Mon Feb 3, 2003 Diamondex Granted Prospecting Permits Totaling 6.15 Million Acres in the NWT Vancouver, BC
Diamondex Resources Ltd. (DSP-TSX) ("Diamondex") is pleased to report that the Company has been granted 139 prospecting permits totaling 6.15 million acres centered approximately 310 kilometers north of Norman Wells, NWT (see attached map). The Company applied for the permits following a heavy mineral concentrate sampling program undertaken in an area referred to as the Lena West Project during the 2002 field season.
The Lena West Project area was selected for evaluation on the basis of the region's geologic and tectonic similarities to the important diamond producing regions of the East Siberian kimberlite province. Dr. Nikolai Pokhilenko, the Chief Research Geologist for the Russian Diamond Company (Almazy Rossii -- Sakha Co. Ltd.) and overseer of the program, theorized that the Phanerozoic sediments of this portion of the Interior Platform are underlain by stable crustal material similar in areal extent to the Slave Province. Furthermore, Dr. Pokhilenko's study of Tertiary river drainages and Quaternary glaciation cycles affecting the region indicated that the Lena West Project area was the primary source for numerous alluvial diamonds previously reported from the Yukon River basin located to the west. The same study negates the possibility that these diamonds were transported from the Slave Craton kimberlites, which are located 1,400 kilometers to the east.
Field sampling of the most promising sites for the hydraulic concentration of kimberlite indicator minerals was undertaken in August and September of 2002. Evaluation of these stream sediment samples has produced significant concentrations of pyrope garnet, picroilmenite, and more rarely, chromite within the Lena West Project area. Dr. Pokhilenko has stated, "The nature of the recovered indicator minerals (IM) and their distribution in the prospective area is typical for IM halos of kimberlite regions of the Siberian Diamond Province." Dr. Pokhilenko went on to report that the Lena West Project area overlies a new kimberlite province which probably hosts several kimberlite clusters and that "the multiple finds of coarse diamond crystals made through gold placer mining operations in the upper Yukon River basin (several finds of diamonds up to 8 mm in size and up to 28 diamonds recovered in the Klondike and 60 Mile River areas) is excellent evidence for the presence of high grade pipes (such as the Udachnaya, Aikal, and Mir pipes of Yakutia) in the Lena West Project area."
Dr. Pokhilenko has over 35 years experience exploring for diamonds in various parts of the world. As well as serving as the Chief Research Geologist for the Russian Diamond Company, Dr. Pokhilenko is the Head of the Laboratory of Diamond Deposits at the Diamond Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk, Russia. He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Soviet Union, for his efforts in locating diamond deposits in Russia. Dr. Pokhilenko played a key role in the discovery of the diamondiferous Snap Lake Dyke and has served as a technical advisor to Diamondex Resources Ltd. and its predecessor company, Winspear Resources Ltd., since 1994.
Early reconnaissance work by the Company in the 25,000 square kilometer permit area could represent the discovery of one of the most significant new kimberlite fields since the Lac des Gras discovery of 1991. The Company has approved a $2.0 million budget for 2003, which includes a major sampling program and geophysical surveys for the delineation of drill targets. Dr. Pokhilenko will continue to provide technical guidance for the Lena West Project. A team of Russian geoscientists will work alongside Diamondex personnel through the current exploration season. Further details concerning the Lena West exploration program will be announced in the near future.
Diamondex holds a large and prospective portfolio of diamond exploration properties located in the southern Slave province and the lower Mackenzie River area of the Northwest Territories, the Coronation Gulf diamond district of Nunavut, and northern Quebec. The company holds a 100% interest in 7,658,000 acres comprised of 15 diamond properties. Diamondex has recently announced several exploration programs for these properties with fieldwork slated to begin during the latter half of February.
David Clarke, P.Geol., M.Sc., Vice President of Exploration for Diamondex Resources Ltd. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for program design and quality control of exploration undertaken by Diamondex Resources Ltd. |
