Resource World Magazine

MINING For purposes of comparison, the ini- becoming NWT's fifth producer is the Preparations for the 2014 winter tial Ekati proven and probable diamond Kennady North Project of Kennady exploration program have commenced, reserves on October 1, 1997 for kimber- Diamonds Inc. [KDI-TSXV], situated including further geophysics over the lites Panda, Misery, Koala, Fox Pit, Sable immediately adjacent to the Gaucho Kué Kelvin and Faraday pipes, as well as new U/G and Koala U/G were 66,000,000 tonnes Project. exploration targets outside the Kelvincontaining 71,940,000 million carats KDI was spun out from MPV to provide Faraday kimberlite corridor, scheduled to with a grade of 1.09 carats per tonne. By additional value to the MPV shareholders. commence in 2015. Over 10,000 metres of September 30, 2003, these tonnes and con- KDI is totally independent of MPV; how- delineation and exploration drilling and tained carats totaled 128,000,000 tonnes ever, both boards have common directors the extraction of a 25 to 30-tonne miniof proven and probable reserves grading but act separately in all aspects of pro- bulk sample will start in March. In 2011, 1.334 carats per tonne for a contained gram execution and financing. The project airborne gravity surveys identified 106 170,788,000 carats. Mine life was origi- hosts two kimberlites: Kelvin and Faraday. geophysical anomalies, of which 30 are nally scheduled to close in 2019; however, Diamond recoveries from the 2013 winter considered high priority as they resemble with the discovery of the Jay and Cardinal program returned a sample grade of 8.13 the signatures of known kimberlites in the kimberlites, Ekati has secured a new life carats per tonne for the Kelvin pipe and region. for the mine and also for the Northwest 11.23 carats per tonne for the Faraday All of the diamond mines are accessed Territories diamond industry. pipe. The largest diamond recovered by a winter ice road from Yellowknife over The Jay-Cardinal Project involves the from the Kelvin pipe included a 2.48-carat a four to six-week period in February to March over a distance of 300 km to Ekati development of another large diamondif- stone. erous resource. At the Jay pipe, drilling Diamond recoveries from the 2013 sum- and Diavik, 220 km to Snap Lake and 280 to date has established 78 million carats mer drill program, based on 1,527 kilos km to Gahcho Kué and Kennady North. of indicated resources and 13 million car- of kimberlite out of 3,454 kilos collected Active companies in the Lac de Gras area ats of inferred resources based on 36.2 from 21 drill holes from the Kelvin pipe, include Arctic Star Exploration Corp. million tonnes of indicated resources at returned a sample grade of 5.37 carats per [ADD-TSXV] and North Arrow Minerals a grade of 2.2 carats per tonne and 9.5 tonne. A total of 154 commercial-size dia- Inc. [NAR-TSXV] on their Redemption million tonnes of inferred resources at monds were recovered from the 1,527-kilo Project south of Lac de Gras, 32 and 47 1.4 carats per tonne. The Jay-Cardinal sample and compares with the recovery of km south of the Ekati and Diavik diamond Project schedule anticipates environmen- 110 commercial-size diamonds from the mines, respectively. North Arrow can earn tal assessment approval before the end of earlier 2013 winter drilling from approxi- a 55% interest in Redemption from Arctic Star by spending $5-million on exploration 2015. Construction would then commence, mately 1,000 kilos of drill core. leading to the planned release of diamondbearing kimberlite to the process plant by 2019 and an extended mine life of 10 to 20 years. On March 6, 2004, the initial Diavik measured, indicated and inferred diamond resources for kimberlites A-154 South, A-154 North, A-21 and A-418 were 36,600,00 tonnes containing 123,680,000 carats and a grade of 3.370 carats per tonne. The 2013 estimated diamond production and value of diamonds for the three producing NWT's diamond mines are as follows: Diavik - 7.3 million carats - $912,500,000 Ekati - 1.3 million carats - $455,000,000 Snap Lake - 870,000 carats- $82,790,000 For purposes of comparison, Russia, the world's largest producer of diamonds, is estimated to produce 33 million carats valued at US $3.4 billion during 2013. The diamond mine that is close to An aerial view of the Kennady Lake North exploration camp. Photo courtesy Kennady Diamonds Inc. DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014 RW December 2013.indd 45 www.resourceworld.com 45 12/11/2013 6:12 PM

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