Babs - here is a comparison between your PAR find and FALC.
Comparisons With Canada:
"Mining of diamonds from primary sources is carried out since
1958 in Siberia and in China since 1970. Considering
professional prospection had started about at the same time
in (40-50's), Canadian performance is obviously delayed.
Nonetheless, through the proficiency of principally three geo-
logists, two outstanding discoveries were finally registered
in regions separated by 1,200 km. Remarkably however, the time
and the means spent on these discovery paths were vastly
different. As we were told, the first pipe in NWT was traced up
for eight years by following the indicator minerals and some
secretive drill-sites as well. In contrast the 70 kimberlite
targets in the Fort a'la Corne field (FALC), all became available
suddenly and simultaneously within five days (!) by my interpre-
tation of 20-year-old government maps without the use of
indicators and in the region preferently far away from then
celebrated site tended by reputable operator.
While the methodics and the exemplary perseverance on
demanding trail of NWT were as traditional and prodigious,
in the FALC, the approach was definitely pioneering and also
the most effective departure worldwide from textbooks and case histories by applying a vigorous shortcut, by using directly
airborne magnetic maps regardless of being pretty old and with
the lines flown one mile apart and 300 m high. In short,
Her Majesty's maps, generated through Canadian taxpayer money
and then available to anyone for $5.00, became perfect on all accounts.
As a result, operators and multitude of others were actually
offered a new region in NWT, while in the FALC, a new region
on top, most of existing targets, all virtually received without
spending about $100 million on the initial pathways before the
discoveries. Recently, the most advanced operator in NWT
carries out bulk testing of five kimberlite bodies. At such
promising and exuberant times, an observation from a man who
found two out of seven mines in Siberia would illustrate the essentials of such a gigantic task. If you ask Mr. Shchukin what makes a kimberlite mineable, he might tell you: "...it must be the richer, the larger and the closer one". While pondering these parameters, we should also contemplate that, with very few
exceptions, all diamond bearing kimberlites and mines in Siberia
and China were uncovered prior to the introduction of the G-10
garnets sophistication....Dr. J. G. Strnad 1995" |
