North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Kennady Diamonds Inc. Sept. 19 reported the recovery of 1,278 carats of commercial-sized diamonds from a 612-metric-ton bulk sample from the Kelvin kimberlite at the company's Kennady North project in Northwest Territories.

At 2.09 carats per metric tons, the diamond grade of this sample is similar to the 2.02 g/t average of a bulk sample collected from the south limb of the same kimberlite in 2015.

"One of the key observations to emerge from our Kelvin bulk sampling programs is the remarkable consistency in overall diamond grade across the full extent of the body, despite the geological complexity within the body. This is a positive attribute from both an evaluation and a mining perspective," said Kennady Diamonds President and CEO Rory Moore.

In this latest result, 44 diamonds of one carat or greater were recovered with the largest stone being a 3.43 carat white/colorless transparent octahedral twin with no inclusions.

Kennady Diamonds has retained the services of Belgium-based WWW International Diamond Consultants to provide an independent valuation of the Kelvin bulk sample diamonds and also to develop size frequency distribution and revenue models. This work is expected to be completed in October.

"The results of the Kelvin bulk sample valuation, combined with our grade and modeling results, will be used to prepare an independent NI 43-101 resource statement for the Kelvin kimberlite, which will be released shortly after the valuation data becomes available," Moore added.

-SHANE LASLEY