Another diamond project has been swallowed by the black hole of Howe Street. Gary Thompson's Brixton Metals Corp. (BBB), up one-half cent to 13.5 cents on 67,000 shares, has seemingly forgotten about its kimberlite discovery at Langis that had it so enthused late last year. Mr. Thompson, chairman and chief executive officer, revealed last August that Brixton had discovered kimberlite at Langis, a cobalt and silver project in Northeastern Ontario.
The find caught notice because a 6.4-kilogram sample produced a single microdiamond. At the time, Mr. Thompson said that he and his crew were "very intrigued" by the discovery, made while the company was testing its cobalt and silver targets. By November, after 10 of 11 Brixton drill holes had encountered kimberlite, he upgraded his reaction to delight, given the extent of the kimberlite material being encountered in "this exciting new discovery." Mr. Thompson said that Brixton would focus on its Atlin gold project this year but said that the new diamond-bearing kimberlite discovery "represents great optionality for our shareholders."
That optionality has apparently gone poof. Although why is not clear, one can easily guess. In January, in the last formal mention of the project, Mr. Thompson said that Brixton had hit kimberlite in 22 of 24 holes over a 50-hectare area, adding that he was eagerly awaiting the analysis of the samples. The diamond counts never appeared, but they probably arrived a few months later: Brixton had dutifully referred to Langis as a "silver-cobalt-diamond project in Ontario" in the boilerplate ending to all its press releases, but the "diamond" adjective quietly disappeared in April.
Now, in a June presentation, not only are diamonds gone, but the only reference to Langis's other minerals is big red dot on a map, and a bigger blue star on what Brixton calls the "Lassonde exploration value curve." (The chart suggests that the Langis discovery -- the cobalt and silver, not the diamonds -- heralds a rising stock chart, that would eventually be followed by a decline during the "development orphan period." Unfortunately, the Langis kimberlite has already found its way to the orphanage.) |
