Article

A Diamond in the not so Rough

From the Canadian Miner Magazine Febuary 2003 Edition

Interview by Allan Regier

After two years of ground staking, flying 10,500 line km of geophysics, taking hundreds of till samples and isolating kimberlite indicator mineral trains Tres-Or Resources is ready to commence drill testing on its 100% owned, 100,000 hectare Temagami Diamond Project in northeastern Ontario. The Temagami area was under a 25 year moratorium from native land claim issues resulting in no staking and little exploration in the area. To build up its geo-logical database Tres-Or conducted a proprietary high-resolution tri-axial airborne magnetic survey consisting of 10,500 line km flown 90 metres above ground on lines spaced 150 metres apart. The results were used to prioritize areas for ground follow-up, including taking 600 soil sediment samples last summer and
carrying out detailed ground geophysical surveys.

Ground sampling and surveys start right after staking. Cutoff lines that transgress the property are established on 500 metre spacings and systematically sam-pled, which enables kimberlite indicator dispersion trains to be tracked from south to north to locate the anomaly that is the probable source. Anomalies with positive diamond bearing chemistry are prioritized for detailed exploration and drill testing.

Once a probable source with a magnetic signature similar to a kimberlite pipe is isolated detailed ground truthing, ground geophysical surveys and till sam-pling is conducted. Ground surveys are conducted along lines with 50 metre spacings and readings are taken at 12.5 metre intervals along the lines. The geo-physical grid defines the dimension, shape and signature on the ground and the signature provides the information to collar drill holes.

"I would say there are over eighty targets. It's not a small number. So what we do is we systematically look at the ones that are shedding good kimberlite indi-cator mineral chemistry and there needs to be a lot more detailed sampling done in order to follow these trains to their sources. We are looking at multiple pipes in this area." Said Laura Lee Duffett, a professional geologist and director of Tres-Or. It was the business plan she presented to Tres-Or's board that per-suaded the company to begin staking and acquiring ground in the Temagami area.

Since then Tres-Or has attracted two joint venture partners to participate in exploring parts of its 100,000 hectareTemagami Diamond project. Tres-Or is the operator of the entire project.

Rhonda Corporation can earn a 50% interest in 26,000 hectares by making staged exploration expenditures totaling $4.5 million. Rock Resources has an option to earn a two-thirds interest in two separate claim groups, Temagami North and Temagami East, by making staged exploration expenditures totaling $6.5 million.

Tres-Or has also assembled a strong technical team experienced in all aspects of diamond exploration. Dr. Roger Morton, who has worked on gem exploration all over the world, is on the board of directors. Dr. Ed Schiller, who was involved in the discovery of Ekati, provides insight into the Ekatidiamond chemistry and is on the board of advisors. The field team includes Dr. Harrison Cookenboo and Andrew Gourlay. Dr. Cookenboo studied the eclogite garnet chemistry of the Jericho pipe, bulk sampled and conducted pre-feasibility studies on this diamond -bearing pipe. Andrew Gourlay is a former diamond geologist for Kennecott and has drilled a number of kimberlites in the Lac de Gras area.

To date, Tres-Or has isolated 14 high priority geophysical anomalies and four kimberlite indicator mineral dispersion trains. "One of those trains has a high percentage of olivine grains, another has a very high count of G10 pyrope garnets. There are the trains where we have specific chemistry and discrete populations of grains that we are tracing back to potential sources," said Duffett.

The high priority targets are located on the Rhonda option, on Rock's options, and on Tres-Or's wholly owned claims. Tres-Or plans to drill test high priority targets as soon as detailed ground magnetic grids and surveys are completed. Testing will consist of 500 metres of diamond drilling on the Temagami North Option in the New Liskeard kimberlite field and testing of magnetic dipole anomalies on the Temagami East Option, 50 km to the south of the New Liskeard kimberlite field. On the Rhonda Option 2,000 metres of drilling are planned to test 10 high priority targets once ground geophysics are completed.

The kimberlite indicator minerals and their chemistry are not the same throughout Tres-Or's property; there are slightly different components in the Temagami area than in the Temagami North / New Liskeard Cobalt area.

Duffett said that till samples taken by the Ontario government, Tres-Or and Temex Resources show that the Temagami area has a 5% G10 component in till samples. Abrasion tests indicate the pyrope garnet grains are proximal grains, suggesting the sources of the grains is on the property and that they are not distal grains transported by glaciation from known pipes to the north. She also said the sub-calcic G10 garnet chemistry is very similar to the chemistry of till samples taken over the Ekati pipes.

The very sub-calcic pyrope garnet chemistry is associated with an economic diamond deposit, "so when we get that positive sub-calcic chemistry in Temagami we know that we are expecting good quality well preserved diamonds associated with the kimberlite intrusive," said Duffett.

There is good, detailed chemistry from the thirteen known pipes in the New Liskeard Cobalt camp and their G10 component is less than 1%. "That doesn't mean they aren't diamond-bearing," said Duffett. She pointed out that Sudbury Contact is looking at the 95-2 pipe, and they have very good information that could prove up to be an economic pipe in the vicinity. She also said components of the New Liskeard chemistry are comparable to the Victor pipe 300 km to the north, in Attawapiskat, where De Beers is conducting pre-feasibility studies.

"As we look at the chemistry in the New Liskeard camp we are getting different components, for example, the ecologitic garnet component on Tres-Or's thirty claims," said Duffett. "That component and the chemistry of our ecologites compare very well with the Jericho pipe. The Jericho pipe is a diamond bearing pipe that is in pre-feasibility. So we know that the chemistry is amenable to diamonds. We are not in the business of finding kimberlites, we are in the business of finding diamond-bearing kimberlite," she said pointedly.

Actually, Duffett and Tres-Or are in the business of exploring for economic minerals. Temagami is in the heart of Ontario's mining community, roughly two hours east of Sudbury and three hours south of Timmins, and Tres-Or routinely assays samples for base and precious metals.

"Certainly in our own area there is a number of copper-nickel showings, and in fact Falconbridge is working on a banded iron formation that is amid some of our claims in Flett township. So the opportunity to have River Valley-type rocks in which platinum/ palladium occurs, base metals and certainly gold-bearing intrusives are also ubiquitous in this geological environment. So we are also looking for these types of mineral occurrances in the Temagami area, not just pipes." said Duffett.

Being that close to Ontario's mining community and basic infrastructure confers other advantages, especially in comparison to areas being explored in the far north or in the NWT or Nunuvut.

"In Temagami we can work twelve months of the year. We have excellent infrastructure, Highway 11 runs north-south through the property, we have railroad access and hydro throughout the property and logging road access all summer, with skidoo trail access all winter. It's very cost effective exploration, so we are getting a bang for the buck." Said Duffett, who pointed out that in Coronation Gulf there is a limited three month field exploration season and everything has to be flown in and out.

"Based on infrastructure alone, we shouldn't need the high grades that are needed for the capital costs to develop the infrastructure required in a northern area like the Diavik pipes or up in Attawapiskat. Had the Victor pipe been found in Temagami it would be in production." said Duffett.

"Depending on the quality and size of the stones, estimates from 0.2 to 0.4 carats per tonne and higher grades could carry diamond discovery in the Temagami area through to production." De Beers worldwide diamond mine average grade is 0.43 carats per tonne.

With its large land base and its thorough, systematic exploration programs Tres-Or is confident it can trace the mineral dispersion trains it has found to clusters of anomalies, and it continues to stake more ground to ensure it owns the sources of those trains. It already has developed targets in the New Liskeard camp and
further south, and has very positive diamond chemistry in the Temagami area, where kimberlite pipes have not yet been found, but Tres-Or is well positioned to find them and carry them forward through the next phase of exploration.