Jimsy,
How are you? Hope your trading hobby is treating you well.
As you know, I am the only analyst following the play and continue to monitor it closely. However, there isn't much to update, since my late December write-up, until we see some drill results or another event of material value.
Here is a portion of the December 23, 1998 write-up:
"...
WITH THE TROWEL OF PATENCE WE DIG OUT THE ROOTS OF TRUTH
There are many reasons to be optimistic about Marum's chances of discovering kimberlite. Most of these have been discussed in the past and are summarized below.
* The Chinchaga project area is highly fractured as it lies on the northern flank of the Peace River Arch. This is desirable because fracturing raises the possibility of the host rock containing minerals of interest, including diamonds.
* The distribution of pipes in the Alberta play may be primarily related to the crustal structures of the Peace River Arch. If so, then Marum lands and other lands to the west and northwest of the Ashton main block are favourable since they are riddled with deep crustal faults. Recent geophysical interpretations and field results, from both MMU's and those of other explorers, seem to be supporting this initial interpretation.
* 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%. 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 till core samples recovered from Target 7 during the 1998 augur drilling included a broad range of indicator minerals. Some of the minerals recovered are considered exclusive to a kimberlite source. The texture and type of indicator minerals recovered suggest a near to source volcanic event.
* As announced previously, MMU has also recovered volcanic glass shards and ilmenties with perovskite reaction rims in the vicinity of Target 7. 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. Microprobe results confirmed that the spherules originated in an alkaline volcanic magma.
* As previously discussed, the volcanic ash sampled near Target 7 yielded a fragile fragment of a mantle derived "ascent granulite" containing two types of pyroxene and a garnet. 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 one would not expect it to survive glacial transport without being completely altered.
TOO LONG BURDEN MAKES WEARY BONES
All of the above has been known and discussed on these pages since March 1998. Although encouraging, technical success alone will not attract the market, as evidenced by the stale stock price. Caution continues to be urged because 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.
Marum and other Alberta Diamond exploration companies have had trouble attracting market attention because many believe that Alberta does not fit Clifford's rule and thus cannot host economic kimberlites. Clifford's rule states that economically viable kimberlites are restricted to ancient cratons. In my March 1998 write-ups, I stated that the Buffalo Head and the Chinchaga terrains are capable of hosting economic pipes.
In defence of this, I would like to present the following conclusions reached by Mr. George Read in his geological report prepared for Mount Hope Resources which holds land in the Chinchaga area. Mr. Read has over thirteen years of diamond exploration experience and has worked for DeBeers, Anglo American Corp. and Monopros.
"The accreted Proterozoic terrains in northern Alberta are the Thorsby, Buffalo Head, Hottah and Chinchaga. These terrains were accreted to the Archean cratonic domains of the Canadian Shield during the period 1.88 - 2.38 Ga. While these accreted terrains were active in the Proterozoic, Sm-Nd isotopic studies of basement rocks recovered from petroleum exploration boreholes, have shown that the rocks which formed these accreted domains stabilized in the Archean (2.4 - 3.0 Ga) and, hence, these terrains are also favourable areas for the discovery of diamondiferous kimberlites. The Ashton Mining diamondiferous kimberlites occur within the Buffalo Head terrain." Basically, Mr. Read concludes that the Chinchaga terrain can be considered prospective for diamondiferous kimberlites.
At Chinchaga, the underlying craton possess thick, cool roots that have not been subjected to thermal re-heating. This is similar to the Buffalo Hill Terrane characteristics. A pronounced gravity low exists within the craton to pinpoint the location of super-cool root zones. Both the Ashton and Monopros kimberlite pipes occur on this low-gravity ring. Deep, crustal faults along with swarms of smaller stress release faults, are present and make these holdings geologically similar to the core Ashton permit block.
It is not necessarily physical closeness to Ashton that is important but geological similarities of their target areas. The ACA find is on a gravity low, as are, the NWT pipes. The Marum lands are also on a pronounced gravity low, indicating a deep crustal keel. In a way, Marum and Mt. Hope are the nearest lands to the ACA find that are drillable, have good cratonic pedigrees, have gravity lows, have good geochem, have evidence of local diamonds and have similar structural characteristics vis-a-vis the Peace River Arch.
NO REMEDY BUT PATIENCE
As a priority tool, Marum is currently reviewing seismic data for the areas which contain aeromagnetic targets. One of the point targets scheduled to be drilled has a vertical disturbance identified through processing seismic data. Marum continues to do what is necessary to identify targets of interest. However, as the trading in Ashton and Montello has shown, the discovery of kimberlite may not be enough for the current market. Only the discovery of large gem quality diamonds will get the markets sustained attention. With the above in mind, and with weak financials, new positions should only be established by traders able to take advantage of quick and short lived stock movements. Existing positions should continue to be held in hopes of higher prices during the 1999 drilling season.
Marum staked most of this area in September of 1994 and have enough assessment work to carry them over into the next two year cycle. Discovery of diamondiferous kimberlite in the Chinchaga region will make Marum's large land position attractive.
..."
Sincerely,
Sudhir Khanna, P.Eng.
Editor, The RESOURCE INDICATOR
goldsheet.simplenet.com
Free Trial: mailto:khannas@interlog.com?subject=MMU_FreeTrial |
