The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News – April 12, 2019
Diamonds recovered during 2017 bulks sampling of the Faraday 2 kimberlite on the Kennady North property, adjacent to the Gahcho Kué mine in Northwest Territories.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. April 11 reported an increase in the tonnage and grade of the diamond resource at the Faraday 2 kimberlite on the company's Kennady North project in Northwest Territories.
Located adjacent to the Gahcho Kué diamond mine property, which is owned by a joint venture between Mountain Province Diamonds (49 percent) and De Beers Canada (51 percent), Kennady North is a diamond exploration property that hosts three kimberlites with delineated resources – Kelvin, Faraday 1-3 and Faraday 2.
Faraday 2 now hosts 2.07 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 2.64 carats per metric ton (5.45 million carats) of diamonds. This represents a 49 percent increase over the 1.39 million metric tons of kimberlite in the 2017 resource and a 17 percent increase in grade, compared to the previous 2.24 c/t. As a result, the total amount of diamonds in the Faraday 2 kimberlite increased by 74 percent.
Above the significant increase in quantity, the attributed average value of the diamonds at Faraday 2 is US$140 per carat, a 25 percent increase from the 2017 average values of US$112 per carat. This increase from the reported 2017 average diamond value reflects revised size frequency distribution models and a revised value distribution model for the Faraday 2 kimberlite.
The updated inferred mineral resource for Faraday 2 includes the northwest extension, which was discovered in 2017 and expanded the kimberlite by 150 meters.
"As anticipated from our microdiamond results reported earlier this year, the inclusion of the northwest extension at Faraday 2 has greatly increased the value of this resource and at an average diamond value of US$140 per carat offers significant potential," said Mountain Province Diamonds President and CEO Stuart Brown. "We are very pleased with the results of this exploration program and view this as a positive step towards potentially extending our operations beyond the existing mine plan at Gahcho Kué."
In addition to Faraday 2, the Kelvin kimberlite on the Kennady North property hosts 8.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 1.6 c/t (13.62 million carats) of diamonds valued at US$63/carat; and the Faraday 1&3 kimberlite hosts 1.87 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.01 c/t (1.9 million carats) of diamonds valued at US$75/carat.
–SHANE LASLEY
Reader Comments(0)