METALEX RECOVERS LARGEST DIAMOND YET FROM U2
KELOWNA, BC, May 16 /CNW/ --
KELOWNA, BC, May 16 /CNW/ - Metalex Ventures Ltd. (TSXV : MTX) ('Metalex', the 'Company') is pleased to report the
recovery of a 1.25 carat diamond from U2 along with diamond results
from both the 9.3 hectare U2 kimberlite pipe and the 3 hectare T1 pipe
on the Metalex - Arctic Star Diamond Corp. (TSXV : ADD) joint venture
in the James Bay lowlands, Ontario.
U2 Kimberlite Results
A 1.25 carat, clear white diamond with a few minute inclusions has been
recovered from hole U2-RC-06. A picture of the diamond is presented on
the Company's website (www.metalexventures.com). This diamond exceeds the two 0.72 carat diamonds previously
reported.
Primary recovery of diamonds from the fifth and sixth holes is now
complete. U2-RC-06 and U2-RC-07 contain 170 and 115 commercial sized
stones (greater than 0.425mm) respectively. Both holes intersected
several blocks of limestone within the kimberlite which diluted the
diamond grade over these sections. These limestone blocks are
interpreted to be large pieces of wall rock that fell into the
kimberlite pipe at the time of eruption. If U2 were to be mined, these
limestone sections would be consigned to the waste dump.
The geology and diamond results for U2-RC-06 are presented in the
following table:
Depth Sampled Diamonds Sampled Grade
From To Interval Material # Ct Weight
(m) (m) (m) (kg) (cpht)
Overburden
and
0 45 45 limestone 8 0.061 6,013 1.0
crater
infill -
low grade
Kimberlite
45 165 120 - High 72 2.525 14,416 17.5
grade
Kimberlite
165 264 99 - Moderate 81 0.767 13,649 5.6
grade
Limestone
264 282 18 xenolith - 0 0.000 2,104 0.0
waste
Kimberlite
282 309 27 - High 15 0.410 2,902 14.1
grade
Limestone
309 336 27 xenolith - 4 0.022 2,670 0.8
waste
The geology and diamond results for U2-RC-07 are presented in the
following table:
Depth Sampled Diamonds Sampled Grade
From To Interval Material # Ct Weight
(m) (m) (m) (kg) (cpht)
Overburden
and
0 45 45 limestone 5 0.025 0.3
crater 7,425
infill -
low grade
45 75 30 Kimberlite 19 0.155 3.6
- low grade 4,330
Kimberlite
75 93 18 - moderate 19 0.237 9.5
to high 2,500
grade
Limestone
93 138 45 xenolith - 6 0.038 10,592 0.4
waste
138 177 39 Kimberlite 9 0.039 0.5
- low grade 7,434
Limestone
177 189 12 xenolith - 0 0.000 1,773 0.0
waste
189 315 126 Kimberlite 45 0.321 20,379 1.6
- low grade
Kimberlite
315 333 18 - moderate 12 0.171 9.2
to high 1,868
grade
Audit sample results from fine DMS tailings have been received from
holes U2-RC-03 and U2-RC-04 where one and six diamonds were recovered
respectively. The additional diamonds recovered from U2-RC-04 increase
the grade to 18.4 cpht and the number of diamonds to 87 from the 135 to
240 meter interval (initial diamond results were reported in a March
11, 2011 news release). Audit samples have not yet been tested for
holes U2-RC-05 to U2-RC-07 and these results could further improve the
grade of these holes.
The size distribution of the diamonds is very coarse with a high
proportion of the diamonds being in the large size categories. This is
important for a high average carat value. The following table contains
the size distribution of the diamonds recovered and described to date:
Hole Sieve Sizes (Through / On) Total
0.6mm 0.85mm 1.18mm 1.7mm 2.36mm 3.35mm 4.75mm 6.7mm
0.425mm 0.6mm 0.85mm 1.18mm 1.7mm 2.36mm 3.35mm 4.75mm
U2-RC-02 61 229
81 56 24 4 3 - -
U2-RC-03 51 303
121 79 38 12 1 1 -
U2-RC-04 32 233
99 68 21 10 2 1 -
U2-RC-05 58 300
137 65 30 6 3 1 -
U2-RC-06 27 170
66 50 19 4 3 - 1
U2-RC-07 21 115
50 30 13 1 - - -
Total 250 12 1,350
554 348 145 37 3 1
Characterization of the colour of all natural diamonds recovered and
described to date are presented in the following table:
Hole White Yellow Green Pink Brown Grey Total
# # # # # # #
U2-RC-02
97 20 2 - 40 70 229
U2-RC-03
121 26 1 2 84 69 303
U2-RC-04
136 14 - 3 22 58 233
U2-RC-05
172 25 2 - 35 66 300
U2-RC-06
100 5 - 3 13 49 170
U2-RC-07
44 6 - - 31 34 115
Total
670 96 5 8 225 346 1,350
To date, as presented in the above table, 49.6% of the diamonds are
white; 25.6% are grey; 16.7% are brown; 7.1% are yellow; 0.6% are pink
and 0.4% are green. The proportion of white diamonds continues to
improve with increasing diamond size. Of the 53 largest diamonds
(greater than 1.7mm), 37 are white, 1 is yellow, 10 are grey and 5 are
brown. By weight, white diamonds comprise 61.8% of the parcel and
yellow, pink and green diamonds comprise 6.0%.
T1 Kimberlite Results
Results are now available from the final hole at T1. Hole K06-05
intersected kimberlite from a depth of 140 meters to 326 meters. From
326 meters to the end of hole at 335 meters granite was intersected
which is interpreted to be the wall rock of the kimberlite.
The sample from the depth of 290 to 293 meters contained 249 diamonds
greater than 0.425mm in size weighing a total of 0.70 carats whereas
three meter samples from the remainder of the hole averaged 9
diamonds. Most of the diamonds contained in this sample are of similar
colour and show breakage surfaces, suggesting that a large diamond was
broken either during drilling or processing. It is important to note
that many of the pieces of the broken stone would have been smaller
than 0.425mm and thus would not have been recovered. The results of
the hole are presented in the following table:
Depth Sampled Diamonds Sampled Grade
From To Interval Material # Ct Weight
(m) (m) (m) (kg) (cpht)
Overburden
0 140 140 and n/a n/a n/a n/a
limestone
cover
140 164 24 Kimberlite - 58 0.454 11.3
High grade 4,008
164 176 12 Kimberlite - 31 0.069 3.4
Low grade 2,004
Kimberlite -
176 194 18 Moderate 41 0.224 3,006 7.5
grade
194 209 15 Kimberlite - 17 0.055 2.2
Low grade 2,505
Kimberlite -
209 230 21 Moderate 58 0.244 3,507 7.0
grade
230 245 15 Kimberlite - 38 0.083 3.5
Low grade 2,382
245 326 81 Kimberlite - 568 1.790 17.5
High grade 10,206
326 335 9 Granite - n/a n/a n/a n/a
wall rock
A total of 20 holes comprising a bulk sample of 410 tons of kimberlite
have now been processed. From these 20 holes 12,446 commercial sized
diamonds (greater than 0.425mm) have been recovered totaling 67.32
carats.
The size distribution for the 20 hole bulk samples from T1 is presented
in the following table:
Hole Sieve Sizes (Through / On) Total
0.6mm 0.85mm 1.18mm 1.7mm 2.36mm 3.35mm 4.75mm
0.425mm 0.6mm 0.85mm 1.18mm 1.7mm 2.36mm 3.35mm
P10-1 141 230 74 16 1 - - 462
P10-2 764 614 145 34 12 - - 1,569
P10-3 144 187 83 17 - 1 - 432
K06-01 38 22 7 5 1 1 - 74
K06-02 276 208 67 19 3 - - 573
K06-03 319 228 98 12 2 - - 659
K06-04 172 112 45 18 - - - 347
K06-05 466 255 81 8 - 1 - 811
K06-06 404 355 172 49 5 4 - 989
K06-07 - - - - - - -
-
K06-08 274 222 78 12 1 1 - 588
K06-09 293 229 73 19 2 - - 616
K06-10 272 219 87 14 4 1 - 597
K06-11 236 181 95 33 14 1 - 560
K06-12 55 36 14 5 1 - - 111
K06-13 266 445 135 56 15 2 - 919
K06-14 286 314 101 17 2 - - 720
PCR-15 426 266 103 30 4 1 - 830
PCR-19 255 167 75 15 7 - - 519
PT1-22 155 544 237 91 35 6 2 1,070
Total 5,242 4,834 1,770 470 109 19 2 12,446
The following table presents the distribution of colours for each of the
holes comprising the bulk sample:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | | | |
|______|______________|___________|__________|___________|__________|_____________|______________|_____________|
| Hole | White | Green | Pink | Blue | Yellow | Grey | Brown | Total |
|______|______________|___________|__________|___________|__________|_____________|______________|_____________|
| | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | |
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|P10-1 | |14.3%| |0.2%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |41.6%| |43.9%| |
| | 66| | 1| | - | | - | | - | | 192| | 203| | 462|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|P10-2 | 161|10.3%| |1.1%| | 0.1%| | 1.1%| | 0.0%| |21.5%| 1,033|65.8%| 1,569|
| | | | 18| | 2| | 17| | - | | 338| | | | |
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|P10-3 | |18.3%| |0.0%| | 1.6%| | 0.2%| | 0.0%| |37.7%| |42.1%| |
| | 79| | - | | 7| | 1| | - | | 163| | 182| | 432|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-01| |12.2%| |4.1%| | 0.0%| | 1.4%| | 0.0%| |43.2%| |39.2%| |
| | 9| | 3| | - | | 1| | - | | 32| | 29| | 74|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-02| |14.1%| |0.3%| | 0.0%| | 0.2%| | 0.0%| |45.9%| |39.4%| |
| | 81| | 2| | - | | 1| | - | | 263| | 226| | 573|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-03| |11.1%| |1.1%| | 0.2%| | 0.0%| | 0.5%| |44.6%| |42.6%| |
| | 73| | 7| | 1| | - | | 3| | 294| | 281| | 659|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-04| |16.4%| |2.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |44.4%| |37.2%| |
| | 57| | 7| | - | | - | | - | | 154| | 129| | 347|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-05| 291|35.9%| |0.1%| | 0.0%| | 0.2%| | 0.0%| | 5.4%| |58.3%| |
| | | | 1| | - | | 2| | - | | 44| | 473| | 811|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-06| 181|18.3%| |3.2%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.2%| |29.1%| |49.1%| |
| | | | 32| | - | | - | | 2| | 288| | 486| | 989|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-07| | 0.0%| |0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |
| | - | | - | | - | | - | | - | | - | | - | | - |
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-08| 113|19.2%| |1.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |49.8%| |29.9%| |
| | | | 6| | - | | - | | - | | 293| | 176| | 588|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-09| 190|30.8%| |1.5%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |37.3%| |30.4%| |
| | | | 9| | - | | - | | - | | 230| | 187| | 616|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-10| 234|39.2%| |0.7%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |30.7%| |29.5%| |
| | | | 4| | - | | - | | - | | 183| | 176| | 597|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-11| 235|42.0%| |5.5%| | 0.0%| | 0.2%| | 0.0%| |25.0%| |27.3%| |
| | | | 31| | - | | 1| | - | | 140| | 153| | 560|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-12| |28.8%| |9.9%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |27.9%| |33.3%| |
| | 32| | 11| | - | | - | | - | | 31| | 37| | 111|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-13| 452|49.2%| |0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |21.7%| |29.2%| |
| | | | - | | - | | - | | - | | 199| | 268| | 919|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|K06-14| 405|56.3%| |0.0%| | 0.4%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| |20.1%| |23.2%| |
| | | | - | | 3| | - | | - | | 145| | 167| | 720|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|PCR-15| 370|44.6%| |0.1%| | 0.0%| | 0.2%| | 0.0%| |26.4%| |28.7%| |
| | | | 1| | - | | 2| | - | | 219| | 238| | 830|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|PCR-19| 230|44.3%| |0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.4%| | 0.0%| |29.5%| |25.8%| |
| | | | - | | - | | 2| | - | | 153| | 134| | 519|
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|PT1-22| 459|42.9%| |0.8%| | 0.0%| | 0.0%| | 0.1%| |10.0%| |46.2%| 1,070|
| | | | 9| | - | | - | | 1| | 107| | 494| | |
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
|Total | 3,718|29.9%| 142|1.1%| 13|0.10%| 27|0.22%| |0.05%| 3,468|27.9%| 5,072|40.8%| 12,446|
| | | | | | | | | | 6| | | | | | |
|______|________|_____|______|____|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_______|_____|________|_____|_____________|
As presented in the above table, 29.9% of the diamonds are white, 1.1%
are green, 0.22% are blue, 0.1% are pink and 0.05% are yellow.
Five samples of -2.0mm DMS tailings from T1 were submitted for audit
analysis at the CF Mineral Research Ltd. laboratory to test whether or
not all of the diamonds were being recovered by the plant from the T1
kimberlite. No diamonds were recovered from two of the samples
(weighing 181kg and 391kg respectively); two diamonds were recovered
from each of two samples (weighing 159kg and 208kg respectively), and
one diamond was recovered from a 180kg sample. One diamond was a gem
quality -1.18mm 0.85mm oval (tetrahexahedron) and the other four
diamonds were -0.6mm 0.425mm in size. Three of these were brown and
one is white.
Metalex is now considering reprocessing 1.0mm or 2.0mm DMS tailings
from T1. Diamonds recovered would add to the overall diamond grades
and possible economic viability of T1.
Metalex is most encouraged as many of the large diamonds recovered to
date from the very large 9.3 hectare U2 kimberlite are spectacular.
The results continue to support Metalex's belief that U2 contains a
very high quality coarse diamond population. Metalex looks forward to
the diamond results from the remaining five 22cm diameter reverse
circulation drill holes.
The technical information and results reported here have been reviewed
by Mr. Chad Ulansky P.Geol., a Qualified Person under National
Instrument 43-101, who is responsible for the technical content of this
release.
Signed,
Charles Fipke
Charles Fipke
Chairman
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking
statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and
resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the
Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. The
following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward looking statements: changes in the world wide price of mineral
commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in mineral
exploration, risks associated with development, construction and mining
operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty
of access to additional capital. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results
and future events may differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Metalex undertakes no obligation to update such
forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates
or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue
reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2011/16/c4722.html
Please Contact Chad Ulansky, President & CEO
(250) 860 - 8599
investorinfo@metalexventures.ca