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

Dunnedin Ventures Inc. Oct. 4 reported new diamond results from sampling of the KD900 kimberlite pipe on its Kahuna Diamond project in Nunavut.

The company's 2018 summer-fall exploration program included drilling that tested two previously known kimberlites, KD900 and KD230, and discovered a new pipe, KH10-11.

All three kimberlites were tested using rotary air-blast (RAB) drilling and approximately one metric ton of representative material was sent to CF Mineral Research Ltd. in British Columbia for analysis.

Initial results from a 133.32-kilogram sample of KD900 kimberlite returned 18 diamonds larger than the 0.106 mm sieve size.

Dunnedin tested KD900 to confirm the diamond content and evaluate indicator minerals from source rocks. Hole 18-RAB-019, which collected the material for the sample tested, was drilled vertically to 118.87 meters, where it stayed continuously in kimberlite for 100.57 meters below 13.72 meters.

The sample tested represents a 7.62-meter section of kimberlite intersected between 105.15 and 112.77 meters. This section hosted a distinct phase of KD900 having garnets and possible mantle xenoliths, rock fragments within an igneous rock that is not derived from the original magma.

Dunnedin said the indicator minerals from KD900 confirm that while this pipe is diamondiferous, it is not the sole source of high-quality diamond indicator mineral chemistry present in the Josephine Target Area, a 45-square-kilometer (17 square miles) priority exploration target in the eastern half of the Kahuna Diamond property.

Josephine Target Area, or JTA, is a discreet area of abundant high-quality diamond indicator minerals that are interpreted to be sourced from multiple undiscovered kimberlites.

As part of the 2018 diamond exploration at Kahuna, Dunnedin completed till sampling across JTA during September. The purpose of this program was to in-fill previous indicator mineral results and prioritize a number of potential kimberlite pipe targets for follow-up drilling.

Roughly 1,200 till samples were collected, focusing on pipe-like geophysical signatures and defining source areas of abundant, high-quality diamond indicator minerals. Approximately one hundred samples essential to future drill targeting in the JTA were prioritized and airlifted to the laboratory for immediate processing.

"We are pleased to be able to confirm the historic diamond content of KD900, and further work on this pipe is warranted," said Dunnedin Ventures President Claudia Tornquist. "Importantly, these initial results from KD900 will now allow us to compare indicator minerals from a known diamond source in the Josephine Target Area to the abundant high-quality diamond indicator minerals present in till in this area. Our work suggests that these indicator minerals are sourced from further yet-to-be discovered kimberlites and the results from KD900, together with the till samples collected this fall will help us define source areas and prioritize the many targets at Josephine for our next drill program in early 2019."

Drill results from KD230 and the newly discovered KH10-11 kimberlite are pending.

–SHANE LASLEY