Hello Mark & All
In follow up to my post on May 2nd Lytton's Friday NR may be of interest.
LYTTON MINERALS LIMITED AND NEW INDIGO RESOURCES INC. ANNOUNCE LARGE DIAMONDS EXTRACTED FROM JD/OD-1 BULK SAMPLE
VANCOUVER, Aug. 8 /CNW/ - Lytton Minerals Limited (TSE/VSE:LTL)
New Indigo Resources Inc. (ASE:NDR)
Lytton Minerals Limited and New Indigo Resources Inc. (the ``Companies'')
are pleased to announce further results from the 15,000 tonne underground bulk
sample extracted from the JD/OD-1 diamond pipe located in their Jericho
diamond project region.
Valuation of Diamonds
The Companies have now obtained from the Central Selling Organization
(the ``CSO'') an appraisal of the 6,550 carats of diamonds recovered from the
initial 5,088 tonnes of kimberlite process from the JD/OD-1 pipe, as announced
in their press release of June 3, 1997. The average value per carat of the
entire sample has been given as US $61.71. The presence of an unusual number
of larger stones in the sample is an encouraging feature and one which could
materially influence future valuations. The average value of stones below
10.8 carats, which can be readily priced by reference to the CSO's standard
pricing book, is estimated at US $59.25 per carat.
JD/OD-1 Bulk Sample Progress
A further 4,313 tonnes of the bulk sample has been processed, from which
3,989 carats were recovered, bringing the average grade for the full 9,401
tonnes processed so far to 1.18 carats per tonne. The reduction in the
average grade for the sample is due to testing of the less productive areas,
or phases, of the pipe.
The sizes of the larger stones recovered from the 9,401 tonnes processed
to date are summarized as follows:
<<
Weight Class Number of
(Carats) Diamonds
------------ ---------
Plus 40 1
35 - 40 0
30 - 35 1
25 - 30 1
20 - 25 2
15 - 20 5
10 - 15 13
5 - 10 44
>>
The largest diamond recovered is just over 40 carats, and the largest gem
quality diamond is 23.89 carats.
The 9,401 tonnes processed to date have provided sufficiently
representative coverage of all phases within the pipe to enable the Companies
to make any future development decisions. Accordingly, further processing of
the remaining sample material has been suspended. The unprocessed sample
material remains available for processing and further evaluation should the
need arise.
Testing of the JD/OD-1 has revealed that the phases within the pipe vary
in grade from 0.30 ct/tonne to 1.96 ct/tonne but tend to have broadly
consistent size distributions. Preliminary scoping studies based on initially
mining the higher grade phases suggest that the JD/OD-1 pipe could support a
1,650 tonne per day mine, with a capital cost of approximately $50 million
(Canadian). Further refinement of these scoping studies is continuing, and it
is anticipated that these will form the basis for pre-feasibility and
feasibility studies.
The Jericho diamond project region is centred approximately 20 kilometres
north of Lupin in the Northwest Territories and includes the land-based
JD/OD-1 and JD/OD-2 kimberlite pipes, as well as the JD/OD-3 pipe in respect
of which the Companies have recently released the results of a mini-bulk
sample. The Companies' ongoing exploration efforts in the Jericho region have
identified numerous indicator mineral trains and evaluation of targets for
future drilling is currently under way.
Looks as if my source was not too far off.
Regards |
