Major endorses diamond search
Explorer CanAlaska Uranium has secured a multimillion- dollar endorsement from the world’s largest crystallised-carbon producer, De Beers Group of Companies, after the partners entered into an option-participation agreement for expenditures up to C$20.4-million on kimberlite-style targets staked by CanAlaska in the Northwestern Athabasca basin of Saskatchewan.
Under the agreement announced last month, affiliate De Beers Canada will spend millions of dollars in search of diamonds in northern Saskatchewan, pursuing 75 kimberlite-style targets developed from a 2011 high-resolution airborne geophysical survey carried out on behalf of the Saskatchewan Geological Survey.
The airborne magnetic survey, flown at 400-m line spacing, revealed a series of distinct magnetic anomalies north-east of the Carswell structure and close to the large crustal suture related to the Grease River Fault zone.
The partners have advised that the Saskatchewan government’s Kimberlite Indicator Minerals (KIM) sampling programme reached close to the Carswell structure, but the northernmost samples are south-east of the down-ice trend from these magnetic anomalies.
“These 75 circular targets fit all the geological and geophysical criteria of kimberlites. The location of the targets within a thick sequence of crustal rocks and their clustering around major structural features provides a compelling target for CanAlaska and De Beers,” CanAlaska president Peter Dasler states.
Vancouver-based CanAlaska staked its first claim on the 17 400 ha site in 2012, after using data from the study to identify several kimberlite targets in the area. Kimberlite is an igneous rock best known for sometimes containing diamonds and named after the town of Kimberley, in South Africa.
In a joint statement, the companies say little exploration work has been conducted in this area of the Athabasca basin, where some of the world’s highest-grade uranium deposits are found.
Previously, the sampling for KIM in the Fort McMurray area of Alberta had shown a grouping of KIM dominated by chromite, with some pyrope and eclogitic garnets. These appeared to be down-ice from the kimberlite-style targets identified within the Athabasca sandstone in the north-western Athabasca.
Basement rocks below the Athabasca sandstone formed part of the Rae province, north of the Athabasca basin, in the Nunavut Territory, with a projected litho- spheric thickness of more than 150 km, within the diamond stability field. Rae province-hosted diamondiferous kimberlites have only been briefly investigated in the past.
Under the agreement, De Beers will invest up to C$20.4-million in four stages, spread over seven years. Each investment will earn De Beers a progressively larger stake in the project, up to a total of 90%.
Should it choose to proceed, De Beers will undertake a detailed airborne survey, sample for diamond indicators near the targets and then drill-test prioritised targets. CanAlaska has the option to participate as a joint venture partner once De Beers has earned its 70% interest.
“Our alliance with De Beers will allow rapid first-pass evaluation,” Dasler adds.
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