Did you say the newsletter writers are busy penning as we speak?
THE RESOURCE INDICATOR
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Vol. 2, No. 33 staking VALUE early
July 14, 1998
MARUM RESOURCES INC.
The Alberta Geological Survey report "Diamonds in Alberta" outlines
the potential of the Chinchaga and Hearne terrane to host diamonds.
Marum has a position in approximately 1.3 million acres in northern
and southern Alberta.
DECLARATION: I established a small position following the initial
write-up. I intend to hold this position until the new targets are drilled.
HOLD FOR DRILL PROGRAM (MMU.a/$0.11)
The Alberta Diamond Play (ADP) has been under pressure as juniors
fail to find a kimberlite pipe. Ashton has also been in a vacuum of
news. Juniors such as Montello, Lucero, Victory Ventures and others
have spent a considerable amount of money, in a difficult market
environment, to come up with blanks. Not only did their drilling come
out empty, but the cores yielded no information to help them in their
search.
STEP AFTER STEP THE LADDER IS ASCENDED
This however is not true for Marum. The Marum/CaribGold joint
Venture took a more conservative and financially responsible route.
They have spent only a fraction ($500,000 to date, 50% each) of what
other juniors have (5 times as much) and have learned a considerable
deal about their property.
When a visual description of the core was first released, I speculated
that MMU/CG had found an area of volcanic activity. I also speculated
that that they will find Olivine and other indicator minerals from their
core analysis. The news release this morning confirms my speculation
and is strong technically but of little promotional value in this market.
THE RAIN OF TEARS IS NECESSARY TO THE HARVEST OF
LEARNING
The News release contains a considerable amount of information on
indicator minerals. Before presenting my summary of what we have
learned from the release, I think it would be beneficial to first discuss
indicator minerals and their usefulness in general. Most of this general
information is taken from Natural Resources Canada.
Geochemical methods of diamond exploration rely on recognizing
indicator minerals that formed in the earth's upper mantle, within the
diamond stability field, and were entrained in rapidly rising volatile-
rich magmas and emplaced in or on the crust. Diamonds are only stable
at high pressure. Therefore, diamond exploration commonly targets
prospects containing high-pressure minerals such as low-Ca, high-Cr
("G") garnets and high-Cr chromites, similar to inclusions in diamonds.
However, this procedure can be ambiguous; some barren pipes contain
abundant "G10" garnets, while such garnets are extremely rare in the
Argyle pipe, the world's largest diamond producer. Similarly, high-Cr
chromites are shed by a wide variety of barren rock types.
Studies by GSC scientists and others indicate that debris eroded from
orebodies was dropped mostly within a few kilometres of its bedrock
source, in till, the sediment deposited directly from glacial ice.
Diamond exploration in glaciated terrain differs from precious or base
metal exploration in that it uses indicator minerals and boulders, instead
of till geochemistry, to detect glacial dispersal from a kimberlite.
Kimberlites are small (few hundred meters across), circular point
sources. They are relatively soft rocks that have been preferentially
eroded by preglacial weathering and glacial scouring to deeper levels
than the surrounding bedrock surface and as a consequence are covered
by lakes or thick glacial sediments.
Several minerals are useful indicators of kimberlite, and to a certain
extent, in evaluation of the diamond potential of kimberlite. These
minerals survive glacial transport, are far more abundant in kimberlite
than diamond and are visually and chemically distinct. Cr-pyrope,
eclogitic garnet, Cr-diopside, Mg-ilmenite, Cr-spinel, and Olivine are
the most commonly used kimberlite indicator minerals, although in rare
cases, diamond is abundant enough to be its own indicator (Winspear).
Kimberlite indicator minerals are recovered from the medium to very
coarse sand-sized fraction of glacial sediments, and analyzed by
electron microprobe to determine concentrations of major oxides. Other
chemical criteria include Na2O levels in eclogitic and MgO and Cr2O3
concentrations in ilmenites to determine probability of diamond
preservation.
GRAIN BY GRAIN, AND THE HEN FILLS HER BELLY
With the above in mind, lets analyse the Marum results.
* The geochemical sampling program in late 1997 recovered indicator
minerals that suggest a kimberlite origin. These include, chrome
diopsides; G3, G5 and G9 pyropes; and one G11 pyrope with an
unusually high chrome content of 13.76%. As discussed above,
high chrome in the pyropes is a very positive sign as they are judged
to have a diamond inclusion composition. Ashton has also
recovered pyropes, with similar chrome content, down-ice of their
pipes. Marum only probed a small sub-set of the picked samples as
the cost can be anywhere from $50 to $100 per grain.
* The core samples also included a broad range of indicator minerals.
Some of the minerals recovered are considered exclusive to a
kimberlite source. These include pristine, black, high-titanium
biotite crystals and altered olivine in the volcanic ash. The biotites,
due to their titanium content, are interpreted to have likely come
from a kimberlite or related intrusion such as a minette or
lamproite. These biotites are considered rare for northern Alberta.
The abundance of recoverable biotite suggests a near to source
volcanic event. Also, biotites and olivine do not survive transport.
Olivine will not even survive much weathering. This is another
indication of a near to source volcanic event.
* Abundant chrome-bearing picro-ilmenites were recovered from the
green sandy tuff. Some of the picro-ilmenites are encrusted with
perovskite, a calcium titanium oxide. Perovskite is commonly used
as an indicator of kimberlite. Also, all of the samples of volcanic
ash and sandy tuff contain abundant shards of volcanic quench
glass. Texturally, the sandy tuff is a lapilli tuff formed when
volcanic ash falls through the very wet clouds that always form at
volcanic eruptions. The water and air action agglomerates the ash
into little balls or "lapilli" and they fall to earth or to water (similar
to hailstone formation). These are very common to all types of
volcanoes. The difference here is the contained volcanic glass
shards and the ilmenties with perovskite reaction rims. This is
virtually exclusive to kimberlite pipes, especially in the quantity
recovered by Marum. These ilmenites are also rare in northern
Alberta and likely come from a more local volcanic source. Also,
these ilmenites would not have survived transport of any great
distance in the sedimentary or glacial environment as Mg-ilmenites
are destroyed very quickly by physical and chemical alteration.
Ashton reports ilmenites with high MgO and elevated Nb2O5 to be
important because these grains are considered to be indicative of
kimberlites or related intrusions. To date, although ilmenites have
been discovered throughout Alberta, very few have a high MgO
content.
* Many South African kimberlite clusters have been found solely on
the basis of finding picro (high-Mg) ilmenites and that many South
African kimberlites yield picroilmenites with very few other
indicator minerals.
* The volcanic ash also yielded a fragile fragment of a mantle derived
"ascent granulite" containing two types of pyroxene and a garnet.
This provides an independent confirmation of a nearby deeply
sourced volcanic pipe. The granulite was recovered from within the
ash that is about 85 million years old. The possibility of till
contamination is low since there are no similar exposed rocks, up-
ice, for about 3,000 kilometres. The combination of olivine, garnet
and two pyroxenes from one sample suggests deep crustal xenoliths
from a diatreme/kimberlite have been locally transported to surface.
This fragment may have been glacially transported but we would
not expect it to survive glacial transport without being completely
altered.
* Based on auger drilling, the area is known to have thin drift and
therefore even a few indicator minerals in drift should be
considered highly important.
* The stratigraphy is consistent with that of the Buffalo Head Hills
area where the Ashton kimberlites have been discovered. Marum
has shown that its properties in terms of geology, indicator mineral
geochemistry, and age, are similar to the Buffalo Head Hills area.
* The majority of the newly identified high priority anomalies are east
and north of previously drilled auger holes. Much drilling has been
performed in Alberta on magnetic anomalies that could easily have
been kimberlites but were not, therefore there are many other
geological features in northern Alberta that can yield magnetic
signatures similar to kimberlite. The only way to sort or prioritize
the anomalies is with systematic sampling over top of and down-ice
of prospective clusters of anomalies. Marum recognized this at an
early stage and the auger drilling was designed with this purpose in
mind.
* It should also be noted that similar sampling and exploration
techniques with an emphasis on till/stream sediment led to the
discoveries of Monopros' Mountain Lake Kimberlite and some of
Ashton's kimberlites in Alberta. As well, the Alberta Geological
Survey (AGS) had collected a till sample during September of 1995
which contained numerous important indicator minerals that were
believed to have been derived from a kimberlitic source. The
sample was, in fact, very close to Ashton's K4 kimberlite, which
was discovered at a later date.
The Chinchaga diamond exploration program has progressively yielded
results that point to the existence of kimberlitic or related intrusions
within the project area. These data include extremely fragile,
vulnerable crystals of olivine and high-titanium biotite recovered from
weathered volcanic ash and sandy tuff drill core samples. Additionally,
minerals that only form in rising kimberlite magmas have been
recovered from sandy tuff samples. High-resolution magnetic data now
provides a rich selection of extremely powerful magnetic targets that
have not yet been tested by drilling. The exploration results
accumulated to date point to the existence of a nearby ultramafic,
probably kimberlitic, source for the volcanic ash and sandy tuff units.
It should also be noted that two of the targets that were previously auger
drilled (targets 6 and 7) have coincidental low priority magnetic
anomalies based on the newly flown 200 m line spaced survey. That is,
the majority of the medium to high priority anomalies were not
observed in the original 600 m line-spaced Spectra data and MMU/CG
did not auger drill over top of these anomalies. Some newly recognized
anomalies and/or clusters of anomalies are in close proximity (within a
few km's) to previously drilled auger holes. These anomalies should be
followed up by field exploration.
Ashton has done till sampling on their ground to help identify targets.
Troymin is doing the same on their ground and I suspect other juniors
will also follow this route.
BETTER NEVER TO BEGIN THAN NEVER TO MAKE AN END
Many juniors, including Marum, do not have the cash to drill on their
properties. Many have signed tentative financing deals with Yorkton,
giving Yorkton a license to short the stock. In the absence of any
discovery, this suicide course of action will render most juniors inactive
until a new discovery, outside of Ashton ground, is made. With this in
mind, who is going to drill first?
It is in the interest of the juniors to wait for Ashton's K91 and bulk
sample results from K14. Positive results will bring some attention
back to the play and give juniors a reason to risk their piggy bank. I
continue to favour Troymin and New Claymore for speculation in the
Buffalo Head region and Marum for speculation in Chinchaga.
THE BEST FISH SWIM NEAR THE BOTTOM
MMU/CG has now identified an area known to contain mineral
assemblages similar to those contained in kimberlites. Furthermore, the
indicator minerals discovered are believed to be in close proximity to
their probable source. The area of interest also contains associated
positive magnetic signatures in several clusters of point targets as
identified by the 200 m HRAM survey. The next step, a field sampling
program, will identify specific drill targets for future work. Apex has
proposed a helicopter sampling and anomaly validation program to be
completed by early September. CaribGold is currently considering the
recommendation and should have a decision within the next few weeks.
This release is very positive technically but inconclusive to the market.
It also does not offer what speculators are searching for - a kimberlite
pipe. The purpose of the auger drilling was not to find a "pipe" but to
sample the till. MMU is not well known and not in the general
market's radar screen. It needs to get speculators attention (so that they
can review the progress to date) and this release will not do it. Another
weakness in the release is that CaribGold, the operator, has not yet
committed to the next stage of exploration. CG has always been very
conservative and this is now having a negative effect on Marum's stock
price. The market needs to see an aggressive approach from CaribGold
on these positive results. They need to state that drilling will follow
field sampling. I do not think this will happen. They will most likely
commit to a field sampling program only, (if they do not than I would
question why they are in the diamond exploration business) before
making a decision on the drilling program.
As stated above, Marum is also in a cash crunch. Most of the current
financing attempt is expected to be taken by the insiders. MMU's stock
price is unlikely to perform until drilling starts and money is raised.
With an outstanding financing and a lack of decision from CG, it is
advisable for existing speculators to hold their position and for new
speculators to wait for the above milestones. I suggest we continue to
hold MMU until a drill tests some of these targets. This, in all
likelihood, will not happen till 1999.
Sincerely,
Sudhir Khanna, P.Eng.,
Editor, The RESOURCE INDICATOR
staking VALUE early |
