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| | Mon Sep 24, 2007
Arctic Star waits on partner
Publisher: Star Wire
Author: Will Purcell
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| | Patrick Power's Arctic Star Diamond Corp. remains a big believer in the central Nunavut diamond play despite difficulties in getting its key targets tested. As the company's dreary stock chart shows, winter is fast arriving in the region and that could derail plans for any drilling on the Siku property. Always the promoter, Mr. Power said the region was a good place to be, and Arctic Star anticipates a busy 2008. The ground was once a part of the Amaruk project, where Mark Kolebaba's Diamonds North Resources is finding a big cluster of kimberlites and a rival had success nearby.
The plan
Arctic Star is earning a 50-per-cent interest in the Siku project from Diamonds North and the partners agreed to spend $1.5-million on the property this year. The work was to include airborne geophysics and a closer look at some targets previously identified, but plans to drill one dozen prime targets sparked most of the speculative interest.
Diamonds North got to work on its Amaruk property with three drills this summer, but the company had its own spate of weather and equipment issues, putting it somewhat behind schedule. As a result, Mr. Kolebaba expected to scale back the drilling on Siku, as well as another periphery play that Diamonds North was optioning to another junior.
Diamonds North is now set to wrap up its drilling for the year, but Mr. Power said he was not aware of any drilling on Siku so far. The company did manage to expand its target list by completing the planned geophysics, giving the partners plenty of targets to test next year.
Mr. Power said weather was the main culprit for the exploration delays. Arctic Star's president said the crews had two good days to work out of the first six weeks spent in the field. Good days are again hard to come by, as average temperatures are falling rapidly across the region and the snowstorms of the year are rumbling out of the Far North.
The encouragement
The Siku property covers about 185,000 hectares on the southwestern fringe of the original Amaruk block, putting it about 150 kilometres southwest of Kugaaruk. The property nearly surrounds ground held by Indicator Minerals Inc. and Teck Cominco Ltd. Those partners have discovered kimberlites on their Darby property, although their diamond success has been limited so far.
Indicator's finds suggest a cluster of kimberlite pipes probably extends onto much of the Siku property and several discoveries by Diamonds North on the southwestern corner of the Amaruk project confirm the potential. Mr. Kolebaba's company is having better luck and it laid plans to complete 10-tonne mini-bulk tests of two kimberlites this year. As well, the Amaruk drilling produced several more kimberlite successes this year.
Although Indicator only found five tiny diamonds in nearly 500 kilograms of kimberlite taken from its Iceberg pipe, the size of that body was encouraging. Other Nunavut projects are producing kimberlite dikes, not big pipes, which makes size an issue. Further, some of the Diamonds North discoveries are encouragingly large.
Size will matter little without significant diamond counts, but a kimberlite boulder on a patch of Indicator's ground provided a hint of sparkle for the region. About 25 kilograms of kimberlite from that Barrow boulder yielded 176 diamonds, and the parcel displayed an encouraging size distribution curve.
Finding the source of that material and word of good mini-bulk results from the Qavvik ad Char kimberlites would whet Arctic Star's appetite for a busy 2008 on Siku. Mr. Power remains enthused and Arctic Star has already completed over half of the $2.5-million that it must spend by the end of 2009.
Arctic Star closed up one-half cent to 15 cents Friday on 187,600 shares.
Siku Project
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Location: |
Nunavut |
Est. Size: |
455,000 Acres |
Ownership: |
50% Option Agreement with Arctic Star Diamond Corp. |
Opportunity: |
Discover new diamondiferous kimberlite in the Pelly Bay District |
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The Siku property surrounds the Darby project, where Teck Cominco Limited and Indicator Minerals Inc. discovered five kimberlite bodies including an 11-hectare pipe. For the 2007 budget Teck Cominco committed to an $8.5 million budget for the Darby project.
Several compelling targets have already been identified on the property from a partial airborne geophysical survey.
Drilling is anticipated on Siku in 2007 following the completion of the airborne geophysical survey. Based on indicator minerals, geophysics, and proximity to Darby, the Franklin kimberlite field is anticipated to extend onto Siku. |
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