Shear (SRM) News:
Shear, Stornoway discover kimberlite pipes at Churchill
Shear Minerals Ltd SRM
Shares issued 26,920,727 Jul 25 close $0.87
Mon 28 Jul 2003 News Release
Also (SWY)
Ms. Pamela Strand of Shear Minerals reports
SHEAR MINERALS LTD. AND STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION: ELEVEN KIMBERLITE PIPES DISCOVERED ON CHURCHILL PROJECT 2003 DRILLING PROGRAM SUMMARY The first phase of drilling on the Churchill diamond project is now complete.
The six-week, 1,275-metre program tested 15 targets within a
600-square-kilometre area and resulted in the discovery of 11 kimberlite pipes. Unreported results include a 71-metre intercept of kimberlite at Tuktu-1 which ended in kimberlite, and the discovery of two new kimberlite
pipes: Tuktu-2 where 20 metres of kimberlite was intersected and Tuktu-3 which ended in kimberlite after a 66-metre intersection. Each of the 11 bodies is associated with a prominent circular magnetic high or low signature ranging from 100 to 400 metres in diameter and was tested with one or two vertical drill holes. Two anomalies were tested with a second drill hole in order to obtain the optimum sample size for diamond analysis. Kimberlite intercepts ranged from four to 94 metres and a total of about 1,000 kilograms of material has been collected for diamond analysis. Two of the targets proved non-kimberlitic and two others could not be explained due to difficult drilling conditions. "It is encouraging to have discovered pipes over such a wide area and so early in the Churchill exploration program," says Pamela Strand, president and chief executive officer of Shear. "The spatial distribution of kimberlites coupled with the excellent regional kimberlite indicator mineral chemistry has increased our confidence in the merit of the Churchill diamond project." The Churchill project encompasses more than 1.5 million acres located near the community of Rankin Inlet in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. So far, 217 magnetic targets have been identified, 29 of which are high priority, from a 16,307-line-kilometre magnetic survey conducted in 2002 over about one-third of the property. Indicator minerals commonly associated with diamond-bearing kimberlites have also been identified from regional till
sampling surveys within this region. Much of the property remains
under-explored, and in January, 2003, the partners approved a budget of
$2.5-million for additional land acquisition, airborne and ground
geophysical surveys, kimberlitic indicator mineral sampling, prospecting, and drilling. A propertywide kimberlitic indicator mineral sampling program was initiated in early July and 526 samples have been collected to date. In addition, regional airborne magnetic surveys have commenced over previously untested portions of the property. The success of the first-phase drilling campaign combined with a growing list of priority drill-ready ground magnetic targets may result in an expansion of the 2003 program to include a second phase of drilling later this summer. "Going into the Rankin Inlet area, we knew there were previously discovered kimberlites that were barren. The reasons we chose to explore where we did was because the mineral chemistry was exceptional and suggestive of diamond-bearing kimberlites in our locality. We have not changed our view," says Ms. Strand. The 2003 field program is under the supervision of Dean Besserer, PGeol, of APEX Geoscience Ltd., a qualified person under NI 43-101. Mr. Besserer is responsible for all aspects of the projects supervision including quality assurance, quality control and sample chain of custody. Shear has a 51-per-cent interest and is operator on the Churchill diamond
project. Stornoway Diamond and BHP Billiton have 35-per-cent and
14-per-cent interests.
(c) Copyright 2003 Canjex Publishing Ltd. stockwatch.com
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