TSX-V-listed Pangolin Diamonds on June 23 provided an update on recent activities at its various projects in Botswana, with all field teams now fully operational.

It added that the Botswana Department of Mines had granted the company's joint venture partner, Makunwu Civil Blasting, permission to proceed with a 500 t bulk sample on the Orapa AK10 kimberlite.

The bulk sample will be extracted from underground and access will be via a vertical shaft.

Operations ceased when kimberlite was intersected at a depth of 13 m, and the shaft will be extended to a depth of about 32 m from surface. At the 15 m, 20 m, 25 m and 30 m levels respectively, four horizontal drifts will be excavated to a maximum distance of 5 m in each of the four shaft wall directions.

The 500 t sample will be processed through an on-site dense media separation (DMS) plant, where the kimberlite will be crushed to a maximum size of 8 mm as feed for the DMS.

Further, Pangolin reported that the follow-up programme on selected aeromagnetic targets with groundmagnetic and soil sampling surveys at its Malatswae and Motloutse projects is under way.

Technical teams were deployed to both project areas as soon as Covid-19 restrictions were partially relaxed, and the field programme is now scheduled for completion in September.

Once results are available, all data will be reviewed to select new kimberlite drill targets. It is anticipated that 10 to 15 new targets will be selected for drilling.

Regarding the Kweneng project, prior to the Covid-19 lockdown in Botswana, the KW04-C dyke was discovered in the Kweneng project through a limited drilling programme.

The dyke was discovered after a soil sampling programme produced a kimberlitic chromite anomaly in an area of about 250 m x 850 m.

More than 50% of the chromites analyzed were classified as diamond inclusion type chromites, and based on the distribution of the anomalously positive soil samples and the location of the KW-04C dyke, Pangolin said “it is evident that additional sources for the chromites are present in the KW-04 valley”.

A programme of increased soil sample density has been initiated to locate the additional sources.

In addition, a sampling programme is being initiated to trace the extent of the KW-04C dyke as well as possible diatremes associated with the KW-04C dyke.

During the next fiscal quarter, a programme to expose the KW-04C dyke will be undertaken, and once the extent of the dyke has been determined samples will be taken and submitted for microdiamond analysis. A sample of up to 20 t will be excavated to process for microdiamonds.