This Streetwire from WillP puts the new Nunavut diamond play of Ashton and Tahera into proper context. There has been a great deal of pumping done by brokers, newsletter writers and chat group participants touting the play as the next Ekati/Diavik. The area play is drawing in a host of other explorers and promoters including Rhonda mining, Diamondex, Rio Tinto/Kennecott, De Beers, Miramar and Hope Bay (they are on strike of Ashton's pipes), and a host of other hopefuls.
Fact is, the results aren't that good yet when you take into account the costs to operate a mine in this region. They may get better, but they may get worse if the past is any guide.
One thing you can be assured of,...all those brokers, touts, NL writers etc., with any brains have already sold enough shares to reduce their costs to zero or less.
As a squished hamster,...I should warn hamsters of all types out there not to marry the play, or you may become squished like me (gggggggggggggggggggggggg) This squished hamster is riding the wave now with freebies. May the farce be with us.
Tahera ponders another piece of its northern puzzle
Tahera Corp TAH
Shares issued 291,137,150 Dec 11 close $0.15
Tue 11 Dec 2001 Street Wire
by Will Purcell
Tahera Corporation supplied another piece of the North Slave diamond puzzle
on Tuesday, with the second set of diamond counts from its Anuri East
kimberlite. The small sample contained diamonds in a similar quantity as
did the first batch of kimberlite, and the combined result is likely
sufficient that Anuri East will get a closer look next year. Nevertheless,
the diamond counts are lower than the number of stones yielded by the main
Anuri kimberlite.
The results from several of the recently discovered kimberlites have been
touted as comparing favourably with early results from the Lac de Gras
area. Of course, the economic discoveries at Lac de Gras contained
significantly better results than the initial finds, and only time and more
work will tell if any of the kimberlites discovered so far in southern
Nunavut have what it takes.
The latest sample from Anuri East weighed 51.4 kilograms, and it contained
41 diamonds, of which 16 were macro-sized stones. Just three of those
diamonds were large enough to remain on a 0.5-millimetre mesh, and none of
them exceeded one millimetre in two dimensions. The initial sample weighed
78 kilograms, and it yielded 68 diamonds, including 18 macros. Two of those
were longer than 0.5 millimetre in two dimensions, and one was sufficiently
large to remain on a one-millimetre screen.
In all, the 129.4 kilograms of kimberlite from Anuri East contained
diamonds at the rate of about 850 per tonne, and macro-sized stones at the
rate of about 260 per tonne, or about 40 per tonne using the more stringent
definition of a macrodiamond. Just eight of the diamonds were large enough
to remain on a one-millimetre screen, per tonne of kimberlite.
Those numbers are significantly lower than those produced by the 656
kilograms of kimberlite taken from the main Anuri kimberlite. The Anuri
samples held just over 1,400 diamonds per tonne, or about 70 per cent more
than Anuri East. As well, Anuri contained just over 500 macros per tonne,
nearly double the number at Anuri East. The Anuri kimberlite contained
diamonds larger than 0.5 millimetre in two dimensions at the rate of 93 per
tonne, which was more than double the number at Anuri East, and 14 of those
would have remained on a one-millimetre screen. Perhaps the best indication
that the main Anuri kimberlite has a healthier size distribution curve was
the fact that one of the stones weighed an impressive 0.75 carat.
The latest sample from Anuri East would seem to suggest that the diamond
content of the kimberlite is significantly less than at Anuri, but the
samples are still far too small to provide more than a guess about the
ultimate grade of either body, and there remains the possibility that there
are multiple phases of kimberlite present, with widely varying grades.
Nevertheless, it seems that Anuri is the better bet of the two, and the two
recent discoveries by Ashton Mining of Canada also seem to rate higher than
Anuri East. The initial sample from Ashton's Artemisia kimberlite weighed
103.2 kilograms, and it yielded 342 diamonds, including 38 macros. A total
of 13 of those were longer than 0.5 millimetre in two dimensions, and one
was longer than one millimetre in three dimensions. Based on that small
sample, Artemisia contained 3,300 diamonds per tonne. It also held about
370 macros per tonne, and approximately 125 of those would have been larger
than 0.5 millimetre in two dimensions, with about 10 large enough to remain
on a one-millimetre screen. Those numbers would suggest that Artemisia
contains significantly more diamonds than Anuri East, and the kimberlite
might even rival Anuri as the best of the lot so far.
Ashton's second kimberlite was also significantly diamondiferous, although
the diamond counts from the hypabyssal facies at Potentilla did not match
the numbers produced by the diatreme phase. About 129 kilograms of diatreme
kimberlite contained 160 diamonds, including 15 macros. Seven of those were
larger than 0.5 millimetre in two dimensions, and one was longer than one
millimetre in two dimensions, with two more narrowly missing the cut. Those
numbers seem marginally better than those from Anuri East, but the
differences are certainly not statistically relevant, given the small
sample sizes. The hypabyssal kimberlite at Potentilla yielded 70 diamonds
from 78.7 kilograms of rock, and just seven of those were macro-sized
stones.
Ashton plans to take a much closer look at both Artemisia and Potentilla
next year, and mini-bulk samples of up to 10 tonnes could be taken from
both kimberlites. Meanwhile, Tahera and its partner, Kennecott Canada, plan
to continue their evaluation of the economic potential of both Anuri and
Anuri East beginning in February, and that certainly seems a reasonable
course of action based on the decent counts and small sample sizes.
Although all four of the kimberlites discovered in the North Slave region
last year have produced encouraging diamond counts, it is far too early to
be counting new diamond mines in Nunavut, based on the outcome of some
earlier sampling programs. In the late 1990s, Tahera produced some very
encouraging numbers from its Contwoyto-1 kimberlite pipe, which is located
about 125 kilometres to the southeast of the Anuri kimberlites.
The initial sample weighed about 90 kilograms, and it created a bit of a
stir when 169 diamonds were recovered. Of those, 26 were macro-sized
stones, including 12 that were large enough to remain on a 0.5-millimetre
mesh, and one that exceeded one millimetre in two dimensions. The second
sample was even better. Rock weighing 122 kilograms contained 657 diamonds,
including 54 macrodiamonds. About 25 of those met the more stringent
definition, and five stones were longer than one millimetre in two
dimensions. Three of those had a bit of substance. The largest diamond
weighed 0.09 carat, and two others weighed a total of about 0.05 carat.
In all, about 212 kilograms of Contwoyto-1 kimberlite contained diamonds at
the rate of about 3,900 per tonne. About 375 of those were macros, with
about 175 of those meeting the more stringent definition. As well, a tonne
of Contwoyto-1 kimberlite might be expected to contain nearly 30 diamonds
large enough to remain on a one-millimetre screen.
Those numbers seem superior even to those produced by the main Anuri
kimberlite, although Anuri's 0.75-carat stone certainly beats the
0.09-carat gem produced by Contwoyto-1. Unfortunately, the optimism
surrounding the initial diamond counts from Contwoyto-1 quickly evaporated
once Tahera completed a 50-tonne mini-bulk sample. The rock produced just
13.6 carats, for an indicated grade of 0.27 carat per tonne, with four
distinct phases of kimberlite having grades between 0.15 carat per tonne
and 0.48 carat per tonne. The grade at Contwoyto-1 was deemed too low to
merit further work, at least for now.
Tahera had better luck with its Jericho JD/OD-1 kimberlite pipe. Diamond
counts from 2.4 tonnes of kimberlite suggested that the pipe contained
about 1,800 diamonds per tonne and about 730 macros per tonne. Tahera, or
Lytton Minerals as it was then known, did not reveal the two-dimensional
lengths of any of the diamonds, but the pipe did contain nearly 200
diamonds per tonne that were longer than one millimetre in one dimension,
and about 16 of those were longer than two millimetres. Bulk sampling
ultimately revealed that the Jericho pipe had a grade of about 0.7 carat
per tonne. As well, the pipe had six discrete phases of kimberlite, with
grades approaching two carats per tonne. Tahera laid plans to mine a
portion of the Jericho pipe, with the average grade of the rock included in
its mine plan just over one carat per tonne.
Other potentially economic kimberlites in Canada's North have produced
diamond counts that clearly seem superior to those from the North Slave.
The Hearne pipe was discovered at Kennady Lake in 1997, and the initial
300-kilogram sample produced 763 diamonds, including 83 stones that
remained on a 0.5-millimetre mesh. That worked out to about 2,500 diamonds
per tonne and approximately 275 macros per tonne, using the more stringent
two-dimensional definition. The pipe seemed destined to produce a good
grade, as at least a dozen of the diamonds were large enough to remain on a
two-millimetre screen, and 39 of them weighed at least 0.01 carat. Hearne
did not contain any diamonds as large as the Anuri stone, but it did
contain several lesser stones, with three diamonds weighing at least 0.20
carat. The Hearne pipe has been sampled repeatedly since then, and current
estimates suggest that most of the pipe has a grade of just over two carats
per tonne.
The Tesla pipe at Kennady Lake produced diamond counts that were more in
line with the numbers obtained in the North Slave region. Kimberlite
weighing about 245 kilograms contained 188 diamonds, including 14
macro-sized stones that remained on a 0.5-millimetre screen. At that rate,
Tesla contained just over 750 diamonds per tonne, with 57 of them
two-dimensional macrodiamonds. The entire Tesla parcel weighed just 0.13
carat, which would suggest that larger diamonds were few and far between.
Tesla has been mini-bulk tested twice since then, producing a grade of
about 0.35 carat per tonne.
The Snap Lake dike system is believed to contain nearly 4,000 diamonds per
tonne, and nearly 300 of those are large enough to be macrodiamonds using
the two-dimensional definition. As well, Snap Lake contained about 60
diamonds large enough to remain on a one-millimetre screen, per tonne of
kimberlite. Those numbers are clearly much higher than any of the North
Slave kimberlites, but that is not surprising as Snap Lake has a very high
grade of about two carats per tonne, with a significant number of larger
diamonds present.
All of that provides a few rough clues about what to expect from future
mini-bulk samples that may be taken from the four North Slave kimberlites.
Although all of the kimberlites with grades of one carat per tonne have
diamond counts that appear significantly better than those produced by
Ashton or Tahera so far, the results from the North Slave pipes seem in
line with those with more modest grades, under 0.4 carat per tonne.
It is not that simple however, as the numbers can be skewed by small sample
sizes and varying grades across the kimberlite bodies. Rock weighing 107
kilograms was taken from Ashton's K-252 kimberlite in Alberta. It contained
143 diamonds, or 1,335 per tonne, but just eight of them were macros, or 75
per tonne. There were signs that K-252 had a healthy size distribution
curve however, as the pipe contained four macros, using the more stringent
definition. Furthermore, two of those exceeded one millimetre in two
dimensions, and one remained on a two-millimetre screen. As well, there
were signs that the two types of kimberlite present had varying diamond
content. Ashton took a 22.8-tonne sample earlier this year, and recovered
12.5 carats, which indicated a promising grade of 0.55 carat per tonne. The
two phases of kimberlite did have varying grades. The volcaniclastic phase
returned a grade of just 0.34 carat per tonne, while the breccia phase had
a grade of 0.85 carat per tonne.
It seems likely that investors hoping for Diavik-class grades from the
existing North Slave pipes have their sights set far too high.
Nevertheless, if either Ashton or Tahera can produce a result similar to
K-252 from any of their North Slave kimberlites, it would certainly keep
speculative interest in the project alive through next year, especially if
additional kimberlites with at least similar grades are discovered. Even
that more modest target could prove to be a tall order, but the results
certainly suggest that it is not an unreasonable hope. Nevertheless, the
market did not think much of the Anuri East results. Tahera closed up
one-half cent on Tuesday, at 15 cents.
(c) Copyright 2001 Canjex Publishing Ltd. stockwatch.com |
