reason, the kimberlite becomes more oxidizing.”
The results of the 14 drill-holes at Freightrain that are still to be released are critical. If they are dusters, then Freightrain is dead IMHO. |
