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Debswana approves Jwaneng expansion project
By: Creamer Media Reporter
24th November 2009
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Diamond giant De Beers and the government of Botswana expect to spend as much as $3-billion over the next 15 years to extend the life of the Jwaneng diamond mine.
The expansion, dubbed Cut-8, will be the largest ever single capital commitment in the private sector in Botswana, De Beers said in a statement on Tuesday.
The project will extend the life of the Jwaneng mine by seven years, to at least 2025.
Debswana will invest $500-million in capital expenditure, but, after taking into account all the project stages, including feasibility, design, implementation and mining operations, plus plans and equipment, the total project investment is likely to total $3-billion over the next 15 years.
Jwaneng is owned by Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and the government of Botswana, and is the largest diamond mine in the world by production value.
Jwaneng contributes about 70% of Debswana's total revenue. In turn, diamonds from the Debswana partnership accounts for 50% of Botswana's public revenue, 33% of GDP and over 80% of foreign earnings.
The project is expected to create access to a further 95-million carats at Jwaneng, De Beers said.
“This project affirms Jwaneng’s unparalleled status as the richest diamond mine, by value, in the world,” De Beers MD Gareth Penny said in a statement.
The extension will require the removal of more than 700-million tons of waste between 2010 and 2024, exposing another 78-million tons of diamond-bearing ore and deepening the Jwaneng pit to a depth of 650 m.
At its peak, the project will create more than 1 000 jobs.
Penny said that diamond demand is expected to increase in the long term, especially as more high net-worth individuals emerge in the developing markets of China and India.
“At the same time, there have been no new major diamond discoveries in more than a decade, and the growing demand is likely to significantly outpace what is forecast to be lower levels of diamond supply for many years to come,” De Beers said.
Edited by: Liezel Hill
Shore Gold takes market hit
Stock drops over a dollar following a suit announced by partner De Beers. Shore ays the lawsuit is, “entirely without merit”
By Robert Arnason
Journal Staff
Wednesday February 15, 2006
Nipawin Journal — Shore Gold takes market hit
Stock drops over a dollar following a suit announced by partner
De Beers. Shore says the lawsuit is, “entirely without merit”
By Robert Arnason
Journal Staff
It has been a rough week for investors in Shore Gold.
Since last Wednesday, Shore's stock value on the Toronto Stock Exchange has slid from $7.80 to $6.50, dragged down on news of a lawsuit filed by Shore Gold's partner, diamond giant De Beers.
Shore Gold is a partner with De Beers Canada Inc. in the Fort à la Corne Joint Venture (FALC JV) - a diamond exploration project in the provincial forest west of Nipawin.
On February 7 De Beers asked the court to void Shore's voting agreement with fellow FALC JV partners, Cameco and UEM, and to prevent the FALC JV management committee from approving the 2006-exploration program.
"It's always significant when you're faced with legal action," said Catherine Gignac, a mining analyst with Wellington West in Toronto, explaining why the market has pounced on the Saskatoon based company, which is engaged in a pre-feasibility study for a diamond mine in the Fort à la Corne forest.
"The underlying ramification is that the partners were not able to come to an understanding," said Gignac. "Usually, discussion leads to resolution."
De Beers and Shore Gold became partners last summer when Shore merged with Kensington Resources. Market analysts praised the merger, because it gave Shore a 42 per cent stake in the 63-kimberlite deposits controlled by the FALC JV, on top of its own Star Diamond Project.
On October 31 Shore announced a voting arrangement where minority partners in the FALC JV, Cameco (5.51 per cent) and UEM (10 per cent), were paid $10 million to vote with Shore Gold on all operating decisions in the forest for seven years. This deal put De Beers in a minority position, with only a 42 per cent interest in the diamond exploration project.
John Kaiser, who operates his own website (kaiserbottomfishing.com) specializing in Canadian stocks, was not surprised by De Beers' move.
"It was rather predictable, that De Beers would file some sort of lawsuit," said Kaiser, over the phone from his office in the San Francisco area.
He explained the battle between Shore Gold and DeBeers lies in how to proceed with exploration. Shore wants an aggressive program, while De Beers prefers a methodical approach that will generate data across the entire deposit.
Phone calls from the Journal, requesting a comment on the lawsuit, were not returned by Shore Gold.
In a press release the company stated, "Shore believes the action to be entirely without merit and intends to vigorously defend the claims made by De Beers."
Kaiser said the only good news to come out of this lawsuit is an indication that De Beers wants to be part of the Fort à la Corne diamond play; that they believe it’s worth fighting over.
As of press time, Shore Gold's stock was trading around the $6.50 mark.
back
Teck finances diamond project
Feb. 2, 2006. 01:00 AM
LISA WRIGHT
BUSINESS REPORTER
First it was the Alberta oil sands. Now it's the northern Ontario diamond patch.
Just months after a $475 million investment in the Fort Hills oil-sands project, base metals giant Teck Cominco Ltd. is dipping its toe into the lucrative diamond mining business with a stake in a promising exploration project near Temagami.
Toronto's Temex Resources Corp., a 10-year old junior gold and diamond exploration company, announced yesterday that airborne site surveying and diamond drilling are set to begin on its Wilson Lake and Latchford properties with Teck's initial $1 million investment. Depending on their success in finding the sparkling gems, the Vancouver-based zinc, copper and gold producer is poised to take a 65 per cent interest in the project at a cost of $6 million by 2012.
"We're (at an) early stage," Temex chief executive Ian Campbell said.
"It's a bit unusual to invest at this stage. Usually, they would come in for bulk sampling when you've found a couple kimberlites (rock formation where diamonds are found)."
They haven't found any yet but fully expect to soon. The Temex diamond properties lie along the southern portion of the Lake Temiskaming Structural Zone, a major fault system considered to be a key location of kimberlite clusters.
De Beers' Victor site further north in the James Bay lowlands is located along the same trend or structural zone as the Wilson Lake and Latchford properties to the south, Campbell said.
De Beers plans to open the long-awaited Victor mine as early as 2009.
"We've already located a small diamond in our till sample," Campbell said of the Temagami properties' potential.
Analyst Brian Christie of National Bank Financial said in a recent report that he views the Teck financing as a "very positive" deal for Temex as well as a "large positive for Canadian diamond exploration."
Canada's growing diamond industry contributes significantly to the national economy. Canada is now the third-largest global producer of diamonds, producing some 15 per cent of the world's diamonds by value, or $1.4 billion (U.S.), after Botswana and Russia.
In fact, diamonds are so hot they're now on the radar of the big miners following recent forays into Canada's diamond patch by senior gold companies like Toronto's Barrick Gold Corp. and Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp.
"The reason for that is clear — cash flow," Campbell said. "The revenue stream coming off diamonds is a lot better than it is for gold these days," added Campbell, referring to the rising costs and declining production of global gold miners.
"They're just folks who like to go out and make money," said the veteran geologist of new partner Teck.
Another encouraging sign he points to for the Temex properties is that they're located right off of Highway 11 and have a lot of existing infrastructure such as nearby roads.
GGL Diamond Corp.: Progress Report
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Jan. 31, 2006) - Raymond A. Hrkac, President and CEO of GGL Diamond Corp. (TSX VENTURE:GGL) provides an update report on our exploration activities.
A mini-bulk sample of approximately 45 tonnes taken from a surface pit on the 100% owned Doyle diamondiferous kimberlite sill is now being treated at a DMS (Dense Media Separation) facility. Results are expected by mid-February.
Indicator mineral chemistry of the pyrope garnets from the Doyle Sill implied it had sampled the diamond stability field. Micro and macro diamonds found in the small drill core samples confirmed this assumption. Together, these results led to the acquisition of the mini-bulk sample, with the expectation that positive results from this sample will lead to the next level of exploration and development.
The Company has three projects in the Doyle area, including the 100% owned mineral claims and leases containing the Doyle kimberlite sill, known as the Doyle Project. A second set of leases acquired from De Beers Canada Inc., Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. and Camphor Ventures Inc., subject to a total royalty of 1.5% of net returns, are known as The New Century Project. The remaining six mineral leases from the original joint venture with De Beers are referred to as the De Beers Doyle JV; these leases adjoin the leases containing the Gahcho Kue diamond deposit.
The New Century Project (51,109 acres) is now being evaluated based on the data received from De Beers. A geophysical software program designed to assist in the interpretation of EM surveys, has revealed a potential kimberlite target possibly 200 to 400 metres in diameter located in New Century Lake and may be a drill target for this coming spring program. In other parts of the Project, a number of targets have been identified for further evaluation based on indicator mineral samples and geophysical anomalies. Three samples that also require follow up exploration for three separate targets contain respectively a 0.3mm diamond, a garnet with a remnant kelyphite rim, and a CD (chrome diopside) with remnant of an original surface; the latter two suggest close proximity to a kimberlite source. The MZ system of diamondiferous kimberlite dykes will be evaluated once all of the previous exploration data has been obtained and entered into our database.
The Doyle Project has several unexplained indicator mineral and soil sample results indicative of kimberlite. These target areas continue to be evaluated and may require detailed ground geophysics.
The De Beers JV area contains a number of drill ready targets and the Company has approached De Beers to see if one or more of these can be made available to GGL for drilling this spring.
The 2006 exploration program at the "Big Hole" Project, located on our Fishback property, commenced this week. A ground gravity survey is now in progress to complete the previous survey over the lake in preparation for the next drill program. The drill program will explore for kimberlite(s) whose presence is indicated by the alteration and kimberlite indicator minerals found in previous drill holes. In addition, an airborne geophysical survey is scheduled to begin early February over the claims surrounding the "Big Hole".
The Company's exploration team is now reviewing all the diamond projects in preparation for the 2006 exploration season. The Company has a drill rig on site at both the Doyle and CH claim areas in anticipation of a spring drill program in these areas.
The Company relies on contractors to obtain equipment and experienced drill crews. The extent of any exploration program is subject to the funds available.
GGL Diamond Corp. designs its exploration programs with the assistance of Qualified Persons pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. These include, but are not limited to, Paul. W. Richardson, Ph.D., P.Eng., Torrie Chartier, M.Sc., MBA, P.Geol., and John Knight, M.Sc., P.Geo.
Star Diamond Project: Diamond results 19.25, 17.72, 8.95 and 5.70 carat diamonds in 312 carat parcel
Monday January 30, 11:50 am ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, Jan. 30 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce the sixth set of diamond results from the additional 15,000 tonne bulk sample collected from the Star Kimberlite as part of the prefeasibility study. The aim of this additional bulk sample is to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel from 4,000 to 6,000 carats. The diamond recoveries total 312.57 carats from 1,538.93 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are results for six kimberlite batches of a total of some 50 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the additional bulk sampling program on the Star Diamond Project. A total of 1,419 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 312.33 carats, has been recovered from the six batches. Fifty-four diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are: 19.25, 17.72, 8.95, and 5.70 carats, respectively. In addition, 15 diamonds (0.24 carats) were recovered down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of 58 percent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 15 percent classified as off-white.
ADVERTISEMENT
All of these kimberlite batches have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite which was mined on the 235 metre level from drifts developed south (Batches 120, 121, 122, 124 and 125) and north (Batch 123) of the shaft. The initial phase of prefeasibility bulk sampling has been completed and an estimated 15,000 tonnes have been skipped to surface. Over 13,000 tonnes have been processed through the on-site plant. The X-ray Flow-sort and grease table concentrates of Batches 126, 127, 128A, 128B and 129 have been shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the six sample batches are listed in the table below. Grades are expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).
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Diamonds Largest
Batch Dry Number of Total Grade Stone
No. Location Tonnes Stones (carats) (cpht) (carats)
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120 SOUTH 9B 277.48 256 66.78 24.07 19.25
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121 SOUTH 7C 391.35 414 70.72 18.07 5.70
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122 SOUTH 9C 331.64 231 80.83 24.37 17.72
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123 NORTH 7B 102.09 135 18.92 18.53 1.98
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124 SOUTH 7A
SILL SLASH 292.91 272 58.39 19.93 3.01
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125 SOUTH 7B
SILL SLASH 143.46 126 16.93 11.80 2.38
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Total 1,538.93 1,434 312.57 20.31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The four largest stones are: 19.25 (Batch 120, grey), 17.72 (Batch 122,
White), 8.95 (Batch 122, Off White) and 5.70 (Batch 121, White) carats,
respectively. Eighteen diamonds exceed two carats and 54 diamonds exceed one
carat, of which 25 are white, 14 are off-white, 11 are grey and 4 are brown. A
total of 113 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Fifty-eight percent of this diamond
parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 15 percent classified as
off-white. The diamond parcel includes three yellow, three amber and one pink
stone. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in
diamonds greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "With these
results, Shore has now recovered 2,012.51 carats from 11,289.16 dry tonnes of
kimberlite processed as part of the 15,000 tonne prefeasibility sample and we
have attained our goal of a total in excess of 6,000 carats from the initial
bulk sample and the prefeasibility bulk sample. All diamonds not included in
the initial valuation exercise conducted in early 2005 have been sent to
Antwerp for cleaning and valuation. The valuation of the new goods will be
completed by a number of expert valuators including WWW Diamonds
International. The collection of prefeasibility data which will be used to
determine the presence of a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral
Resource is proceeding on schedule."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite
through the modular Dense Media Separator (DMS), after which DMS concentrates
are batch fed through an X-ray Flow-sort. In order to ensure the recovery of
low luminosity diamonds, the Flow-sort tailings are processed over a grease
table. Flow-sort and grease table concentrates are transported by a secure
carrier to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS
Lakefield Research process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation,
manual sorting and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research is
accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council of Canada as
a testing laboratory for specific tests.
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately
$44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la
Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National
Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior
Vice President Exploration, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the
Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person
responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.
Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration
and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX
Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, Shore makes written or oral forward-looking statements
within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe harbour"
provisions of the Ontario Securities Act and the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Shore may make such statements in
this press release, in other filings with Canadian regulators or the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission, in reports to shareholders or in
other communications. These forward-looking statements include, among others,
statements with respect to Shore's objectives for the ensuing year, our medium
and long-term goals, and strategies to achieve those objectives and goals, as
well as statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. The words "may,"
"could," "should," "would," "suspect," "outlook," "believe," "plan,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," and words and expressions of
similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In
particular, statements regarding Shore's future operations, future exploration
and development activities or the anticipated results of Shore's
pre-feasibility study or other development plans contain forward-looking
statements.
All forward-looking statements and information are based on Shore's
current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently
available to Shore concerning anticipated financial performance, business
prospects, strategies, regulatory developments, development plans,
exploration, development and mining activities and commitments. Although
management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information
currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that
predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will
not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these
statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual results to
differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations,
anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking
statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, developments in
world diamond markets, changes in diamond valuations, risks relating to
fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other currencies relative to the US
dollar, changes in exploration, development or mining plans due to exploration
results and changing budget priorities of Shore or its joint venture partners;
the effects of competition in the markets in which Shore operates; the impact
of changes in the laws and regulations regulating mining exploration and
development; judicial or regulatory judgments and legal proceedings;
operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in
Shore's most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A
and short form prospectus, and Shore's anticipation of and success in managing
the foregoing risks.
Shore cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future
results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to
make decisions with respect to Shore, investors and others should carefully
consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
Shore does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether
written or oral, that may be made from time to time by Shore or on our behalf.
%CIK: 0001283176
For further information
please contact: Kenneth E. MacNeill, President & C.E.O.
George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration or Pieter Du Plessis, Project Leader at (306) 664-2202.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Shore Gold Inc.
Press Release - HUDSON RESOURCES INC. Quotes:( HUD )
Thursday, January 26, 2006 8:16:00 AM EST
Vancouver, BC - HUDSON RESOURCES INC. (“Hudson” – TSX Venture Exchange “HUD”) is pleased to announce that Dr. John McDonald, Ph.D. P.Geo., and Mr. Jim Cambon, B.Sc., have joined Hudson’s technical advisory team. In 2005, Hudson confirmed significantly diamondiferous kimberlite in a dike structure at Garnet Lake in West Greenland. Both of these men were directly involved with the development and ultimate sale of the Snap Lake Dike deposit in the North West Territories. Hudson believes that their involvement and previous experience will greatly enhance the advancement of the Greenland diamond project.
Dr. McDonald was the V.P. Exploration for both Diamondex Resources Inc. and Winspear Diamonds Inc., designing and developing their exploration focus. He and his technical team were directly responsible for the discovery and development of the Snap Lake diamond deposit, acquired by De Beers for $480 million in 2000. His field success is complemented by a prestigious academic career including a 13 year tenure as a university professor in Saskatchewan, Canada and Canberra, Australia. Prior to Dr. McDonald joining the Winspear team, he was the Chief Geologist and Exploration Manager, Western Canada, for Esso Minerals Canada for a period of ten years.
Mr. Cambon is a geologist with 20 years experience in the mineral consulting and project development industry with particular expertise in northern diamond projects. He has been involved in the evaluation and development of Arctic diamond projects in Canada and Russia. He managed AMEC’s Mining Consulting Division responsible for diamond projects including Ekati, Snap Lake, Jericho and numerous other projects. He has also been actively involved in Siberian diamond projects including the Udachnaya mine, which is the largest open pit diamond mine in the world, located on the Arctic Circle.
“The addition of these experienced individuals to the Hudson team will greatly enhance our ability to add value to Hudson’s ongoing diamond projects in Greenland,” commented James Tuer, President of the Company. “They understand what it takes to evaluate and develop a diamond project in a northern environment and we will be using this knowledge to rapidly advance our Greenland projects. Hudson has now found diamonds over a potential strike length of one kilometre and plans to aggressively test the area in 2006 to determine if there is sufficient tonnage to consider advancing the project to the development stage. Hudson will continue to build its technical team as we move forward.”
Hudson Resources Inc. is a diamond exploration company focused on a 1,500 sq km licence area near Sarfartoq, West Greenland. In 2004, the Company located the first highly diamondiferous kimberlite occurrence in Greenland with the recovery of 151 diamonds from a 108 kg sample. In 2005, Hudson found additional sources of significantly diamondiferous kimberlite in drill core at Garnet Lake. Hudson currently trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “HUD” and has 14.8 million shares outstanding.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“James Tuer”
James Tuer, President
This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding ongoing and upcoming exploration work and expected geology, geological formations and structures. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: HUDSON RESOURCES INC:
James Tuer, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (604) 628-5002 or (604) 688-3415
email: tuer@hudsonresources.ca
Please visit our website at www.hudsonresources.ca
Star Diamond Project: Diamond results 13.48, 7.63, 7.21 and 6.28 carat diamonds in 230 carat parcel
Tuesday January 17, 1:35 pm ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce the fifth set of diamond results from the additional 15,000 tonne bulk sample collected from the Star Kimberlite as part of the prefeasibility study. The aim of this additional bulk sample is to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel from 4,000 to 6,000 carats. The diamond recoveries total 229.74 carats from 1,086.95 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are results for four kimberlite batches of a total of some 50 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the additional bulk sampling program on the Star Diamond Project. A total of 1,005 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 229.50 carats, has been recovered from the four batches. Forty diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are: 13.48, 7.63, 7.21, and 6.28 carats, respectively. In addition, 14 diamonds (0.24 carats) were recovered down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of 57 percent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 17 percent classified as off-white.
ADVERTISEMENT
All of these kimberlite batches have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite which was mined on the 235 metre level from drifts developed north (Batches 117A and 117B) and south (Batches 118 and 119) of the shaft. The initial phase of prefeasibility bulk sampling has been completed and an estimated 15,000 tonnes have been skipped to surface. Over 12,000 tonnes have been processed through the on-site plant. The X-ray Flow-sort and grease table concentrates of Batches 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125 and 126 have been shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the four sample batches are listed in the table below. Grades are expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diamonds Largest
Batch Location Dry Tonnes Number Total Grade Stone
No. of Stones (carats) (cpht) (carats)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
117A NORTH 7A END 211.06 214 35.04 16.60 2.78
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117B NORTH 7A START 303.57 325 55.31 18.22 3.39
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
118 SOUTH 9A 254.68 183 48.28 18.96 6.22
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119 SOUTH 5A 317.64 297 91.11 28.68 13.48
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 1,086.95 1,019 229.74 21.14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The four largest stones are: 13.48 (Batch 119, White), 7.63 (Batch 119,
Off White), 7.21 (Batch 119, White) and 6.28 (Batch 119, Grey) carats,
respectively. Seventeen diamonds exceed two carats and 40 diamonds exceed one
carat, of which 15 are white, 12 are off-white, 12 are grey and 1 is brown. A
total of 81 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Fifty-seven percent of this diamond
parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 17 percent classified as
off-white. The diamond parcel includes 3 yellow, one amber and one pink stone.
Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds
greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "These results,
and specifically Batch 119, demonstrate the large stone carrying capacity of
the Early Joli Fou kimberlite. Prefeasibility core drilling has indicated that
the Star Kimberlite contains significant volumes of Cantuar and Pense
kimberlite in addition to the Early Joli Fou kimberlite, from which most of
the bulk samples have been collected. The Cantuar and Pense kimberlites both
contain abundant coarse olivine macrocrysts and a significant suite of mantle
indicator minerals and xenoliths. Permitting is currently underway to cover
drilling from drifts on the 235 metre level to investigate development, from
the existing underground workings, to bulk sample the Cantuar and Pense
kimberlites. The collection of prefeasibility data which will be used to
determine the presence of a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral
Resource is proceeding on schedule."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite
through the modular Dense Media Separator (DMS), after which DMS concentrates
are batch fed through an X-ray Flow-sort. In order to ensure the recovery of
low luminosity diamonds, the Flow-sort tailings are processed over a grease
table. Flow-sort and grease table concentrates are transported by a secure
carrier to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS
Lakefield Research process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation,
manual sorting and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research is
accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council of Canada as
a testing laboratory for specific tests.
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately
$44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la
Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National
Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior
Vice President Exploration, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the
Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person
responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.
Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration
and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX
Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, Shore makes written or oral forward-looking statements
within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe harbour"
provisions of the Ontario Securities Act and the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Shore may make such statements in
this press release, in other filings with Canadian regulators or the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission, in reports to shareholders or in
other communications. These forward-looking statements include, among others,
statements with respect to Shore's objectives for the ensuing year, our medium
and long-term goals, and strategies to achieve those objectives and goals, as
well as statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. The words "may,"
"could," "should," "would," "suspect," "outlook," "believe," "plan,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," and words and expressions of
similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In
particular, statements regarding Shore's future operations, future exploration
and development activities or the anticipated results of Shore's pre-
feasibility study or other development plans contain forward-looking
statements.
All forward-looking statements and information are based on Shore's
current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently
available to Shore concerning anticipated financial performance, business
prospects, strategies, regulatory developments, development plans,
exploration, development and mining activities and commitments. Although
management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information
currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks
and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that
predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will
not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these
statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual results to
differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations,
anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking
statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, developments in
world diamond markets, changes in diamond valuations, risks relating to
fluctuations in the Canadian dollar and other currencies relative to the US
dollar, changes in exploration, development or mining plans due to exploration
results and changing budget priorities of Shore or its joint venture partners;
the effects of competition in the markets in which Shore operates; the impact
of changes in the laws and regulations regulating mining exploration and
development; judicial or regulatory judgments and legal proceedings;
operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in
Shore's most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A
and short form prospectus, and Shore's anticipation of and success in managing
the foregoing risks.
Shore cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future
results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to
make decisions with respect to Shore, investors and others should carefully
consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
Shore does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether
written or oral, that may be made from time to time by Shore or on our behalf.
Star Diamond Project: Diamond results 4.27, 3.73 and 3.39 carat diamonds in 330 carat parcel
Wednesday December 14, 4:18 pm ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX SHORE GOLD INC.
SASKATOON, Dec. 14 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce the fourth set of diamond results from the additional 15,000 tonne bulk sample collected from the Star Kimberlite as part of the prefeasibility study. The aim of this additional bulk sample is to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel from 4,000 to 6,000 carats. The diamond recoveries total 330.88 carats from 2,128.88 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are results for seven kimberlite batches of a total of some 50 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the additional bulk sampling program on the Star Diamond Project. A total of 2,242 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 330.03 carats, has been recovered from the seven batches. Fifty-six diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are: 4.27, 3.73, 3.39, and 3.33 carats, respectively. In addition, 49 diamonds (0.85 carats) were recovered down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of 56 percent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 13 percent classified as off-white.
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All of these kimberlite batches have been mined on the 235 metre level from drifts developed south (Batches 111, 112, 113, 114 and 116) and north (Batches 110 and 115) of the shaft. Kimberlite Batches 110 to 115 (inclusive) have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite, while Batch 116 was collected from the west end of the South 3 drift in Mid Joli Fou kimberlite, hence the lower grade of this batch. The initial phase of prefeasibility bulk sampling has been completed and an estimated 15,000 tonnes have been skipped to surface. Over 10,000 tonnes have been processed through the on-site plant. The X-ray Flow-sort and grease table concentrates of Batches 117A, 117B, 118 and 119 have been shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the seven sample batches are listed in the table below. Grades are expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).
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Batch Location Dry Diamonds Total Grade Largest
No. Tonnes Number of (carats) (cpht) Stone
Stones (carats)
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110 NORTH 6C 247.61 401 42.38 17.12 3.39
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111 SOUTH MAIN F 318.13 399 64.99 20.43 4.27
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112 SOUTH 8H 108.21 98 23.05 21.30 1.77
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113 SOUTH 16D 358.98 342 61.12 17.03 3.73
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114 SOUTH 14F 384.55 353 60.58 15.75 3.33
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115 NORTH 6D 343.96 421 55.19 16.05 2.77
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116 SOUTH 3
SILL SLASH 367.44 228 23.57 6.42 2.66
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Total 2,128.88 2,242 330.88 15.54
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The four largest stones are: 4.27 (Batch 111, White), 3.73 (Batch 113,
Off White), 3.39 (Batch 110, White) and 3.33 (Batch 114, White) carats,
respectively. Seventeen diamonds exceed two carats and 56 diamonds exceed one
carat, of which 28 are white, 11 are off-white, 11 are grey, 2 are yellow, and
4 are brown. A total of 124 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Fifty-six percent of
this diamond parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 13 percent
classified as off-white. The diamond parcel includes 2 yellow, and 3 pink
stones. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in
diamonds greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "Early Joli Fou
kimberlite samples continue to produce significant diamond parcels and with
interesting grades. A detailed laser scan of the underground workings has been
completed by Point Geomatics Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta. This survey provides
sub-centimetre accuracy for volume determination of the underground drifts
that will be used in future three dimensional modeling of the Star Kimberlite.
A ramp has been prepared to the 205 metre level and underground drilling has
commenced in an easterly direction to investigate the proximity of the Pense
kimberlite. Significant intersections of the mantle mineral rich Pense
kimberlite have been defined by surface core drilling to the east of the shaft
and underground workings. The initial phase of prefeasibility core drilling is
close to complete after 123 holes and over 29,000 metres of drilling. Holes 6
and 7 of the large diameter drilling program are underway. The collection of
prefeasibility data which will be used to determine the presence of a National
Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource is proceeding on schedule."
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite
through the modular Dense Media Separator (DMS), after which DMS concentrates
are batch fed through an X-ray Flow-sort. In order to ensure the recovery of
low luminosity diamonds, the Flow-sort tailings are processed over a grease
table. Flow-sort and grease table concentrates are transported by a secure
carrier to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS
Lakefield Research process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation,
manual sorting and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research
is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council of Canada
as a testing laboratory for specific tests.
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately
$44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la
Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National
Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior
Vice President Exploration, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the
Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person
responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.
Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration
and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX
Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
Tahera to conduct Muskox kimberlite evaluation
Wed Nov 30, 2005 05:02 PM ET
TORONTO, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Tahera Diamond Corp. (TAH.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) issued the following statement on Wednesday. Its stock was halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange pending the news.
TORONTO, Ontario - Tahera Diamond Corporation plans to conduct a large-scale Muskox kimberlite evaluation program commencing in February 2006. An 800 to 1,300 tonne kimberlite sample will be extracted by large diameter reverse circulation drilling, and 3,000 to 5,000 meters of delineation core drilling will be completed. The budget for the 2006 program is approximately $13 million. The 2006 program should provide Tahera with sufficient data to conduct an assessment of the diamond grade potential and diamond value potential of the kimberlite. The goal of the evaluation program is to develop a mineral resource estimate for the Muskox kimberlite over the next 24-month period.
The kimberlite is comprised of at least two volumetrically significant units: the MKU-A unit and the MKU-B unit, both of which are highly diamondiferous. The MKU-A unit has been interpreted as magmatic kimberlite and the MKU-B unit has been interpreted as volcaniclastic kimberlite. Each unit comprises approximately one-half of the volume of the pipe. The kimberlite occupies a surface area of approximately 4 hectares, making it in excess of 2 times the size of the Jericho pipe. Current tonnage estimates for the Muskox kimberlite are approximately 12 to 14 million tonnes to a depth of 250 meters , however further delineation is required to determine an accurate figure. The Muskox kimberlite lies approximately 14 kilometers west of the Jericho pipe, which is well within trucking distance of the Jericho mine-site (see press release dated October 18, 2005 for recent Muskox exploration results).
The Muskox kimberlite is part of the Company's joint venture with De Beers Canada Inc. under which Tahera has the option to earn a 50 - 75% interest (see press release dated June 8, 2004).
Tahera retained Mineral Services Canada Inc., a geological consulting company that specializes in evaluation of kimberlite , to conduct a review of the Muskox kimberlite data that was generated during Tahera's 2005 exploration program. Based on a preliminary assessment of the microdiamond grade and size distribution information, Mineral Services concluded that the MKU-A unit shows potential for macrodiamond grades in excess of 1 carat per tonne. Data for samples of MKU-B material indicate a lower diamond grade potential for this unit. The microdiamonds from both units were found to be of exceptional quality however the relationship between microdiamond and macrodiamond population characteristics is undetermined.
Although the sample size is small, the Mineral Services preliminary review indicates that the Muskox kimberlite has good diamond grade potential. These results suggest higher grade potential than that indicated by a small bulk sampling program undertaken by De Beers in 1997 (see SEDAR filed technical report dated March 31, 2005). While the reasons for this discrepancy are unclear, the recent microdiamond results are sufficiently compelling to justify additional bulk sampling to more reliably determine the diamond grade of the Muskox kimberlite. The quality of the Muskox microdiamonds is encouraging but further work is required to determine potential macrodiamond values. Mineral Services will continue to work with the Company during the Muskox kimberlite evaluation program.
Other Exploration
Tahera's total exploration budget for 2006 is approximately $15 million. In addition to the Muskox program, Tahera will continue to explore its other advanced exploration properties, and investigate new diamond exploration opportunities in Canada.
Mr. Eugene Flood, P. Geol., is Tahera's qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 for its exploration programs. The Muskox kimberlite sample collected during Tahera's 2005 exploration program was processed at the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratory ("SRC") in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Flow-Through Financing
Tahera also announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc., pursuant to which the syndicate has agreed to purchase 13,235,300 flow-through common shares from treasury at a price of $0.68 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $9 million. Closing is anticipated to occur on or about December 15, 2005, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The proceeds from this financing will be utilized to fund the 2006 exploration program on the Company's diamond projects in Nunavut.
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Press Release Source: Majescor Resources Inc.
Majescor Resources Announces Closing of $1,352,000 Private Placement
Tuesday November 29, 5:11 pm ET
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 29, 2005) - Majescor Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MAJ - News) has closed a brokered private placement with a syndicate of agents led by Canaccord Capital Corporation and including Dundee Securities Corporation for gross proceeds of $1,352,000.
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The offering consisted of 10,405,000 Flow-Through Shares at a price of $0.13 per Flow-Through Share. The agents received a commission equal to 7.5 percent of the gross proceeds payable in cash and, at the election of the agents, in common shares of Majescor. The Agents therefore received $33,178.44 in cash and a total of 525,156 common shares of Majescor (the "Agents' Fee Shares"). The agents also received non-transferable Agent Warrants entitling them to purchase 1,040,500 common shares of Majescor (10.0 percent of the Flow-Through Shares issued) at an exercise price of $0.15 per share until November 28, 2007. Finally, Majescor issued 150,000 common shares to Canaccord as a corporate finance fee (the "Corporate Finance Shares").
The Flow-Through Shares, the Agents' Fee Shares, the Agents' Warrants and the Corporate Finance Shares are subject to a four month hold period expiring March 29, 2006.
The gross proceeds of the private placement shall be used for diamond exploration on Majescor's Canadian Projects.
In other news, Majescor has granted 460,000 stock options to certain employees and directors, to purchase 460,000 common shares of the Company at a price of $0.15 per share for a period of five years from the date of grant. These options are subject to regulatory approval.
About the Company:
Majescor is an exploration company with a large portfolio of diamond properties in Quebec, as well as projects in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Brazil and Madagascar.
To find out more about Majescor Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MAJ - News), visit our website at www.majescor.com
This press release is available on the Majescor IR HUB for investor commentary, feedback and questions. Investors are asked to visit http://www.agoracom.com/IR/Majescor. Alternatively, investors are asked to e-mail all questions and correspondence to MAJ@agoracom.com where they can also request addition to the investor e-mail list to receive all future press releases and correspondence directly.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Source: Majescor Resources
Mountain Province Diamonds' Joint Venture Submits Application for Construction and Operating Permits for NWT Mine
Tuesday November 29, 6:07 pm ET
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2005--Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (TSX:MPV - News; AMEX:MDM - News) -
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Production expected to average three million carats annually over 15 years
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (the "Company") today announced that De Beers Canada Inc., its operating partner of the Gahcho Kue Joint Venture, has filed an application with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board for the permits required to construct and operate a diamond mine at Gahcho Kue. The Gahcho Kue project is a joint venture between De Beers Canada (51%), Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (44.1%) and Camphor Ventures (4.9%).
"The submission of the applications for the permits required to construct and operate the diamond mine represents a milestone for the Gahcho Kue Joint Venture and Mountain Province Diamonds," said Patrick Evans Mountain Province Diamonds President and CEO. "Being able to support a production rate of three million carats annually over a 15 year mine life confirms that Gahcho Kue is a large, long-life asset and will become one of Canada's major diamond mines. It is apparent that the Gahcho Kue project is starting to live up to its considerable potential."
Gahcho Kue is located on Kennady Lake in the Northwest Territories, approximately 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. It is 90 kilometres east of Snap Lake, where De Beers' first Canadian diamond mine is currently under construction.
As currently proposed, the Gahcho Kue project will be an open pit mine, with an estimated resource of 31 million tonnes. Capital costs to construct the mine are estimated at C$ 825 million. It will employ up to 600 people during the peak of its three-year construction period and close to 400 people during the operations phase of the mine. The project is expected to have a life of twenty years from start of construction to closure. It will produce an average of 3 million carats annually over 15 years of operations.
"Advancing this project is consistent with our strategy of maintaining a pipeline of projects to meet increasing global demand as well as contributing to the sustainability of the Canadian diamond industry," said Richard Molyneux, President and CEO of De Beers Canada Inc. "Gahcho Kue is evidence of the importance we attach to partnerships with Canadian exploration companies as a winning formula for growing the diamond industry in this country."
De Beers Canada said in a news release it anticipates that the project application will be referred to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board for an Environmental Assessment.
"We have an excellent track record with the design and development of Snap Lake, and we are incorporating our learning from Snap Lake into the design and development of Gahcho Kue," said John McConnell, Vice President - NWT Projects of De Beers Canada. "We welcome the thorough evaluation that an Environmental Assessment will provide, and the opportunity to make any improvements to this project that may be identified in the process."
De Beers is investing approximately $2 billion over the next three years in the Canadian diamond industry. De Beers Canada's first diamond mine is the Snap Lake mine in the NWT, currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2007. The Victor Project, which received approval for its environmental assessments earlier this fall, will commence construction early in the New Year and will be in production by the end of 2008.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. has provided the following project summary:
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Average
Resource Grade Value
Pipe Category Tonnes Carats (cpht)(1) ($/ct)(2)
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5034 Indicated 8,715,000 13,943,000 160 $82.00
Inferred 4,921,000 8,366,000 170 $90.00
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Hearne Indicated 5,678,000 9,676,000 170 $70.00
Inferred 1,546,000 2,373,000 153 $70.00
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Tuzo Inferred 10,550,000 12,152,000 115 $57.00
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Summary Indicated 14,392,000 23,619,000 164 $77.00
Inferred 17,017,000 22,890,000 135 $70.00
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1. Resource cut-off is 1.5mm
2. June 2005 Price Book
Qualified Person
This press release has been prepared under the supervision of Carl G. Verley, P.Geo., who serves as the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the "safe-harbor" provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's business or financial condition. Actual results could differ materially from those described in this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of which are outside the control of the Company.
Shares Issued and Outstanding: 52,790,847
CANADA Office: 14th Floor, 220 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2W4 Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (TSX:MPV - News; AMEX:MDM - News)
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. Appoints New President and CEO
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 16, 2005) -
Mandate to Maximize Value of Diamond Project in Northwest Territories
The Board of Directors of Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (TSX:MPV)(AMEX:MDM) (the "Company") today announced that Patrick Evans has been appointed to the position of President and CEO, effective immediately.
Mr. Evans will succeed Jan Vandersande, who has retired from the position. Dr. Vandersande has also resigned from the Board of Mountain Province Diamonds, but will continue to support the Company as a technical consultant. Elizabeth J. Kirkwood, Chairman, thanked Dr. Vandersande for his tireless efforts and contributions to the Company.
Patrick Evans will be responsible for managing the Company and its interest in the Gahcho Kue kimberlite diamond project in the Northwest Territories to maximize value for shareholders. Mr. Evans is the former President and CEO of SouthernEra Diamonds Inc, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange AIM. He is also the former President and CEO of TSX-listed Southern Platinum Corporation and Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Messina Limited, which were recently acquired by the London platinum major, Lonmin Plc. Prior to that he was a senior executive with the Canadian gold producer Placer Dome Inc. and a member of the Executive Committee of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa. Mr. Evans is a graduate of the University of Cape Town (B.A., B.Sc.).
Commenting on Patrick Evans' appointment, Mountain Province Diamonds Chairman Elizabeth Kirkwood said: "Patrick's appointment brings to Mountain Province Diamonds a high level of senior executive leadership with extensive global diamond mining experience. He has wide experience managing complex multinational mining companies and projects in challenging environments. He also has a long-standing relationship with De Beers, the 51 percent operating partner in the Company's primary asset. We are delighted that he has joined Mountain Province Diamonds to build value for shareholders."
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. controls 44.1 percent of the Gahcho Kue Project. The Project consists of the Hearne, 5034 and Tuzo kimberlites located at Kennady Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. De Beers Canada Inc., the 51 percent operating partner of the Project, has recently completed a $25 million pre-feasibility study and is currently advancing the Project to permitting stage. De Beers has the right to earn up to 60 percent by taking the Project to commercial production. De Beers intends to conduct large diameter drilling and sampling program in the winter of 2005-2006 on the 5034 and Tuzo kimberlites to improve resource confidence and will also conduct delineation, geotechnical and hydrological drilling to improve input data for mine design.
De Beers Canada, Yellowknives Dene Sign Deal
By Jeanette Goldman Posted: 11/15/2005 5:04 AM
(Rapaport...November 15, 2005) De Beers Canada and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation have closed a deal on the terms of an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) for the Snap Lake Project, De Beers said in a press release on November 14.
Under the terms of the agreement, Yellowknives Dene will receive from the Snap Lake Project the following: Employment and business opportunities, training and development, and financial compensation for the use of the land during the mining period. The Impact Benefit Agreement was signed November 14 in Ndilo and a formal signing ceremony is scheduled to take place in Dettah on January 1, 2006.
The Snap Lake mine will employ 500 people during full production, and is expected to produce 1.5 million carats per year. It is the first completely underground diamond mine in Canada and will be De Beers’ first mine outside of Africa. The mine is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2007, with full production to be achieved in 2008.
“This agreement gives us the opportunity to provide good jobs, training, and business opportunities for our people, while we maintain and practice our traditional way of life in Drygeese Territory,” said Fred Sangris, Chief for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Ndilo. “We know De Beers will respect the land, water, animals, environment and the spirit of intent in this agreement for the life of the mine at Snap Lake,” he said.
The conclusion of the agreement follows a similar agreement signed by De Beers and the Attawapiskat First Nation for a new mine in northern Ontario earlier in November. De Beers' Victor mine is on Attawapiskat lands.
Natives making some progress in self-sufficiency
Patricia Chisolm - for Law Times
When it comes to things like agreements with private companies extracting resources from treaty lands, First Nation communities in Ontario appear to be making some real progress; that’s evidenced by the major deal between De Beers and a James Bay band finalized last week.
But in other areas, such as the jurisdictional squabbling that erupted in the recent crisis over clean water on the northern Ontario Kashechewan reserve, the problems seem as intractable as ever, say lawyers who have been working in the area for many years.
Driving some of what is happening now in Ontario (and across the country) are two November 2004 decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada: Haida Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests) and Taku River Tlingit First Nation v. British Columbia (Project Assessment Director). They set down the principle that governments have a duty to conduct meaningful consultations in good faith with First Nation communities that may be affected by government actions — typically when companies are granted permission for activities like mineral extraction or road building on lands claimed by First Nations groups as treaty or traditional land.
First Nations lawyer Martin Bayer, of Weaver Simmons LLP in Sudbury, Ont., has worked extensively in the area of self-government and resource sharing agreements that are occurring with greater frequency between First Nations communities and the many corporations now turning their attention to the potential of Northern Ontario. He was recently involved in the widely noticed impact-and-benefit agreement between diamond mining giant De Beers and the Attawapiskat First Nation, announced last week.
It sets out how the James Bay-area band will participate in the project in areas like employment, profit-sharing, joint stewardship, scholarships, and management of the environment. Bayer, who has been practising for about 10 years, acted for De Beers.
He said, “It’s a good thing when international companies hire Aboriginal lawyers because if they are operating within a treaty area, then they should know something about Aboriginal law and the treaties that govern that particular area.”
Often big companies go with Bay Street firms that may not know the context they are working in, he observed.
In some respects, negotiations with First Nations peoples are improving, he said, because First Nations peoples are getting better at participating on their own behalf in the process.
“There was a time when the First Nation negotiation team was comprised of a negotiator, a lawyer, and advisors who were all non-native.”
But in lots of ways, things are not moving along well, he added, citing the federal government’s continued reliance on the “outdated” principle of the inherent-right policy. Governments continue to lack flexibility and proper planning with their policies, he said, which focus on trying to “control or constrain First Nation communities.”
Forty-year Aboriginal law veteran John Olthuis, of Toronto’s Olthuis Kleer Townshend, says what is needed now is economic viability, not more band-aids.
The big issue in Ontario, from his perspective, is treaty implementation. Historic agreements that allowed First Nations to use their treaty lands have been eroded by leases and licences granted by Ontario to resource companies. The question now, especially in light of the dreadful conditions at the Kashechewan reserve that recently received much media attention, is whether life on reserves is viable.
He said that crisis arose because the federal government ignored the band’s objection to the location of the community in the first place: it is built on a bog that is also part of a tidal floodplain. The government chose the site because it was easy to get supply barges into the coastal community. The result has been uncontrollable mold in the houses and tainted water.
If there is to be a future for the next generation, First Nations peoples must have some access to their traditional lands outside the reserves, Olthuis said. The argument is that if economic activities are to be licensed in these areas, then First Nations should be able to share in the benefits. This issue has special meaning for the 50,000 First Nations people who live in the Treaty Nine areas (north of Timmins and Thunder Bay), which are drawing increasing attention from major resource companies.
“What First Nations really want is to move toward economic and social self-sufficiency,” he said. “They say that can only come through the treaty implementation process, rather than just new government programs that essentially address the symptoms.”
But professor Brad Morse, who teaches aboriginal law at the University of Ottawa, says that while such developments would be welcome, he does not see much impetus for them from government or the private sector in Ontario. Their longstanding view, he said, is that “there really is no need to worry about any of these issues” because the treaties pre-date Confederation, which extinguished those agreements.
As a result of that perception, the Ministry of Natural Resources believes it can do whatever it wishes with Crown lands in Ontario, he said. This lack of concern about First Nations claims is exacerbated by the location of reserves in Ontario. Unlike in B.C., for example, they are situated far from major urban centres.
And this failure to engage continues to exist despite the two recent decisions from the Supreme Court requiring consultation with First Nations.
“Legally, I think there is a huge amount of uncertainty as to what is going on, but it’s business as usual,” said Morese.
But companies would be very wise to pay attention to First Nations issues in areas where they plan to operate, he cautioned. In the future the courts are likely to be much more active in this area and require companies to reach deals with local Aboriginal communities, he predicted. If they fail to do so, they could find their operations stalled indefinitely by lawsuits, which in this area are notorious for dragging on for many, many years.
Better to be pragmatic and enter into an agreement now, rather than be forced into one later, he concluded.
TORONTO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - De Beers said on Tuesday it has signed an agreement with the native community in northern Ontario were it plans to start building its second Canadian diamond mine.
The agreement with the Attawapiskat First Nation comes after the federal and provincial governments approved De Beers' environmental assessments for its Victor project in a remote northeastern corner of Ontario.
"We said we would not pursue the mine without the support of the community," said Linda Dorrington, a spokeswoman for De Beers, which is is 45 percent owned by mining group Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (AGLJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research).
"Symbolically it is an indication of support from the community. But it's more than just a symbolic commitment, there are specific things that the company and the community have agreed to."
The agreement sets out how the Attawapiskat community will benefit from the diamond mine and includes a commitment for jobs and financial compensation for "loss of the use of the land while it is being mined."
De Beers is now applying for a number of permits. It needs about 30 from Ontario and about 11 from federal authorities.
"We have everything in place," said Dorrington. "We don't have any reason to believe that those won't be granted because we are in compliance."
De Beers, which produces about half the world's diamond supply, has been moving away from its traditional base in South Africa where it has started shutting down mines that are low on diamonds and profits.
The Victor project is in the flat and swampy James Bay lowlands. De Beers' other Canadian operation is the Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories, slated to start up in 2007.
Dorrington said De Beers is on track to begin constructing the Victor open pit mine early in 2006.
The mine is expected to take three years to build and to start producing at the end of 2008. Victor is seen producing 6 million carats during the life of the mine.
Canada already has two operating diamond mines, Ekati and Diavik, both in the Northwest Territories. They have elevated the country from a non-diamond producer before 1998, to the world's third largest today.
SASKATOON (CP) - Shore Gold Inc. has signed a financing deal that will see it issue 17.15 million common shares for gross proceeds of about $120 million.
Shore said Wednesday that Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp., currently the world's biggest gold producer, has agreed to buy 6.84 million shares from the offering.
Following that, Newmont will own 9.9 per cent of Shore (TSX:SGF), the Saskatchewan company said.
Genuity Capital Markets is leading a syndicate of underwriters who have bought the shares from Shore Gold's treasury.
Net proceeds will go to exploration and development of the Fort a la Corne property in Saskatchewan, as well as further work
De Beers on track for second Canadian diamond mine
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http://www.miningweekly.co.za/?show=77216
De Beers said it has signed an agreement with the native community in northern Ontario were it plans to start building its second Canadian diamond mine.
The agreement with the Attawapiskat First Nation comes after the federal and provincial governments approved De Beers' environmental assessments for its Victor project in a remote northeastern corner of Ontario.
"We said we would not pursue the mine without the support of the community," said Linda Dorrington, a spokeswoman for De Beers, which is 45% owned by mining group Anglo American.
"Symbolically it is an indication of support from the community. But it's more than just a symbolic commitment, there are specific things that the company and the community have agreed to."
The agreement sets out how the Attawapiskat community will benefit from the diamond mine and includes a commitment for jobs and financial compensation for "loss of the use of the land while it is being mined."
De Beers is now applying for a number of permits. It needs about 30 from Ontario and about 11 from federal authorities.
"We have everything in place," said Dorrington. "We don't have any reason to believe that those won't be granted because we are in compliance."
De Beers, which produces about half the world's diamond supply, has been moving away from its traditional base in South Africa where it has started shutting down mines that are low on diamonds and profits.
The Victor project is in the flat and swampy James Bay lowlands. De Beers' other Canadian operation is the Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories, slated to start up in 2007.
Dorrington said De Beers is on track to begin constructing the Victor open pit mine early in 2006.
The mine is expected to take three years to build and to start producing at the end of 2008. Victor is seen producing 6-million carats during the life of the mine.
Canada already has two operating diamond mines, Ekati and Diavik, both in the Northwest Territories. They have elevated the country from a non-diamond producer before 1998, to the world's third largest today.
Fort a la Corne diamond companies come together
The two diamond companies competing in the Fort a la Corne Forest, Shore Gold and Kensington Resources have officially joined forces.
Greg Wiseman
Tuesday November 01, 2005
Melfort Journal — The two diamond companies competing in the Fort a la Corne Forest, Shore Gold and Kensington Resources have officially joined forces.
With a day-long legal proceeding held at the Yukon Provincial Court in Whitehorse the two companies have merged creating one of the most advanced diamond exploration companies in the country.
"We are very pleased with this indeed, I think it is a great merge between the two companies that have tremendous assets, not only in the ground, but also in terms of people," said Robert McCallum, the president and CEO of Kensington Resources.
"This is going to make the companies very strong, and will really put us on the radar screen for big funds, with cash of $175 million you are in a position to take the project forward very aggressively."
On Oct. 21 Kensington security holders voted 99.2 per cent in favor of the arrangement to combine the businesses.
The merger was subject to the completion of necessary court approvals, which took place Friday.
"This is a truly synergistic combination that achieves our strategic goals and further consolidates the Fort a la Corne diamond trend under one public company," said Kenneth MacNeill, president and CEO of Shore Gold Inc.
"We intend to aggressively pursue the development of the star property to fully maximize the potential in that region. Our goal is to create an exciting long term future for all stakeholders."
The overwhelming vote in favor of the merger, according to McCallum, sends a strong message to both companies and to the people involved.
"This is a great deal for both sides and you can see it in our stock prices."
He said since the proposed merger was announced in mid August the price of Kensington shares has just about doubled from $2.40 to $4.60.
He said the prices are aggressive, like the vote, and the new combined company, will continue to be aggressive in their work on both projects.
"Both of these projects are going to be moving forward a lot quicker than they have in the past ,"McCallum said.
"In the Star they will be pushing very hard to get into production as soon as possible. I think you are going to see a major ramp up in the level of activity in the Fort a la Corne forest
(just north of Melfort)."
The Star Kimberlite project is going to be urged into production by 2010, according to McCallum, a big step, which will have a dramatic effect on other kimberlite bodies in the area.
"That will be great when that happens because once it goes into production there will be cash flow that can be used to take the other kimberlites and develop further reserves."
The move to finalize the merger comes about a week after Kensington Resources unearthed some rather large diamond samples from some of their test holes.
From 309 kilograms of test material a total of 212 micro diamonds were recovered.
McCallum said typically with diamond mines the larger the sample the higher the value.
He said Shore Gold has recovered some diamonds around 20 carats, but now anticipate higher valued stones.
"They have changed the screen on it now and are able to recover stones up to 75 carats," McCallum said.
"However everything we have seen in terms of grade forecast, certainly in the Fort a la Corne, indicates there could be diamonds well over 100 carats. We haven't had those to date but we believe they are in there."
Right now the merged company is going through a transfusion period where employees are consolidated and new roles are defined., but work continues on the site.
"A single kimberlite body like the Star contains close to 500 million tons. Thinking about that you get a feel for the size of the kimberlite in Saskatchewan, there is nothing else like it in the world."
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Press Release Source: Shore Gold Inc.
Shore Gold enters into voting arrangement on the Fort a la Corne Joint Venture
Monday October 31, 1:23 pm ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, Oct. 31 /CNW/ - Kenneth E. MacNeill, President and CEO is pleased to announce that Shore Gold Inc. ("Shore") has entered into a voting arrangement with Cameco Corporation ("Cameco") and UEM Inc. ("UEM") relating to the Fort a la Corne Joint Venture ("FALC JV"). Pursuant to this arrangement, Cameco and UEM have agreed to vote with Shore on all operating decisions over a term up to seven years in duration to be made by the participants in the FALC JV in exchange for a cash payment of $10 million from Shore.
Shore's wholly-owned subsidiary, Kensington Resources Ltd., holds a 42.245% interest in the FALC JV, with remaining interests held by De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. (42.245%), Cameco (5.51%) and UEM (10%, carried).
The FALC JV project consists of 63 drill-confirmed kimberlite bodies within the largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world and is located adjacent to Shore's Star Diamond Project in Saskatchewan.
For further information
Kenneth E. MacNeill, President & C.E.O. or Harvey J. Bay, C.F.O. at (306) 664-2202
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shore Gold Inc. and Kensington Resources Ltd. complete merger
Friday October 28, 6:53 pm ET
Stock Symbol: SGF:TSX Stock Symbol: KRT:TSX-V Shore Gold Inc. Kensington Resources Ltd.
SASKATOON, SK, and VANCOUVER, Oct. 28 /CNW/ - Shore Gold Inc. (TSX: SGF - News; "Shore") and Kensington Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:KRT - News; "Kensington"), announced today that they have completed the merger transaction announced on August 15, 2005. The merger was completed by a plan of arrangement which was approved by the securityholders of Kensington on October 21, 2005 and was approved by the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory earlier today.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Our goal has always been to create long term value for all stakeholders involved and we believe this transaction will allow us to maximize that potential. With the merger complete, our efforts are clearly focused on realizing the significant growth potential of the world's largest diamond bearing kimberlite field," said Kenneth E. MacNeill, President and CEO of Shore Gold Inc.
"I wish to congratulate all of Kensington Resources' securityholders who will now enjoy increased value by participating in the development of the world's largest diamond bearing kimberlite field at Fort à la Corne," said Robert A. McCallum, former President and CEO of Kensington and who today becomes a director of Shore. "Shore Gold now holds the largest interest in this field. Through Shore Gold, our securityholders will enjoy a premium opportunity in the timely realization of the vast potential of the Fort à la Corne diamond field."
Pursuant to the plan of arrangement, Kensington amalgamated with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shore and all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Kensington were transferred to Shore in consideration for the issuance by Shore of 0.64 of a common share of Shore for each Kensington share. All of the outstanding options to acquire common shares of Kensington were transferred to Shore and the former holders thereof received options to purchase common shares of Shore under Shore's stock option plan. Likewise, each outstanding warrant to acquire common shares of Kensington was transferred to Shore and the former holder thereof was issued warrants of Shore in exchange therefor. All outstanding broker warrants of Kensington, in accordance with their terms, now entitle their holders to purchase securities of Shore.
Pursuant to the plan of arrangement, Shore issued an aggregate of approximately 51,706,786 common shares to the former shareholders of Kensington and reserved an additional 7,175,346 common shares for issuance pursuant to options, warrants and broker warrants held by the former securityholders of Kensington. Upon completion of the transaction, Shore has a total of approximately 152,657,604 issued and outstanding common shares.
Three former directors of Kensington were appointed to the board of directors of Shore effective at the closing of the plan of arrangement. The eight member board of directors of Shore is now comprised of five continuing Shore directors (Kenneth MacNeill, Arnie Hillier, Neil McMillan, Ronald Walker and Harvey Bay) and three former directors of Kensington (James R. Rothwell, Robert McCallum and William Stanley).
The common shares of Shore issued to the former shareholders of Kensington will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday, October 31, 2005. The warrants of Shore issued to the former warrantholders of Kensington will be listed and posted for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at the opening on or about Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at which time they will be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange.
Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of Shore trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
News Release - Friday, October 28, 2005
Microdiamond Results from 2004 Pilot Holes for Fort à la Corne
Kimberlite 122
=======================================================================
Vancouver, B.C., Friday, October 28, 2005 - Kensington Resources Ltd.
(the "Company") announces more microdiamonds results received from the
operator, De Beers Canada Inc. for Kimberlite Body 122 of the Fort à la
Corne Diamond Project in east-central Saskatchewan. Four coreholes
designated as pilot holes for large diameter drilling were sampled
during the 2004-2005 program to provide additional material for diamond
recoveries utilizing caustic dissolution methods. A total of 212
microdiamonds were recovered for use in grade forecasting of specific
kimberlite zones. These results include the recovery of seven stones
with at least one dimension greater than 0.5 mm.
"Forecast diamond grades and values from Kimberlite 122 remain very
encouraging," states Robert A. McCallum, President and CEO of
Kensington Resources Ltd. "Given the recently reported macrodiamond
recoveries and variations within the kimberlite, additional drilling
and sampling is required to better define the geology and level of
confidence in the diamond size distributions within potential higher
grade units of Kimberlite 122."
Representative samples totaling 309.44 kg from four HQ coreholes (2.5
inches or 63.5 mm diameter) located in the central part of the South
Crater of Kimberlite 122 were submitted for diamond recovery utilizing
caustic dissolution methods at the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC)
in Saskatoon. The SRC recovered and reported diamonds down to a lower
sieve size cutoff of 0.075 mm.
Geological modeling of distinct kimberlite phases to date by De Beers
shows the body is divisible into two main craters. Both craters are
dominated by massive to graded beds of olivine/lapilli pyroclastic
kimberlite (MPK-S and MPK-N) overlain by units of interbedded
sediments, resedimented kimberlite, and kimberlite (UCSK-S and UCSK-N).
The South Crater also has other pyroclastic kimberlite (OPK) units of
limited areal extent including OPK-13, a different kimberlite type
identified only in corehole 04-122-013. A total of 195.62 kg of MPK-S
kimberlite was tested from core intervals in drillholes 04-122-012A,
04-122-014, and 04-122-019 as well as 113.82 kg of OPK-13 from
drillhole 04-122-013.
Table 1:
Summary of 122 Microdiamond Results from 2004 Pilot Hole Samples
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Calcu- Stones
Kimber- lated greater
LDDH lite Mass # of stones than
Pilot Hole Equivalent Unit (kg) Stones /10kg 0.5 mm
(i)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-012A 04-122-015
04-122-016 MPK-S 122.18 62 5.1 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-013 n/a OPK-13 113.82 135 11.9 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-014 04-122-018 MPK-S 32.62 6 1.8 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-019 04-122-021 MPK-S 40.82 9 2.2 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 309.44 212 6.9 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) recovered stones with at least one dimension greater than 0.5mm
The average microdiamond abundance for all pilot hole samples is 6.9
stones per 10 kg. The average microdiamond abundance for MPK-S in the
pilot holes is 3.9 stones per 10 kg compared to 6.1 stones per 10 kg
from previous results in this kimberlite unit. One explanation may be
that sampling of some 73.4 kg of the total mass occurred below a depth
of 275 metres in coreholes 04-122-014 and 019. These deep intervals
range from very fine-to medium-grained kimberlite and may represent a
different kimberlite unit from the rest of the MPK-S above. Notably,
the 11.9 stones per 10 kg for OPK-13 may indicate the presence of a
more prospective sub-unit within the main kimberlite phase of the south
crater, of which the size and extent must be further investigated.
Results from 2004 will be combined with historic diamond recoveries to
produce higher confidence grade forecasts for individual kimberlite
units.
Additional summaries of diamond recovery results, information, and maps
are available on the Company's website at www.kensington-resources.com.
A more detailed summary of the 122 geology was given in the Company's
news release of May 21, 2004.
Brent C. Jellicoe, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company and
has reviewed the technical information herein. Microdiamond recovery
was performed by Saskatchewan Research Council of Saskatoon. All
aspects of quality assurance, quality control and sample chain of
custody for the Fort à la Corne Joint Venture are managed by De Beers
Canada Inc., the project operator.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development
company currently focused on the high potential Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical
expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for
the realization of shareholder value. The Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%),
De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc.
(carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort à la Corne,
the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated
results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on
reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the
largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
Robert A. McCallum, President & CEO
Kensington Resources Ltd.
Suite 2100, P.O. Box 11606
650 W. Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA V6B 4N9
Tel: 1-800-514-7859 or (604) 682-0020
Fax: (604) 682-0021
Website: www.kensington-resources.com
E-Mail: rob-mccallum@kensington-resources.com
TRADING SYMBOL: KRT-TSX.V
For further information, please contact:
Mel Gardner, Manager Investor Relations
Tel: 1-800-710-6083
E-mail: mel-gardner@kensington-resources.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
View News Release in PDF Format:
http://www.kensington-resources.com/i/pdf/2005-10-28_NR.pdf
79 KB in size, approx. 16 seconds to download at 56.6Kbps
Majescor Acquires Diamond-Uranium Project from De Beers in the Eastern Arctic
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(CCNMatthews - Oct. 25, 2005) - Majescor (TSX VENTURE:MAJ) is pleased to announce that is has signed an agreement with De Beers Canada giving Majescor an option on De Beers' Baker Lake project located some 50 km west of the town of Baker Lake, in the eastern Arctic area of Nunavut. The project has both diamond and uranium potential and the agreement provides for separate options for the two commodities.
De Beers acquired a large land position for diamond west of Baker Lake in 2004. They proceeded to carry out regional sampling for indicator minerals across the property, a continuation of the regional prospecting they had undertaken in the region in 1998. Part of the original property located immediately north of the Majescor/De Beers ground has recently been optioned to Cameco Corporation (see De Beers press release dated August 2, 2005). The land package under option to Majescor consists of 51 mineral permits covering over 9,000 square kilometers. Thirteen of the permits have been set aside for uranium exploration while the rest has been retained for diamond.
De Beers will have spent an aggregate of some Can$1,240,000 in diamond exploration by the end of the year on the property of interest which lies on the Archean Rae craton. Six target areas were defined by the 2004 regional effort which generated more than 350 samples. Five of the targets were followed up in the fall of 2005 through more detailed till sampling and airborne geophysics. Counts upwards of 25; spinel, garnet and ilmenite, were reported in 2004. Results for the 2005 work are expected by this coming December at which time the program for 2006 will be established by the partners.
The 13 permits retained for uranium are either directly located on the projected southwest-trending extension of the Kiggavik Trend or contain known uranium showings which appear to be closely associated with the Snowbird Tectonic Zone. The Baker Lake property rests on the eastern margin of the Thelon Basin and it has the potential to support an unconformity-style uranium deposit as it is bears striking geological similarities with the Athabasca Basin located 300 km to the southwest, in Saskatchewan. The latter hosts a number of high-grade unconformity and subunconformity deposits. However, compared to the Athabasca Basin, the Thelon Basin is relatively under-explored and it has not yet been prospected using modern technologies as the bulk of work was mostly reconnaissance work done in the boom years of the 1970's and 1980's. The interest for the Thelon Basin has surged in 2005, especially with Cameco's deal with Uravan Minerals and De Beers. Cameco is one of the world's largest uranium producers.
Cogema's Kiggavik uranium deposit, first discovered in 1977, contains some 48.5 t of U at an average grade of 0.405% U (see Diamonds North Resources press release September 22, 2005). Located less than 20 kilometers north of the property, it occurs on a 25 km long zone called the Kiggavik trend, whose southwest direction projects onto Majescor's property. Some seven occurrences and small deposits of uranium, known from the 1970's, form a northeasterly trend in the southeastern corner of the property. This trend correlates with the Snowbird Tectonic Zone and the showings are hosted by rocks of the Baker Lake Group. They are epigenetic and hosted mainly by sedimentary units. They include disseminations in sandstone and conglomerate, along arkosic lamellae in siltstone, and in thermal aureoles of the lamprophyric dykes related to the volcanic units. The common metallic association is U + Cu + Pb + Ag.
The terms of the agreement can be summarized as follows. For diamonds, the parties intend to form a 50:50 joint venture once Majescor has solely funded $1,240,000 in exploration by December 31st, 2008, starting in January. De Beers will be the operator at the onset. For uranium, Majescor can earn a 50% interest in the project by spending $400,000 until December 31st, 2008, Majescor being the operator. Majescor can further increase its interest to 80% in the uranium project by solely funding a further $240,000.
"These deals consolidate Majescor's position as a major player in the diamond industry in Canada. We are also very pleased to pursue our strong alliance with De Beers in this country. The Baker Lake project has a great potential for both diamond and uranium and we are most fortunate that the large land package was assembled by De Beers in the promising Thelon Basin area before the current uranium rush began last year. We intend to spin-off or option the uranium project and concentrate on the diamond asset" says Andre Audet, CEO and Chairman for Majescor.
In other news, De Beers Africa has advised Majescor that it was abandoning the strategic alliance with Majescor in northern and central Madagascar in view of its large commitments elsewhere in Africa. Majescor retains a 100% ownership of this large land package, all indicator minerals-supported. The kimberlites recently discovered by Majescor in Madagascar are located well outside of the area of interest of the agreement with De Beers, on ground held in partnership with Madagascar Mining Development.
Majescor is an exploration company with a large portfolio of diamond properties in Quebec, as well as projects in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Brazil and Madagascar.
Star Diamond Project core drilling intercepts second kimberlite feeder pipe
Tuesday October 18, 9:07 am ET
Stock Symbol: SGF: TSX
SASKATOON, Oct. 18 /CNW/ - George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce that a Cantuar Kimberlite feeder vent has been intercepted by the prefeasibility study core drilling program on the Star Diamond Project. This Cantuar feeder vent was located in drill hole SPF-088, which is situated within the Star Kimberlite, some 500 metres southeast of the shaft. The sequence of kimberlite types encountered in this hole, as determined by detailed core logging by Shore Gold's on-site geologists, is as follows: 125 - 129 metres Late Joli Fou Kimberlite, 129 - 183 metres Early Joli Fou Kimberlite and 183 - 375 metres Cantuar Kimberlite. The Cantuar Kimberlite is the earliest known kimberlite eruptive phase at Star and is characterized by abundant coarse olivine macrocrysts, indicator minerals and peridotite and eclogite xenoliths. The shape and internal structure of this Cantuar feeder vent will be further investigated by 30 metre step-out drill holes, which will commence as soon as the environmental permitting for these holes has been completed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: "The location of this Cantuar feeder vent has significant upside for the economics of the Star Diamond Project. While the Cantuar Kimberlite exhibits many characteristics associated with diamondiferous kimberlites, the actual diamond grade of the Cantuar Kimberlite will be tested by mini-bulk samples recovered from the large diameter drilling program. The prefeasibility study core drilling program is proceeding on schedule and more than 90 holes have been completed to date, with just over 20,000 metres drilled. Substantial intersections of coarse grained Pense Kimberlite have been encountered on the east side of Star and this Cantuar feeder vent gives Shore geologists great incentive to attempt to locate a Pense Kimberlite feeder."
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately
$44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la
Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National
Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior
Vice President Exploration, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the
Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person
responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.
Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration
and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX
Exchange under the trading symbol "SGF".
STAR DIAMOND PROJECT: DIAMOND RESULTS
10.0, 5.4 AND 4.8 CARAT DIAMONDS IN 531 CARAT PARCEL
George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration, is pleased to announce the first set of diamond results from the additional 15,000 tonne bulk sample collected from the Star Kimberlite as part of the prefeasibility study. The aim of this additional bulk sample is to increase the size of the diamond valuation parcel from 4,000 to 6,000 carats. The diamond recoveries total 531.04 carats from 3,920.84 dry tonnes processed. Included in this release are results for fourteen kimberlite batches of a total of some 50 kimberlite batches that will be processed as part of the additional bulk sampling program on the Star Diamond Project. A total of 4,903 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh screen), collectively weighing 526.94 carats, has been recovered from the fourteen batches. Fifty diamonds greater than one carat have been recovered and the four largest stones are: 10.01, 5.40, 4.76 and 4.64 carats, respectively. In addition, 231 diamonds (4.11 carats) were recovered down to 0.85 millimetre square mesh. The colour of 60 percent of these diamonds has been classified as white, with a further 12 percent classified as off-white.
All of these kimberlite batches have been mined on the 235 metre level from drifts developed south of the shaft. All kimberlite batches have been recovered from within the Early Joli Fou equivalent kimberlite with grades being expressed in carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The lower grade of Batch 79 (8.03 cpht) is due to the small (66.92 tonnes) sample size while the lower grades of Batches 81 (8.29 cpht), 83 (8.70 cpht), 89 (8.67 cpht) and 91 (9.78) result from the localized, fine grained kimberlite units sampled by these batches. To date, 13,000 tonnes of kimberlite have been skipped to surface and over 6,000 tonnes have been processed through the on-site plant. The X-ray Flow-sort and grease table concentrates of Batches 93 to 102 (inclusive) have been shipped to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery.
Kimberlite processed and diamond results for the fourteen sample batches are listed in the table below.
Batch # Location
(metres below surface) Dry Tonnes Diamonds
Number of Stones Total
(carats)
Grade
(cpht) Largest Stone
(carats)
79 South 8 66.92 57 5.38 8.03 0.59
80 South Main 1 103.19 102 20.30 19.67 3.78
81 South 14C 292.56 283 24.26 8.29 1.79
82 South 7A 216.25 298 34.16 15.80 2.90
83 South 8C 383.89 502 33.41 8.70 1.72
84 South 15A 377.96 577 52.45 13.88 4.24
85 South 7B 255.20 331 52.77 20.68 5.40
86 South 14A
364.88 693 81.46 22.33 10.01
87 South 15B 299.89 477 38.73 12.91 1.33
88 South 8D 356.41 404 48.07 13.49 4.64
89 South 14B 310.60 326 26.92 8.67 0.76
90
South 13A 274.74 323 34.15 12.43 1.74
91 South 14E 275.57 277 26.95 9.78 1.36
92 South 16B 342.78 484 52.03 15.18 2.25
Total 3,920.84 5,134 531.04 13.54
The four largest stones are: 10.01 (Batch 86, Grey), 5.40 (Batch 85, Grey), 4.76 (Batch 86, White) and 4.64 (Batch 88, Off White) carats, respectively. Sixteen diamonds exceed two carats and 50 diamonds exceed one carat, of which 16 are white, 14 are off-white, 13 are grey, 6 are brown and 1 is amber. A total of 155 diamonds exceed 0.5 carat. Sixty percent of this diamond parcel is classified white in colour, with a further 12 percent classified as off-white. The diamond parcel includes 15 yellow, 6 pink and 8 amber stones. Ninety-nine percent of the carat weight of this parcel occurs in diamonds greater than 1.18 millimetre square mesh.
Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, states: “The recovery of an additional 15,000 tonnes of kimberlite from the Star underground workings is well advanced. The results from this latest round of bulk samples are consistent with the grades and stone qualities from the previous bulk samples from the Early Joli Fou kimberlite on the 235m level. These results increase our total diamond recoveries to 4,579.85 carats and 38,954 stones from 31,757.38 dry tonnes. The on-site processing plant has been made more efficient with the addition of a tertiary cone crusher. The recent change to a larger (22 millimetre) top screen on the dense media separator (DMS) feed now enables the recovery of diamonds up to 75 carats. Although interpretation of the diamond size distribution statistics by Shore geologists strongly suggests that the Early Joli Fou diamond population will include stones in excess of 100 carats, the current DMS plant design will only allow the recovery of diamonds up to 75 carats. The fine grained (and lower grade) kimberlite Batches 81, 83, 89 and 91 reported in this release were specifically processed early with the 18 millimetre top screen, as previous bulk sample results suggested that they would have lower grade and smaller stones. Batch 96 was the first batch processed with the 22 millimetre top screen.”
The diamond recovery procedure includes on-site processing of kimberlite through the modular DMS, after which DMS concentrates are batch fed through an X-ray Flow-sort. In order to ensure the recovery of low luminosity diamonds, the Flow-sort tailings are processed over a grease table. Flow-sort and grease table concentrates are transported by a secure carrier to SGS Lakefield Research for final diamond recovery. The SGS Lakefield Research process includes drying, screening, magnetic separation, manual sorting and diamond weighing and description. SGS Lakefield Research is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the Standards Council of Canada as a testing laboratory for specific tests.
The prefeasibility study on Star, with a budget of approximately $44 million, is now the largest work program outlined for any of the Fort a la Corne kimberlites. The aim of the prefeasibility study is to define a National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral reserve for the Star Kimberlite. Senior Vice President Exploration, George Read, Professional Geoscientist in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, is the Qualified Person responsible for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results. Shore is a Canadian based corporation engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. Shares of the Company trade on the TSX Exchange under the trading symbol “SGF”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New research reports for KRT.V
Thu Sep 22 KRT.V 2004 Microdiamond Recoveries for Kimberlite 120
Mon Sep 12 KRT.V Reports On Drilling Progress - Business Wire
Tue Sep 06 KRT.V Warrants Set to Trade on September 7, 2005 -
Tue Aug 30 Special Meeting of Securityholders set for October 21
Mon Aug 15 KRT.V & Shore Gold Inc. to merge -
Tue Aug 02 KRT.V Reports on Drilling Progress -
Thu Jul 21 Diamond Results for Fort a la Corne Kimberlite 122
Vancouver, B.C., Thur, Sep 22, 2005 - Kensington Resources
Ltd. (the "Company") announces that it has received from the operator,
De Beers Canada Inc., microdiamonds results for eight coreholes
targeted on Kimberlite Body 120 during the 2004-2005 program at the
Fort à la Corne Diamond Project in Saskatchewan. The principal
objective of the 2004-2005 program on Kimberlite 120 was to acquire
representative kimberlite and diamond information for construction of a
new geological model and to hunt for higher grade zones within the
body.
"A substantial number of diamonds were recovered from this body
including three small macrodiamonds" states Robert A. McCallum,
President and CEO of Kensington Resources Ltd. "Once completed by De
Beers, grade forecasts for individual kimberlite units will be used to
prioritize the body for delineation drilling and minibulk sampling for
recovery of macrodiamonds."
The 120 kimberlite occurs in the main cluster of the Fort à la Corne
Kimberlite Province and is located on western side of the
148/147/120/220 volcanic complex with the 148 kimberlite directly to
the southeast and the 220 kimberlite immediately to the east. Eight
coreholes on Kimberlite 120 intersected 940.05 metres of kimberlitic
material from a total meterage of 1,968.0 m. The top of the first
kimberlite intersection ranged between 102.0 to 115.88 m and the bottom
of the last kimberlite unit situated between 234.5 and 243.6 m.
Kimberlite thicknesses varied between 9.62 and 185.8 m. Figure 1 shows
the location of historical and recent drillholes on Kimberlite 120.
A total of 962 microdiamonds were recovered from 643.4 kg of kimberlite
core in 79 samples utilizing caustic dissolution methods at the
Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). Microdiamond recoveries were
audited and individual stone sizes calculated by experts at the De
Beers Kimberley Microdiamond Laboratory (KMDL) in South Africa. Only
microdiamond data from the SRC are reported here. Summaries of diamond
recovery by kimberlite drillhole and by sieve category are shown in
Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1: Summary of 2004 and Historical Kimberlite 120 Microdiamond
Results
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Stones
Carat Average larger
Number of Sample Weight # of Stones/ than
Drillhole Samples(1) Mass (kg) (carats) Stones 10kg 0.5 mm
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-021 12 97.75 0.0073550 127 13.0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-022 16 129.62 0.0104550 155 12.0 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-023 10 82.05 0.0095050 102 12.4 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-024 1 8.05 0.0004100 9 11.2 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-025 12 98.40 0.0355650 196 19.9 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-026 10 81.65 0.0072700 137 16.8 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-027 11 89.16 0.0061850 99 11.1 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-028 7 56.72 0.0075550 137 24.2 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 79 643.40 0.0843000 962 15.0 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
120
Historical(2) 13 DH;
59
samples 1104.68 0.1664583 734 5.36 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) For the 2004 samples, representative sample intervals ranged from
6.5 to 18 metres of kimberlite intersection; sample weights
ranged from 8.05 to 8.35 kg
(2) Due to the wide variance in sample mass per historical drillhole,
the average stones/10 kg for the historical results was weighted
by the mass of individual samples (a simple average of drillhole
values was calculated at 4.77 stones/10 kg).
Microdiamond recoveries in 2004 compare favourably with historical
recoveries which are shown at the bottom of Table 1. The average stone
density of the 2004 recoveries is significantly higher at 15
stones/10kg and there are similar recoveries of stones larger than 0.5
mm (per kg)
Microdiamonds recovered from the 2004 program will be combined with all
suitable historical diamond results, integrated with the geological
model, and then submitted to Mineral Resource Management (MRM) of De
Beers for grade forecasts of commercial-sized diamonds based on
statistical and graphical treatment of the data. This information will
be utilized to determine the prospectivity of potential higher grade
zones.
Table 2: Kimberlite 120 Microdiamond Recoveries by Drillhole and
Sieve Category
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+0.075 +0.106 +0.150 +0.212 +0.425 +0.600 +0.850 +1.400
mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm
Drillhole Sieve Sieve Sieve Sieve Sieve Sieve Sieve Sieve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-021 39 54 19 10 0 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-022 58 54 31 9 1 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-023 36 35 14 10 0 1 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-024 3 4 1 1 0 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-025 79 74 31 10 0 0 1 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-026 56 40 21 17 1 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-027 25 49 13 7 0 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-120-028 59 44 22 10 1 0 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 355 354 152 74 3 1 1 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional information and maps concerning the 2004 drilling
results from Kimberlite 120, please see the Company's website at
www.kensington-resources.com.
Brent C. Jellicoe, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company and
has reviewed the technical information herein. Microdiamond recovery
was performed by Saskatchewan Research Council of Saskatoon. All
aspects of quality assurance, quality control and sample chain of
custody for the Fort à la Corne Joint Venture are managed by De Beers
Canada Inc., the project operator.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development
company currently focused on the high potential Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical
expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for
the realization of shareholder value. The Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%),
De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc.
(carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort à la Corne,
the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated
results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on
reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the
largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
Robert A. McCallum, President & CEO
Kensington Resources Ltd.
Suite 2100, P.O. Box 11606
650 W. Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA V6B 4N9
Tel: 1-800-514-7859 or (604) 682-0020
Fax: (604) 682-0021
Website: www.kensington-resources.com
E-Mail: rob-mccallum@kensington-resources.com
TRADING SYMBOL: KRT-TSX.V
For further information, please contact:
Mel Gardner, Manager Investor Relations
Tel: 1-800-710-6083
E-mail: mel-gardner@kensington-resources.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
View News Release in PDF Format:
http://www.kensington-resources.com/i/pdf/2005-09-22_NR.pdf
66 KB in size, approx. 13 seconds to download at 56.6Kbps
Pure Gold Minerals Inc.: Courageous Lake Field Program Completed-Drilling Planned Immediately
Monday August 22, 7:25 pm ET
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Aug. 22, 2005) - Donald R. Sheldon, President of Pure Gold Minerals Inc. ("Pure Gold" or the "Corporation") (TSX:PUG - News), is pleased to announce the completion of the surface exploration program to select drill targets on the Courageous Lake Property, which is located to the southwest of the Ekati Diamond Mine and to the west of the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Lac De Gras area of the Northwest Territories. The Corporation has entered into a drill contract and mobilization of the drill has commenced.
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Previous exploration on the Property by De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. ("De Beers") included extensive till sampling for Kimberlite Indicator Minerals (KIM), airborne and ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys and geological mapping and studies. Widespread KIM's were recovered from the till sampling completed by De Beers indicating possible indicator trains. A number of the geophysical anomalies appear to be at or near the source of indicator mineral trains defined by the KIM results. Ten targets identified by the Corporation were investigated during the recently completed field program. Each was prospected and further samples were collected as necessary for follow-up KIM sampling. These samples have been shipped to the De Beers laboratory in Sudbury, Ontario for processing. To expedite the results from this sampling the concentrates from these samples will in turn be sent to HMD Laboratories in Colorado for observation.
Five drill targets have been selected from the results of the surface exploration program. The targets were selected based on positive KIM results from the previous sampling, the review of the results from the geophysical surveys and surface prospecting. The samples collected for KIM analysis during the recent program will be processed as quickly as possible and may affect the final drill target selection. A diamond drill is now under contract and the drilling program is expected to commence before the end of August. At least three of the selected targets will be tested during this first phase of diamond drilling. Farrell Andersen, P.Geol., Qualified Person, is responsible for the design and implementation of the work program.
Under the terms of the option agreement with De Beers, Pure Gold must spend $1.2 million on exploration of the Property over four years to earn an 85% interest in the Property. Over a certain threshold value of a development project, as defined by a feasibility study, De Beers has the right to back in for a 70% interest by reimbursing Pure Gold for two times the amount expended by Pure Gold on the development project and procuring production debt financing.
Certain statements contained in this document, including statements regarding events and financial trends that may affect our future operating results, financial position and cash flows, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on our assumptions and estimates and are subject to risk and uncertainties. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words like "strategy", "expects", "plans", "believes", "will", "estimates", "intends", "projects", "goals", "targets", and other words of similar meaning. You can also identify them by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. We wish to caution you that such statements contained are just predictions or opinions and that actual events or results may differ materially. The forward-looking statements contained in this business plan are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update the for!
ward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Where applicable, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the (United States) Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Vancouver, B.C., Monday, September 12, 2005 - Kensington Resources Ltd.
(the "Company") reports on drilling progress at the Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project in Saskatchewan. A total of 103 HQ core holes (diameter
of 2.5 inches or 63.5 mm) with kimberlite intersections totaling
9,179.01 metres have been completed on thirteen high interest,
prioritized kimberlite bodies including the western part of the Star
Kimberlite. Additionally, two core holes intersected 151.63 metres of
kimberlite drilled for hydrogeological testing on Kimberlites 140/141
and 150. A total of 134 HQ core holes are planned as part of the 2005
program, which is budgeted at CDN $25.6 million.
"The 2005 core drilling program is on schedule and nearing completion.
This extensive program was designed to methodically drill each of the
kimberlite bodies within the southern cluster that had shown promise in
previous drilling programs. Already, a number of kimberlite
intersections recovered this year exhibit coarse-textured rock which is
of great interest to us," comments Robert A. McCallum, President and
CEO of Kensington Resources Ltd. "This includes some of the holes in
the western extension of the Star Kimberlite body."
"We can look forward to the recovery of microdiamonds from the most
prospective core samples by the Saskatchewan Research Laboratory. Good
results will be identified and those units will be advanced to
delineation drilling and, if warranted, to subsequent mini-bulk
evaluation."
Project Update Highlights
The current budgeted project activity represents work toward the first
phase of the Advanced Exploration and Evaluation (AE&E) Plan. This
phase will consist mainly of geological drilling and microdiamond
analysis to determine the internal geology and grades of the targeted
kimberlites. These results will be used by De Beers to develop a model
to help predict the grades that could be seen in a commercial
production scenario and to assist in modeling average diamond values
once a sufficient parcel of macrodiamonds is obtained.
Drilling continues with three Boart-Longyear LF-70 core rigs operating
on 24 hour schedules. Two of the LF-70 rigs have been converted to
helicopter-portable configurations in order to drill on wet surface
areas within Kimberlites 123, 223, 152, and the west extension of the
Star. The drill program remains on schedule and is 80% complete.
Table One summarizes drilling results to August 31, 2005. The expected
final meterage for the current phase of drilling will be reached near
the end of September.
Core hole STR-05-003C, located 70 metres west of the Star shaft,
intersected 612.0 metres of kimberlite in a hole that was terminated at
a total depth of 699 metres while still in kimberlite. The core hole
was centered on a deep-going part of the body that is interpreted to be
a major feeder vent for the volcanic complex. Two main phases of
kimberlite were encountered with a thicker unit extending from 108.15
metres to a depth of at least 395 metres, the base of core examined to
date. Preliminary description of the core indicates the unit is
generally medium-grained with common indicator minerals. It appears
that this hole is quite different from other core holes drilled by the
Joint Venture on the Star Kimberlite and the dominant rock unit appears
to have characteristics represented in both the Early Joli Fou and Late
Joli Fou kimberlite phases. Further geological logging of this core
and comparison to other drill holes will be conducted by the operator
once all of the holes targeted on the Star Kimberlite are completed.
Drilling has commenced on Kimberlite 123, the highest priority body in
the 2005 program, and prospective core samples will be sent to the
Saskatchewan Research Laboratory for diamond recovery as soon as
drilling and core description protocols are completed.
For additional information and maps concerning the 2005 drilling
results, including detailed kimberlite summaries and drill hole
location maps, please see the Company's website at
www.kensington-resources.com.
Brent C. Jellicoe, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company and
has reviewed the technical information herein.
Table One: Fort a la Corne Joint Venture Core Drilling Summary to
August 31, 2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Total Total Thickest
Kimber- Number of Number of Coreholes Drilled Kimberlite Kimberlite
lite Coreholes Coreholes In Interval Thickness Interval
Body Planned Completed Progress (m) (m) (m)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Star 13 10 1 2,609.0 1,117.86 612.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------
101 5 0 0 0.0 0.00 0.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------
116(1) 5 5 0 1,167.0 475.87 218.30
---------------------------------------------------------------------
118 11 11 0 2,526.0 1,044.24 192.95
---------------------------------------------------------------------
119 6 6 0 1,324.0 414.80 202.34
---------------------------------------------------------------------
123 6 2 2 405.0 149.05 88.50
---------------------------------------------------------------------
133 6 6 0 1,362.0 309.66 90.36
---------------------------------------------------------------------
134 5 5 0 1,134.0 474.35 145.10
---------------------------------------------------------------------
135 6 5 1 1,260.4 473.82 141.90
---------------------------------------------------------------------
145 11 11 0 2,503.0 1,027.47 176.50
---------------------------------------------------------------------
152 6 0 0 0.0 0.00 0.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------
158 11 11 0 2,642.5 950.32 190.25
---------------------------------------------------------------------
163 9 0 0 0.0 0.00 0.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------
216(2) 13 13 0 2,910.0 1,054.82 186.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------
218 6 6 0 1,605.0 643.22 142.4
---------------------------------------------------------------------
219 12 12 0 2,723.6 1,043.53 199.13
---------------------------------------------------------------------
223 3 0 0 0.0 0.00 0.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Priority
Drilling 134 103 4 24,171.5 9,179.01
---------------------------------------------------------------------
140(3) 1 1 1 249.0 148.50 148.50
---------------------------------------------------------------------
150(3) 1 1 1 249.0 3.13 2.81
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Geotechnical
Drilling 2 2 2 498.0 151.63
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand
Total: 136 105 4 24,669.5 9,330.64
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Core hole 116-05-006C was inclined at -60 degrees to investigate
the wet, eastern part of Kimberlite 116.
(2) Core holes 216-05-014C and 04-216-010C were inclined at -60
degrees to investigate the wet, eastern part of Kimberlite 216;
lithological contacts and thicknesses have not yet been corrected
for the dip of the hole; Core hole 216-05-009C was lost at a
depth of 105 metres above kimberlite due to drilling
difficulties.
(3) Geohydrological holes to test ground water flows.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development
company currently focused on the high potential Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical
expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for
the realization of shareholder value. The Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%),
De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc.
(carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort à la Corne,
the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated
results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on
reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the
largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
Robert A. McCallum, President & CEO
Kensington Resources Ltd.
Suite 2100, P.O. Box 11606
650 W. Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia,
CANADA V6B 4N9
Tel: 1-800-514-7859 or (604) 682-0020
Fax: (604) 682-0021
Website: www.kensington-resources.com
EMail:rob-mccallum@kensington-resources.com
TRADING SYMBOL: KRT-TSX.V
For further information, please contact:
Mel Gardner, Manager Investor Relations
Tel: 1-800-710-6083
E-mail: mel-gardner@kensington-resources.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
VANCOUVER -- A shot of red-carpet glamour is going a long way at Aber Diamond Corp., which yesterday reported higher second-quarter profit, thanks in part to its stake in luxury jeweller Harry Winston Inc.
Toronto-based Aber, which owns 40 per cent of the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, yesterday reported a profit of $19-million (U.S.) or 33 cents a share for the three months ended July 31, compared with $12.3-million or 21 cents a year earlier. Sales for the quarter climbed to $115.7-million from $84.5-million.
The consensus estimate from four analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call was 42 cents a share.
Analysts yesterday said the shortfall reflected the timing of sales and the difficulty of predicting rough diamond prices, rather than any hitches in Aber's operations.
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"The underlying trends behind the numbers look quite positive, in terms of diamond pricing and in the performance of the retail business," said Geoff Stanley, an analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns in New York.
Sales at Aber's retail division increased to $44.9-million in the second quarter from $28.2-million last year.
Aber acquired a 51-per-cent interest in Harry Winston in 2004. The jeweller is known for lending jewellery to stars to wear at red-carpet events such as the Academy Awards.
The increase in profitability at Aber came even though the company made only two sales of rough gems during the quarter, chairman and chief executive officer Robert Gannicott said in a statement.
"This underscores the improvement in the performance of the Diavik mine enhanced by rising diamond prices," Mr. Gannicott said.
An increasing percentage of diamond requirements at Harry Winston are coming from Aber's rough diamond sales network he added.
During the quarter, Aber launched a new subsidiary in Bombay to sell rough diamonds directly to manufacturers in India.
Analysts said that move fits with a vertically integrated approach that has the company involved in mining diamonds and selling the polished product.
"It's clear that there is an effort by some of the major diamond producers to capture a lot greater percentage of the value-added in the diamond processing chain," Mr. Stanley said.
De Beers, which dominates the world diamond scene, recently opened an upscale retail outlet in New York, a move that some analysts see as tying in to the company's plans to open new diamond mines in Canada.
De Beers has two diamond projects -- Snap Lake in NWT and Victor in Ontario -- under development in Canada.
Aber's new Bombay division should be well positioned to capitalize on growing demand in India, said David Davidson, an analyst at Paradigm Capital Inc. in Toronto.
"It's a pretty logical part of their overall chain," Mr. Davidson said. Aber said it expects to hold three rough-diamond sales in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, Aber shares closed down 5 cents at $41.55.
Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - Kensington Resources Ltd.
(the "Company") reports that 5,029,499 share purchase warrants of the
Company will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange effective at
the opening on September 7, 2005. The trading symbol for the warrants
is KRT.WT.
The warrants were issued in connection with a private placement of
units completed in May 2005. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof
to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of
CDN $2.50 per share until May 6, 2006. The warrants will be governed
by the terms of a warrant indenture between the Company and
Computershare Trust Company of Canada, as warrant trustee. The warrant
indenture will provide for appropriate adjustments to the warrants in
the event of stock dividends, subdivisions, consolidations and other
forms of capital reorganization. Upon completion of the proposed Plan
of Arrangement with Shore Gold Inc., each of these warrants of the
Company will be exchanged for a warrant to purchase 0.64 shares of
Shore Gold Inc. Shore Gold Inc. has agreed to use reasonable efforts to
cause the listing of these warrants on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Completion of the Plan of Arrangement is subject to, among other
things, receipt of shareholder, regulatory and court approval. Please
refer to the joint news release of the Company and Shore Gold Inc.
dated August 15, 2005 for further details of the Plan of Arrangement.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development
company currently focused on the high potential Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical
expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for
the realization of shareholder value. The Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%),
De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc.
(carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort à la Corne,
the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated
results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on
reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the
largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
VANCOUVER (ResourceInvestor.com) -- The recently announced friendly take-over of Kensington Resources Ltd. [TSX-V:KRT] by Shore Gold Inc. [TSX:SGF] suggests how future exploration of the kimberlite fields in central Saskatchewan will proceed. At the same time, however, the merger raises some important questions that can't be answered right away.
It appears likely the merger/acquisition is the first step in an eventual consolidation of all the properties in a forested area approximately 35 miles east of Prince Albert. But what isn't clear is who the eventual owner, or owners, will be.
Shore, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, brings to the deal its Star kimberlite. Vancouver, British Columbia-based Kensington is a partner in the adjoining Fort a la Corne joint venture (FALC), which has 63 kimberlite bodies on its property. Together the two companies have made nearly $50 million in exploration expenditures in 2005.
Kensington and Shore bring large, influential friends to the deal. The FALC JV comprises Kensington (42.245%), De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM (10% carried). Newmont Mining holds a 9.9 % equity stake in Shore. Both De Beers and Newmont have said they support the Kensington-Shore merger.
The deal is slated to be approved by Kensington shareholders on 27 October 2005. Kensington management has promised not to solicit a third-party alternative to the deal. Should an unsolicited higher offer come in, however, Shore will receive a break fee of C$7 million.
George Albino, an analyst with Orion Securities Inc. in Toronto, said he considers the deal "strategically astute," although he believes Kensington was "richly rewarded" under the proposed exchange of 0.64 Shore common shares for one common share of Kensington.
In a 16 August 2005 report, Albino wrote, "Valuing one company at the stages of development of Shore and Kensington is difficult, so establishing a fair price for a deal between two such is a double challenge. We look at this transaction as recognition by Shore that the ultimate value creation that may be possible by combining two contiguous properties outweighs the risks of slightly overpaying now."
Albino sees more consolidations in the future. "Our ultimate development scenarios include one in which a merged Shore-Kensington is acquired by Newmont, which in turn forms a joint venture with De Beers to exploit the consolidated Fort a la Corne diamond district (we assume Cameco would ultimately be a seller)," he added.
Albino said it is possible De Beers might become a potential suitor for Kensington. "However, we believe for maximum value a bid for the combined entity makes significantly more sense," he wrote.
Matthew O'Keefe, a research analyst with Westwind Partners Inc. in Toronto, said the scenario is actually more complicated, because the deal will attract the attention of other majors to the Fort a la Corne area.
In a 16 August 2005 report, O'Keefe wrote, "Newco [the merged companies] will be a significantly more attractive takeover target to other majors such as Rio Tinto or BHP Billiton, who now have the opportunity to gain control of a world-class diamond play that could provide a significant source of quality diamonds for decades to come."
What all this means is that it is difficult to say with any exactitude how the proposed merger will play itself out. Mergers and acquisitions are always unpredictable. And, consolidations of potentially very valuable properties can unleash volatile shareholder behavior at any moment.
Executive Decision: Neighbours hope their intention to marry will be a gemThe challenge: Maintain the momentum of an advanced-stage diamond exploration project The call: Team up with the rival next doorBy WENDY STUECK
Saturday, August 20, 2005 Page B3
VANCOUVER -- When he decided it would make sense to combine the two biggest players in the Prince Albert, Sask., diamond field, Shore Gold Inc. chief executive officer Kenneth MacNeill didn't have to go hunting for rationales. He just had to look around Shore's exploration camp, which is practically within shouting distance of one owned by fellow diamond exploration firm Kensington Resources Ltd.
Unlike some corporate takeovers, this one was a good fit -- in terms of geography and in terms of company goals and expertise, Mr. MacNeill says.
"The synergies are so strong, and you can see them so easily, that this was just a natural fit," he says.
"We felt comfortable through this entire process. This is the most natural marriage of two companies that I have seen out there for a very long time."
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If Kensington shareholders approve the friendly takeover offer from Shore, announced Monday, the two firms' assets will move under the umbrella of one company, creating what one analyst described as the most aggressive diamond play in the world.
For Mr. MacNeill, 44, a Saskatchewan native who started his resource career with an oil patch job right out of high school, the deal is a logical step that will take both companies closer to their common goal: building a diamond mine.
Teaming up makes financial and operating sense, Kensington CEO Robert McCallum says.
"If these deposits become mines, as I believe they will be, they will need a large scale of operation," Mr. McCallum says.
"The type of plant that would need to be built would probably cost close to $1-billion. So it doesn't make sense whatsoever to build two plants.
"There had to be some consolidation."
The agreement calls for Mr. MacNeill to continue as president and CEO of the new company. Mr. McCallum will stay on the board. They both say they foresee no difficulty in working together.
"I don't envision any turf wars," Mr. MacNeill says. "In the mining industry right now, it's very difficult to find highly skilled people and highly trained people. We are gearing up and still looking for people as we go, and so is Kensington.
"So there are great synergies there."
Mr. McCallum, a mining veteran who started his career with De Beers in South Africa, says he expects to spend much of his time dealing with De Beers, whose Canadian arm is partnering with Kensington in Saskatchewan.
Mr. MacNeill says the two companies have long monitored each other's progress and that he spoke previously to Kensington's former CEO about a merger. But it wasn't until Mr. McCallum came on board -- he was named president in June, 2004, and took the additional title of CEO last September -- that the idea began to gel.
Mr. MacNeill said negotiations began "recently" and the deal came together quickly.
The Fort à la Corne diamond field is the biggest known field of kimberlites -- ancient rock formations that can contain diamonds -- in the world.
By global standards, the kimberlites are large but relatively low grade.
Both Shore and Kensington have found diamonds in their claims and are now drilling and testing to learn more about the grade and potential value of the deposits.
Saskatoon-based Shore is focusing on its Star kimberlite project. Kensington, headquartered in Vancouver, is zeroing in on 25 of the 63 kimberlites it has identified on its claims.
Part of the buzz around the Fort à la Corne play comes from potential economies of scale, based on the massive kimberlites and the site's accessibility. The Fort à la Corne field is a one-hour drive from Prince Albert. Canada's two existing mines, Ekati and Diavik, operate at fly-in sites in the Northwest Territories.
"To get the same number of carats, you can mine a much, much lower grade," Mr. MacNeill says, comparing the Saskatchewan deposits to the high-grade, and very profitable, NWT mines.
"And your operating costs come down because it's not as remote."
The combined company will have about $175-million in cash and no debt.
Neither company generates sales at this point. Combined, Shore and Kensington have a stock market value of more than $550-million.
By comparison, Toronto-based Aber Diamond Corp. -- which has a 40-per-cent interest in the Diavik diamond mine in NWT and a controlling stake in luxury jeweller Harry Winston -- has a market value of about $2.3-billion.
The proposed deal comes as Canadian diamonds are gaining prominence on the world stage. De Beers, faced with declining production at some of its South African mines, is building its first mine outside of Africa at Snap Lake, NWT, has two other Canadian projects in development and is pouring millions into Canadian exploration ventures.
Some analysts have said the Shore-Kensington deal would create a tidy takeover target, possibly for De Beers or another big mining player. Mr. MacNeill would not comment on that possibility, preferring to focus on immediate practical benefits.
"Any time you can simplify an area through consolidation, it's a good move."
Ken MacNeill, CEO, Shore Gold
Biography
Personal: Married, four young children.
Management style: Balks at describing his own style, but says he hopes employees and associates would describe it as "consensus-based."
Biggest influence: His parents. His father, recently retired as chairman of Saskatchewan gold producer Claude Resources Inc., passed on a love of the resource business and a "straightforward, comfortable" management style.
Biggest break: Staking the Fort à la Corne claims that resulted in the discovery of the Star kimberlite project, and being able to nail down some surrounding claims nearby.
Education: Mount Royal Collegiate in Saskatoon, then straight into the oil patch. Gained business skills by watching and learning "from some of the best people in the business." Joined Shore in 1993.
Pure Gold Minerals Inc.: Drilling on Three Targets at Buffalo Hills Property in Alberta
Wednesday August 3, 5:02 pm ET
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Aug. 3, 2005) - Donald R. Sheldon, President of Pure Gold Minerals Inc. ("Pure Gold") (TSX:PUG - News) is pleased to announce details of the summer drilling program on the Buffalo Hills property in north-central Alberta. Three large geophysical anomalies will be drilled as part of the 2005 exploration program approved by Pure Gold and its joint venture partners, EnCana Corporation ("EnCana") and Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton"), earlier in the year. Fieldwork will commence in mid-August with drill site preparation.
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The three targets were identified through airborne and ground geophysical surveys completed in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The joint venture is particularly encouraged by the size of these targets, each of which has electromagnetic and gravity signatures approximately 500 metres in width.
As indicated on the map shown at www.puregold.ca/Alberta030805.cfm, the Buffalo Hills property is located approximately 400 kilometres north of Edmonton and approximately 85 kilometres northeast of Peace River. The three drill targets on the property are situated within four kilometres of existing access roads. Given the extensive infrastructure that is already present in north-central Alberta because of oil and gas activity, the economic threshold for a diamond deposit in this region may be lower than in other more remote regions of Canada.
The joint venture has thus far discovered 38 kimberlites on or near the Buffalo Hills property, 26 of which are diamondiferous. Samples larger than ten tonnes have been collected from five of these bodies, three of which have returned a diamond content greater than 10 carats per hundred tonnes ("cpht"). Two of these kimberlites, K14 and K91, are exposed on surface or under shallow till and each has an estimated size greater than five hectares. Samples from these bodies have returned an estimated diamond content of 12 and 13 cpht respectively. A sample collected from K252 returned the highest diamond content, 55 cpht. The estimated size of this body is two hectares.
As reported on February 3, Pure Gold and Ashton have elected to fund the 2005 exploration program. At year-end, the beneficial interests of the parties are expected to be Ashton 46.5 percent, EnCana 44.1 percent, and Pure Gold 9.4 percent.
NGLO AMERICAN is not unduly concerned that it is lagging its global peers, which are capitalising on the commodity boom, as it embarks on a $13bn expansion plan.
The company's main mining rivals in terms of size, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, have forged ahead primarily because their earnings come from oil and iron ore, which are in high demand in China.
Anglo, however, is less exposed to these commodities, and has based its business mainly on gold, platinum and diamonds -- which account for 34% of its earnings.
Speaking after reporting a 43% jump in earnings for the six months to June, Anglo American CE Tony Trahar said his company was unfazed by the stronger performance of its rivals.
"We are an entirely different business, so it's not comparing apples with apples ... and our businesses are in different cycles to our competitors," he said.
This week, Rio Tinto reported a 34% increase in profit for the six months to September, buoyed by its iron ore exports, as well as its copper and aluminium projects. BHP Billiton, meanwhile, has capitalised on its oil and gas business, which account for about a fifth of its earnings.
The differing fortunes of the companies can be seen in the context of the rise in commodity prices to which they are exposed.
In the previous year, the gold price rose 11% and platinum climbed 10%. But in the same period, the price of iron ore vaulted 72% and copper jumped 27%.
Amid this commodity boom in iron and base metals, Trahar said that Anglo would "continue to diversify" its assets, which would help it make up ground on its competitors.
"We have now got a foothold in the iron-ore sector, which we previously haven't been in in any major way, so that's a big step," he said.
The importance of this strategy can be seen from yesterday's mid-year results, which showed that Anglo's ferrous, coal, and industrial minerals operations had contributed a greater relative share to the company's earnings than previously.
Operating profits in its ferrous metals business nearly doubled to $791m from $394m before, while its base metals business -- mainly copper, zinc and nickel -- saw profit climb 27% to $721m. Its coal business also performed well, with profit climbing 86% to $374m.
Trahar said Anglo was eyeing operations in China, Russia, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and several South American countries.
"We will look to expand in the sectors we are already in. We are in eight major business sectors, so we would look to add to the complexity of those businesses," he said.
These eight core areas are gold, platinum, diamonds, paper, base metals, coal, industrial minerals and ferrous metals.
Anglo's diversification plan will be given no small push through a expansion strategy that will cost it $13bn in the long-term. Of the $13bn in projects planned, approval has already been obtained for projects worth $5,1bn to proceed.
The approved projects include a $365m iron-ore expansion at Sishen and De Beers' first project outside SA in the $230m diamond project at Snap Lake in Canada.
Trahar said this meant there was "plenty of hay on our fork".
During the period, Anglo's 66%-held subsidiary Kumba suffered a big setback when it lost out on an Australian project called Hope Downs that would have added 50% to its iron-ore production. With Bloomberg
Mining giants team up to explore tundra
Last updated Aug 5 2005 09:25 AM CDT
CBC News
The world's largest diamond producer has made an exploration deal with the world's largest uranium producer to explore Nunavut's Kivalliq region. De Beers Canada has signed an agreement giving the Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corporation permission to look for uranium on its Aberdeen Lake property, 150 kilometres west of Baker Lake. De Beers has been prospecting for diamonds on the 2,300 square kilometre claim since 1998. To keep up its end of the deal, Cameco will have to spend nearly $2 million over the next four years, prospecting for uranium on the claim. In return it will get a 60 per cent interest in the property. The Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada is predicting a huge demand for uranium in the next ten years, especially from China. Uranium is used as fuel to produce electricity in nuclear power-generating stations.
Kensington Resources Ltd. and its Joint Venture partners De Beers Canada Inc. and Cameco Corporation are rapidly moving forward in a positive and constructive way to satisfy the requirements of resource evaluation at Fort à la Corne.
The objective of the aggressive Advanced Exploration and Evaluation (AE&E) program is "to delineate an additional 35 million carats of in-ground diamonds" and to support the rigorous standards set out by regulatory bodies in Canada. Kensington and project operator, De Beers Canada, have a strong commitment to an accelerated AE&E program that will see the completion of the necessary steps required to define an Inferred Resource on several kimberlite bodies. The results of this work will provide key information to make decisions on which kimberlites will be used in a full Pre-Feasibility Study.
This year's program was designed primarily as a "hunt for high grade zones" with some 130 coreholes targeted on fourteen different kimberlite bodies, all located within the south-central cluster of the main field.
Drilling has exceeded the schedule of work despite a late start in mobilizing the drills and an unseasonably wet spring. Three Boart Longyear LF-70 corehole rigs are in the field and working around the clock.
A total of 76 holes have been completed and, as of July 21, 2005, 6,208m of kimberlite has been intersected in 17,487m of drilling. Drilling has been completed on kimberlite bodies 134, 145, 219, 119, 133, and 158, while drilling on kimberlite bodies 216, 118, and 218 is in progress.
Extremely wet conditions during spring and early summer precluded completion of drilling on the Star kimberlite, but the remaining drillholes will be completed as conditions improve through the summer. Five key holes located in close proximity to the thicker vent area of the Star (and SGF shaft) still remain to be drilled.
A helicopter will transport both the drill rigs and manpower to the perennially wet prioritized sites (Kimberlites 116, 152, and 123) targeted in the 2005 program area. If the ground around the expected Star vent does not completely dry out soon, consideration will be given to using a helicopter to also lift a rig to these sites. While these damp to wet sites could easily be drilled in winter, the Joint Venture deems information from these sites to be crucial to the AE&E schedule and all efforts will be made to drill them as soon as possible.
Fort à la Corne, summer 2005 -
an expanded camp
Examining core from the 2005 drill programme
To satisfy the requirements described in the AE&E Plan, the project has swiftly advanced and the following important achievements in the past few months include:
1) The first semi-permanent structure in the Joint Venture Field Camp currently is under construction - a 40' by 120' heated core logging facility on a concrete foundation will enable timely, onsite detailed logging of kimberlite core and preparation of samples for diamond recovery.
2) The JV has leased a new warehouse facility in Saskatoon with greatly expanded capacity (10,000 ft.2) to accommodate the extensive amount of core anticipated to be recovered during the AE&E program. This new facility includes a much larger office complex for the growing number of project management staff, core specialists, and visiting kimberlite experts.
3) The operator has hired additional petrologists and vulcanologists to log core and develop models for each of the kimberlite bodies being drilled this year.
4) In addition, renovations and improvements in various diamond recovery facilities used by the Joint Venture will allow a shortening of the immediate AE&E schedule and any future work associated with ongoing Pre-Feasibility work.
Kensington Resources Reports on Drilling Progress; New Prospective Zones Identified at Fort a la Corne
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2005--Kensington Resources Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:KRT) is pleased to report on drilling progress at the Fort a la Corne Diamond Project in Saskatchewan. A total of 74 HQ coreholes (diameter of 2.5 inches or 63.5 mm) with kimberlite intersections totaling 6,056.43 metres have been completed on ten of the fourteen high interest, prioritized kimberlite bodies including the western part of the Star Kimberlite. Additionally, two coreholes intersected 151.63 metres of kimberlite drilled for hydrogeological testing. A total of 130 HQ coreholes are planned as part of the 2005 program, which is budgeted at CDN $25.6 million.
The current budgeted project activity represents work toward the first phase of the Advanced Exploration and Evaluation (AE&E) Plan. This phase will consist mainly of geological drilling and microdiamond analysis to determine the internal geology and grades of the targeted kimberlites. These results will be used by De Beers to model the grades expected in a commercial production scenario and to model average diamond values once a sufficient parcel of macrodiamonds is obtained.
"We are pleased that the rate of drilling has exceeded planning projections and that the geological drilling stage of the AE&E program is progressing smoothly towards our stated objectives for 2005," says Robert A. McCallum, President and CEO of Kensington Resources Ltd. "The presence of new prospective zones in several of the kimberlites drilled thus far is encouraging and they will be fully tested for diamond content and distribution."
Project Update Highlights
Preliminary logging of core from each drillhole has identified several more prospective areas within the kimberlite bodies. They were identified by their coarser-grained character and the presence of indicator minerals and mantle xenoliths. These bodies include Kimberlites 118, 145, 158, 219, and the Star Kimberlite. Following the "best body first" approach of the AE&E plan, the coarser-grained zones of core from Kimberlite Bodies 145 and 219 have received particular attention by De Beers kimberlite experts and microdiamond recovery sampling efforts on these cores have been prioritized.
If current dry conditions remain in the Fort a la Corne area, one drill rig will be moved to the Star Kimberlite to resume drilling on locations close to the postulated deep-going vent area of the body.
Drilling continues with three Boart-Longyear LF-70 core rigs operating on 24 hour schedules. Table One below summarizes drilling results to July 21, 2005.
For additional information and maps concerning the 2005 drilling results, please see the Company's website at www.kensington-resources.com.
Brent C. Jellicoe, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company and has reviewed the technical information herein.
Table One: Fort a la Corne Joint Venture Core Drilling Summary to
July 21, 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Number Number Total Total Thickest
of of Drilled Kimberlite Kimberlite
Kimberlite Coreholes Coreholes Interval Thickness Interval
Body Planned Completed (m) (m) (m)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Star 15 8 1,679.0 396.92 118.95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
134 5 5 1,134.0 474.35 145.10
-------------------------------------------------------------------
145 11 11 2,503.0 1027.47 176.50
-------------------------------------------------------------------
219 12 12 2,627.6 1043.53 208.09
-------------------------------------------------------------------
119 6 6 1,324.0 414.80 202.34
-------------------------------------------------------------------
133 6 6 1,362.0 309.66 100.74
-------------------------------------------------------------------
158 11 11 2,642.5 950.32 190.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2161 12 5 1,206.0 367.05 138.69
-------------------------------------------------------------------
118 11 8 1,881.0 793.42 192.95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
218 6 2 630.0 278.91 236.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Priority
Drilling 95 74 16,989.1 6,056.43
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1402 1 1 249.0 148.50 148.50
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1502 1 1 249.0 3.13 2.81
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Geotechnical
Drilling 2 2 498.0 151.63
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 97 76 17,487.1 6,208.06
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 equals Corehole 216-05-014C was angled at -60 degrees to
investigate the wet, eastern part of Kimberlite 216; lithological
contacts and thicknesses were not corrected for the dip of the
hole; this corehole did not have the thickest kimberlite interval.
2 equals Geohydrological holes to test ground water flows.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development company currently focused on the high potential Fort a la Corne Diamond Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for the realization of shareholder value. The Fort a la Corne Diamond Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%), De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc. (carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort a la Corne, the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort a la Corne Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
FORM 20-F FILE #0-24980
LISTED IN STANDARD & POOR'S
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Kensington Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:KRT)
GGL Acquires Leases, Including Areas Adjacent to Doyle Lake; Plans Further Exploration of Four Diamondiferous Sills
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - July 26, 2005) - Raymond A. Hrkac, President and CEO of GGL Diamond Corp. (TSX VENTURE:GGL) is pleased to announce that the Company has agreed to acquire 21 mining leases from Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (MPV), Camphor Ventures Inc. (CV), and De Beers Canada Inc. The leases are on property, which, in part, adjoins the LA-1 claim on the 100% GGL-owned Doyle Lake property, and are subject to Royalty Agreements, in which royalties total 1.5% .
GGL has agreed to keep the leases (a total of 51,109 acres) in good standing and to submit three yearly lease rental period payments to the NWT Mining Recorders Office. GGL plans to review the exploration results from the leases acquired and to continue exploration.
The leases contain the MZ Lake kimberlite 'sills' (shallow-dipping sheet-like kimberlite bodies), four of which have been determined to be diamondiferous. The kimberlite formations vary from a few cm to over three metres in thickness. In a News Release dated December 18, 2002, MPV noted that more work would be needed to determine the potential of the MZ Lake sills.
One of the sills, named Sill-73, appears to extend at least one kilometre along strike. The thickness of drill intersections varied from 7 cm to 2.19 m with the largest combined kimberlite intersection in one hole being 3.49 m, between 14.66 m and 19 m depth from surface. The largest number of micro-diamonds was recovered from drill hole MPV-01-73; a total of 28 diamonds were recovered from five kg.
Seventeen of the acquired leases extend approximately 15 km west and 8 km north of the adjoining LA-1 mineral claim of GGL's 100% owned Doyle claims. Two of the acquired leases are centred 5 km north of the Kennady Lake kimberlite pipes and adjoin the leases containing them, and two of the acquired leases are north of and adjoin the leases containing the Kelvin and Faraday kimberlite bodies.
GGL DIAMOND CORP.
Raymond A. Hrkac, President & CEO
New De Beers MD's challenge: double group value by 2009
Charlotte Mathews
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The Bottom Line: De Beers broadens the global appeal of bling
Classic Business Day Transcript: De Beers interim earnings down 21%
CAPE TOWN -- The target set for new De Beers MD Gareth Penny, who will be taking up his position in the first quarter of next year, would be to double the value of the group to $12bn by 2009, MD Gary Ralfe said yesterday.
As part of the group's "chapter two", its strategic plan for the second five-year term after it delisted its shares in 1999, it aims to achieve earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $2bn and a return on capital employed (roce) of 20% in the next five years.
The group's roce has improved from about 8% in 2001 to 14,3% currently after a period of fundamental restructuring. Ralfe was commenting on De Beers' performance for the six months to last month, which showed a 21% decline in headline earnings to $336m, compared with the same period last year.
The decline reflected the weaker dollar and tighter margins as the group's historical diamond stockpile has been sold down. Diamond stocks and other assets were $1,8bn at the end of June, similar to the level at the end of December. Historically, diamond stocks have been as high as $5bn.
Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer said: "We have had a disappointing first half but that compares with the positive outlook for the diamond industry as a whole."
Ralfe said De Beers was capable of significant further growth in the five years to 2009. The positive factors in the past six months were a strong market for rough diamonds, the group's return to Angola, the launch of new projects in Canada, progress on a black economic empowerment transaction, and securing $3bn in credit lines.
The challenges included the Diamond Amendment Bill, working towards internal transformation, finding skilled mining staff, and the weakness of the dollar.
De Beers' marketing arm, the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), which sells diamonds to an exclusive group of clients called sight- holders, sold $3,2bn of diamonds against $2,9bn previously as demand for diamonds remained strong. This year, De Beers has raised the price of diamonds twice, by 6% in total, which compares with three price increases last year totalling 14%.
Sales of diamonds in the US, which account for 50% of diamond jewellery sales, rose 6% in the six months to last month and consumer demand is expected to remain strong.
Apart from the US, the DTC is growing new markets in China, India and the Gulf states and believes the market in Japan has passed its lowest level.
The group produced 23,7-million carats of diamonds in the six-month period, up 23% over last year, mainly from Debswana. But the same growth would not be repeated in the second half. Compound annual growth in production over the past 10 years is about 7% and for this year it should be 5%-7% more than last year, Ralfe said.
De Beers' mines in Botswana are the most profitable, followed by the Venetia mine in SA. The other South African diamond mines, except for Finsch, are unprofitable.
De Beers had initiated talks that will lead to the closure of three underground operations in Kimberley, Ralfe said.
The board had given the go-ahead for two projects in Canada, and the group expected to produce about $1bn of diamonds from Canada within the next 10 years.
But these are relatively small mines, and Botswana and Russia remain the areas of greatest potential for diamond production.
Ralfe said the Diamond Amendment Bill, currently moving through SA's parliamentary process, was "a worry" as it seemed to intervene between De Beers and the way it ran its business in aggregating all the diamonds it produced and selling them to the clients of its choice.
The group had held constructive talks with the minerals and energy affairs department, and was confident it could work out a solution of lasting benefit to SA.
De Beers was best placed to deliver on government's imperatives of job creation and empowerment in the downstream diamond industry via its relationship with its sight holders.
Growth for De Beers in the next five years would be driven by the DTC's strategies to promote diamonds and offer value-added services, and on finding more profitable sources of diamond production, Ralfe said.
The group has reduced the interim dividend payment to $150m from $250m last year. De Beers shareholders are Anglo American (45%), the Oppenheimer family (40%) and the Botswana government (15%).
Anglo American, which accounts for its holding of De Beers ordinary shares and 10% preference shares in DB Investments, said it would report headline earnings of $270m from De Beers in the six months to last month.
Today on Canada's Business Report...Diamonds in the Northwest Territories
TORONTO, Aug. 3 /CNW/ - Today's edition of Canada's Business Report has
an update on efforts that could result in a new diamond mine in the Northwest
Territories.
CBR host Robert Graham speaks with Jan Vandersande, President and CEO of
Mountain Province Diamonds Incorporated. The company is working with De Beers
Canada Inc. in developing a diamond deposit northeast of Yellowknife. De Beers
will spend $38.5 million on an environmental assessment and permitting process
and conduct further drilling and sampling activity.
Vandersande describes the deposit as "very big...world class" and while
it could be another two years before a decision is made, he says he's "very
confident" the property will be able to support a working mine. Vandersande
believes global market conditions are positive for new diamond mining
operation. He says: "There is a shortage of diamonds and prices are going up."
Executive produced by CNW Group, Canada's Business Report is the most
comprehensive daily business news program on radio in Canada. With a focus on
the stock markets, investing strategies, corporate developments, and the
health of our economy, the nationally syndicated half-hour program is heard
Monday through Friday, live at 5:06 p.m. ET at
http://www.newswire.ca/en/cbr/index.cgi and on the following stations.
ONTARIO
Hamilton CHML AM 900 - 10:00 p.m. ET
London CFPL AM (Radio 98) - 5:30 p.m. ET
Owen Sound - CFOS 560 - 5:30 p.m. ET
Sarnia - CHOK AM 1070 - 5:30 p.m. ET, Repeat @ 5:00 a.m. ET
MANITOBA
Winnipeg - CJOB 680 - 6:30 p.m. CT, Repeat @ 5:00 a.m. CT
SASKATCHEWAN
Regina - CJME 980 - 9:00 p.m. CT, Repeat @ 5:00 a.m. CT
Saskatoon - CKOM 650 - 9:00 p.m. CT, Repeat @ 5:00 a.m. CT
ALBERTA
Calgary - CHQR AM 770 - 6:30 p.m. MT
Edmonton - 630 CHED - 5:00 a.m. MT
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Kelowna - CKOV 63 AM Radio - 6:05 p.m. PT.
For further information: Robert Graham, Host, Canada's Business
Report, (416) 863-5728, rob.graham@newswire.ca;
Archived images on this organization are available through CNW Photo Archive
website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of
the media.
De Beers announces plans to search for uranium
Ottawa, Canada
03 August 2005 07:09
De Beers announced on Tuesday that it will team up with Canada's Cameco Corporation to look for uranium for the first time in the far North.
The Johannesburg, South Africa-based diamond company will allow Cameco to search its Aberdeen Lake property in the eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut for the mineral that is becoming increasingly valuable recently as nations such as China and the United States look to nuclear power to meet rising energy demands.
Uranium is used to fuel nuclear power reactors.
The property, where De Beers has been prospecting for diamonds since 1998, consists of 14 mineral permits covering approximately 2 300 square kilometres, about 150km west of the Baker Lake hamlet, the company said in a release.
"It's the first such agreement that we've searched for uranium," said spokesperson Linda Dorrington. "We still remain dedicated to exploration and mining of rough diamonds. There's no shift in focus, but we're increasingly aware of the benefits to be derived from partnerships."
"We are aware that we may be looking for a particular mineral, but there may well be other minerals on our properties," she said.
De Beers announced a similar exploration deal with Inco in October 2004 to look for nickel on Baffin Island.
Cameco, the largest uranium producer in the world, must spend at least 300 000 dollars (US$245 000) in the first year of the agreement with De Beers and may spend up to 1,8-million dollars (US$1,5-million) on uranium exploration over the next four years. In return, it will earn a 60% interest in the
property.
If any uranium is found, Cameco will be responsible for mining and marketing the mineral.
A global uranium shortage of 45 000 tonnes is expected over the next decade, according to a May report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada funded by Canada's foreign affairs department, largely due to growing Chinese demand, prompting fierce competition recently among nations in this area.
The United States remains Canada's primary customer, receiving half of the annual 11 600 tonnes of uranium produced here each year.
But, China is planning to spend billions of dollars to build 40 more nuclear reactors by 2020 to generate electricity and feed its booming economy while reducing its reliance on coal -- currently nuclear power represents only one percent of its energy supply compared to coal at 66%. - Sapa-AFP
Cameco to look for uranium on De Beers Canada land
Tue Aug 2, 2005 1:44 PM ET
Printer Friendly / Email Article / Reprints / RSS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia , Aug 2 (Reuters) - De Beers Canada and Cameco Corp. (CCO.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), respectively the world's largest diamond and uranium producers, have teamed up so Cameco can explore for uranium on one of De Beers' properties in the eastern Arctic, the diamond giant said on Tuesday.
The two have entered into an agreement giving Cameco the option to search for the radioactive metal on De Beers' Aberdeen Lake property in Nunavut.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco needs to spend C$1.8 million on uranium exploration over four years to earn a 60 percent stake in the property.
The pair are already partners in the province of Saskatchewan on the Fort a la Corne diamond project.
Prices for uranium, a fuel used to produce electricity in nuclear power stations, have almost quadrupled in the past four years as the world searches for new sources of energy and mined output of the metal falls short of demand.
De Beers is 45 percent owned by Anglo-South African mining giant Anglo American Plc (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research).
Kensington Resources Reports on Drilling Progress New Prospective
Zones Identified at Fort à La Corne
================================================================
Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - Kensington Resources Ltd.
(the "Company") is pleased to report on drilling progress at the Fort à
la Corne Diamond Project in Saskatchewan. A total of 74 HQ coreholes
(diameter of 2.5 inches or 63.5 mm) with kimberlite intersections
totaling 6,056.43 metres have been completed on ten of the fourteen
high interest, prioritized kimberlite bodies including the western part
of the Star Kimberlite. Additionally, two coreholes intersected 151.63
metres of kimberlite drilled for hydrogeological testing. A total of
130 HQ coreholes are planned as part of the 2005 program, which is
budgeted at CDN $25.6 million.
The current budgeted project activity represents work toward the first
phase of the Advanced Exploration and Evaluation (AE&E) Plan. This
phase will consist mainly of geological drilling and microdiamond
analysis to determine the internal geology and grades of the targeted
kimberlites. These results will be used by De Beers to model the
grades expected in a commercial production scenario and to model
average diamond values once a sufficient parcel of macrodiamonds is
obtained.
"We are pleased that the rate of drilling has exceeded planning
projections and that the geological drilling stage of the AE&E program
is progressing smoothly towards our stated objectives for 2005," says
Robert A. McCallum, President and CEO of Kensington Resources Ltd.
"The presence of new prospective zones in several of the kimberlites
drilled thus far is encouraging and they will be fully tested for
diamond content and distribution."
Project Update Highlights
Preliminary logging of core from each drillhole has identified several
more prospective areas within the kimberlite bodies. They were
identified by their coarser-grained character and the presence of
indicator minerals and mantle xenoliths. These bodies include
Kimberlites 118, 145, 158, 219, and the Star Kimberlite. Following the
"best body first" approach of the AE&E plan, the coarser-grained zones
of core from Kimberlite Bodies 145 and 219 have received particular
attention by De Beers kimberlite experts and microdiamond recovery
sampling efforts on these cores have been prioritized.
If current dry conditions remain in the Fort à la Corne area, one drill
rig will be moved to the Star Kimberlite to resume drilling on
locations close to the postulated deep-going vent area of the body.
Drilling continues with three Boart-Longyear LF-70 core rigs operating
on 24 hour schedules. Table One below summarizes drilling results to
July 21, 2005.
For additional information and maps concerning the 2005 drilling
results, please see the Company's website at
www.kensington-resources.com.
Brent C. Jellicoe, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company and
has reviewed the technical information herein.
Table One: Fort a la Corne Joint Venture Core Drilling Summary to
July 21, 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Number Number Total Total Thickest
of of Drilled Kimberlite Kimberlite
Kimberlite Coreholes Coreholes Interval Thickness Interval
Body Planned Completed (m) (m) (m)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Star 15 8 1,679.0 396.92 118.95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
134 5 5 1,134.0 474.35 145.10
-------------------------------------------------------------------
145 11 11 2,503.0 1027.47 176.50
-------------------------------------------------------------------
219 12 12 2,627.6 1043.53 208.09
-------------------------------------------------------------------
119 6 6 1,324.0 414.80 202.34
-------------------------------------------------------------------
133 6 6 1,362.0 309.66 100.74
-------------------------------------------------------------------
158 11 11 2,642.5 950.32 190.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2161 12 5 1,206.0 367.05 138.69
-------------------------------------------------------------------
118 11 8 1,881.0 793.42 192.95
-------------------------------------------------------------------
218 6 2 630.0 278.91 236.25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Priority
Drilling 95 74 16,989.1 6,056.43
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1402 1 1 249.0 148.50 148.50
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1502 1 1 249.0 3.13 2.81
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Geotechnical
Drilling 2 2 498.0 151.63
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 97 76 17,487.1 6,208.06
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 equals Corehole 216-05-014C was angled at -60 degrees to
investigate the wet, eastern part of Kimberlite 216; lithological
contacts and thicknesses were not corrected for the dip of the
hole; this corehole did not have the thickest kimberlite interval.
2 equals Geohydrological holes to test ground water flows.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development
company currently focused on the high potential Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical
expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for
the realization of shareholder value. The Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%),
De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc.
(carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort à la Corne,
the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated
results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on
reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the
largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
Robert A. McCallum, President & CEO
Kensington Resources Ltd.
Suite 2100, P.O. Box 11606
650 W. Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia,
CANADA V6B 4N9
Tel: 1-800-514-7859 or (604) 682-0020
Fax: (604) 682-0021
Website: www.kensington-resources.com
EMail:rob-mccallum@kensington-resources.com
TRADING SYMBOL: KRT-TSX.V
For further information, please contact:
Mel Gardner, Manager Investor Relations
Tel: 1-800-710-6083
E-mail: mel-gardner@kensington-resources.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
View News Release and Supplemental Information in PDF Format:
Associated File:
http://www.kensington-resources.com/i/pdf/2005-08-02_NR.pdf
48 KB in size, approx. 10 seconds to download at 56.6Kbps
Associated File:
http://www.kensington-resources.com/i/pdf/2005-08-02_NRSupplemental.pdf
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De Beers backs Desmond
MOUNTAIN Province Diamonds (MPD), an exploration company backed by financier Dermot Desmond, has been informed that De Beers Canada Exploration, a unit of the South African diamond mining giant, will stump up C$38.5m (€25.8m) to advance development of their joint exploration of diamond deposits in Canada, writes Graham Walsh.
De Beers' decision comes after seven years of work culminating in an C$25m, 18-month pre-feasibility study into the Gahcho Kue project. The new funds will be used to start the environmental assessment and permitting process in the joint venture's AK mining leases, situated in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
"It will take up to two years to get the various permits started to open a mine," said Jan Vandersande, president and chief executive of MPD, noting that Desmond's Bottin Investments has a 28% stake in the company, while Harry Dobson, the Scottish mining magnate has a smaller holding. Dobson is a director of the company.
De Beers owns 51% of the project and MPD has a 44% stake. However, De Beers has the right to earn up to a 60% interest in the 250,000-acre prospect by taking it to commercial production.
De Beers, which controls about 60% of the world's diamond business, is bullish about prospects for the industry, predicting demand will be driven by an emerging Chinese middle-class.
Mountain Province Diamonds, Inc. Reports That De Beers Has Approved The Funding To Advance The Gahcho Kue Project
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - July 25, 2005) - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc., (the Company) (TSX:MPV)(AMEX:MDM) is pleased to announce that it has been informed by its joint-venture partner, De Beers Canada Inc., that De Beers has approved funding totaling C$38.5 million to start the environmental assessment and permitting process of the Gahcho Kue Project and to conduct a drilling and sampling program this winter. The Project consists of the Hearne, 5034 and the Tuzo kimberlite bodies, which are located at Kennady Lake in the joint venture's AK mining leases situated in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
On June 29, 2005, the Company announced that the comprehensive study had been concluded. This study was taken to full feasibility study confidence levels over the areas required for environmental assessment purposes. On the basis of the results of this study De Beers has developed a proposed time table and budget over 2005 and 2006 to advance the project to the permitting phase. The environmental assessment and permitting process will be initiated together with the necessary consultation and stakeholder engagement activities. There will also be a large diameter drilling and sampling program this coming winter on the 5034 and Tuzo kimberlites to improve resource confidence (from inferred to indicated resource for parts of these pipes) as well as delineation, geotechnical, and hydrological drilling to improve input data for mine design.
Elizabeth Kirkwood, Chairman and CFO, stated" We are obviously very pleased that De Beers is advancing the Project to the next phase. We look forward to the sampling program which could hopefully enhance some of the results obtained previously".
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. is a company developing a diamond deposit. The AK mining leases, located in the Northwest Territories of Canada are now held 44.1% by Mountain Province Diamonds Inc., 4.9% by Camphor Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CFV), and 51% by De Beers Canada Inc. As reported in its news release on March 7th, 1997, Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. and its partner entered into a joint agreement with De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. formerly known as Monopros Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of De Beers sa ) under which De Beers Canada Inc. has the right to earn up to a 60% interest in the AK property by taking the project to commercial production.
"Jan W. Vandersande"
Jan W. Vandersande, Ph.D.
President & CEO
This release may contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the "safe-harbor" provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's business or financial condition. Actual results could differ materially from those described in this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of which are outside of the control of the Company.
USA Office: 3633 E. Inland Empire Blvd., Suite 465, Ontario, CA 91764, (909) 466-1411
CANADA Office: 21 Nesbitt Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4W 2G2
Encouraging Macrodiamond Results for Fort à la Corne Kimberlite
122
=======================================================================
Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, July 21, 2005 - Kensington Resources Ltd.
(the "Company") announces encouraging macrodiamond recoveries from
minibulk sampling at Kimberlite 122 in 2004. A total of 248
macrodiamonds weighing 28.81 carats, including 23 stones larger than
0.25 carats, were recovered from three 36-inch (914 mm) diameter
drillholes located on Kimberlite 122 during the 2004 minibulk sampling
program on the Fort à la Corne Diamond Project in Saskatchewan.
"The recovery of many stones larger than 0.25 carats and two larger
than one carat supports our model of a larger stone population in
Kimberlite 122," states Robert A. McCallum, President & CEO of
Kensington Resources Ltd. "Diamond recoveries and actual sample grades
for stones in the +5 and higher sieve categories from 2004 are
comparable to those seen in 2000, although the total carats recovered
last year fell short of program expectations. Macrodiamonds recovered
in the 2000 program were of high quality and we look forward to
receiving the valuations for the 2004 macrodiamonds."
Table 1: Actual 2004 Macrodiamond Recoveries from Kimberlite 122
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Est.
# of
Diamonds
greater
than
Actual 0.25
Exca- cts.
Main Sample vated Drill- Drill- (larg-
Kimber- Inter- Mass hole hole est
Drill- lite val (tonnes) Total Grade Total stones/ stone)
hole Unit (metres) (1) Carats (cpht) Stones tonne (2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
016 122 98.57 166.82 5.565 3.34 43 0.26 4
South stones
MPK (1.01
cts.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122
-018 122 178.56 312.68 11.990 3.84 90 0.29 12
South stones
MPK (1.11
cts.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122
-021 122 151.45 257.89 11.255 4.36 115 0.45 7
South stones
MPK (0.73
cts.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122
-015 122 1.20 1.81 0 n/a 0 n/a 0
South
MPK
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Total/
Avg. 429.78 739.20 28.810 3.90 248 0.33 23
stones
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) The calculation of actual mass was based on interval borehole
volume measured by a 3-arm caliper tool and a kimberlite rock
density of 2.5.
(2) Diamond weights were provided in terms of total carats per sieve
class. The reader is cautioned that for interval samples (12 metres)
with multiple stone recoveries, the number of stones greater than
0.25 carats was estimated by dividing carat weight by the number of
stones in the sieve class.
Four large diameter minibulk sampling holes were targeted on Kimberlite
122 in order to expand the parcel of diamonds from this body so that
confidence levels in grade and revenue estimates could be increased.
The total estimated mass of kimberlite excavated from body 122 in 2004
was 739.2 tonnes of which 318.1 tonnes of material greater than 1.5 mm
in size was retained for macrodiamond recoveries. All four drillholes
primarily sampled the main, massive to bedded pyroclastic kimberlite
unit (MPK). Minibulk samples were shipped to the De Beers' dense media
separation plant located in Grande Prairie, Alberta for the first stage
of diamond recovery procedures, followed by final diamond recovery in
an ultra-high security facility in Johannesburg, RSA.
Macrodiamond recoveries for the three main drillhole intersections are
reported by sieve size category in Table 2. Drillhole 04-122-015 was
lost at a depth of 106.6 metres after cutting only 1.2 metres of
kimberlite due to loss of steel downhole.
Table 2: Summary of 2004 Macrodiamond Recovery from Kimberlite 122
by Sieve Size Category
-------------------------------------------------------------------
+5 Sieve +6 Sieve +7 Sieve +9 Sieve +11 Sieve
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drill- sto- car- sto- car- sto- car- sto- car- sto- car-
hole nes ats nes ats nes ats nes ats nes ats
-------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
016 8 0.440 12 1.065 4 0.440 3 0.765 4 1.035
-------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
018 22 1.110 17 1.340 15 1.945 16 3.405 6 2.165
-------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
021 33 1.570 19 1.505 13 1.805 13 2.230 4 1.375
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 63 3.120 48 3.910 32 4.190 32 6.400 14 4.575
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
+12 Sieve +13 Sieve +15 Sieve +17 Sieve
Drill- sto- car- sto- car- sto- car- sto- car-
hole nes ats nes ats nes ats nes ats
-------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
016 1 0.550 0 0 1 1.015 0 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
018 0 0 1 0.630 0 0 1 1.110
-------------------------------------------------------------------
04-122-
021 1 0.560 2 1.395 0 0 0 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 2 1.110 3 2.025 1 1.015 1 1.110
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Minibulk sampling programs in 2000 and 2004 differed in the bottom
cut-off size for macrodiamonds utilizing a 1.0 mm screen in 2000 versus
a 1.5 mm screen in 2004. A comparison of the results from these two
programs, including a recently revised map of Kimberlite Body 122
showing location of the 2004 drillholes, is posted on the Company's
website at www.kensington-resources.com.
The 2004 Evaluation Program (CDN $7.6 million) included ten large
diameter minibulk drillholes positioned on high-grade zones in
Kimberlites 140/141 and 122. Samples and results from the 122
drillholes are the last of the 2004 macrodiamond results to report.
Minibulk samples collected in this program will provide additional
diamonds to the 122 parcel. Additional information related to the 2004
macrodiamond recovery include reports on diamond characterization,
breakage, and valuation. Together, this data will be used to increase
the level of confidence in grade forecasts and revenue modeling by De
Beers' experts. Relevant aspects of these reports will be disclosed as
they are received from the project operator, De Beers Canada Inc.
Brent C. Jellicoe, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person for the Company and
has reviewed the technical information herein. All aspects of quality
assurance, quality control, and sample chain of custody for the Fort à
la Corne Joint Venture are managed by De Beers Canada Inc., the project
operator.
Kensington Resources Ltd. is an exploration and mine development
company currently focused on the high potential Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project in Saskatchewan. The management team includes strong technical
expertise and is committed to reaching a diamond producer status for
the realization of shareholder value. The Fort à la Corne Diamond
Project is a joint venture among Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.245%),
De Beers Canada Inc. (42.245%), Cameco Corporation (5.51%) and UEM Inc.
(carried 10%). After fifteen years of exploration at Fort à la Corne,
the joint venture partners have entered into an accelerated
results-driven advanced exploration and evaluation phase targeted on
reaching a pre-feasibility decision in 2008. The Fort à la Corne
Diamond Project includes 63 identified kimberlite bodies within the
largest diamondiferous kimberlite cluster in the world.
Robert A. McCallum, President & CEO
Kensington Resources Ltd.
Suite 2100, PO Box 11606
650 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA V6B 4N9
Tel: 1-800-514-7859 or (604) 682-0020
Fax: (604) 682-0021
Website: www.kensington-resources.com
E-Mail: rob-mccallum@kensington-resources.com
TRADING SYMBOL: KRT-TSX.V
For further information, please contact:
Mel Gardner, Manager Investor Relations
Tel: 1-800-710-6083
E-mail: mel-gardner@kensington-resources.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
View News Release in PDF Format:
http://www.kensington-resources.com/i/pdf/2005-07-21_NR.pdf
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Pure Gold Minerals Inc.: Agreement Completed with De Beers on the Courageous Lake Property, NWT
Monday July 11, 12:34 pm ET
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - July 11, 2005) - Donald R. Sheldon, President of Pure Gold Minerals Inc. (TSX:PUG - News; "Pure Gold" or the "Corporation"), is pleased to announce that the Corporation has entered into an option agreement with De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. ("De Beers") concerning the Courageous Lake Property ("the Property"). The Property is located to the southwest of the Ekati Diamond Mine and to the west of the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Lac De Gras area of the Northwest Territories.
Previous exploration on the Property by De Beers has included extensive till sampling for Kimberlite Indicator Minerals (KIM), airborne ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys and geological mapping and studies. Widespread KIM's were recovered from the till sampling and several anomalies were identified from a review by the Corporation's technical consultants or the magnetic and electromagnetic surveys. Furthermore, a number of the geophysical anomalies appear to be located at the source of indicator mineral trains defined by the KIM results from the till sampling completed by De Beers. Pure Gold plans to prioritize the selected anomalies using further detailed sampling and ground geophysics. The best anomalies that are defined by this surface exploration program will then be tested by diamond drilling. Drilling is planned before the end of the 2005 summer field season. Pure Gold will be Operator of the Program.
Pure Gold is very pleased to have entered into this agreement and is looking forward to again working with De Beers with respect to ongoing exploration and development of the Courageous Lake Property. Under the terms of the option agreement, Pure Gold must spend $1.2 million on exploration of the Property over four years to earn an 85% interest in the Property. Over a certain threshold value of a development project, as defined by a feasibility study, De Beers has the right to back in for a 70% interest by reimbursing Pure Gold for two times the amount expended by Pure Gold on the development project and procuring production debt financing. The agreement is subject to requisite approvals and due diligence.
Contact:
Pure Gold Minerals Inc.
Donald R. Sheldon
President
(604) 687-2038
Fax: (604) 687-3141
www.puregold.ca
MOUNTAIN province diamonds (MPD), an exploration company backed by Dermot Desmond, has had encouraging results from an extensive pre-feasibility study of its mining interests in Canada. It now expects the project to go ahead.
The study centred on the Gahcho Kue project, a joint venture with De Beers Canada, a subsidiary of the global mining conglomerate. De Beers has the right to earn up to a 60% interest in the 250,000-acre prospect by taking it to commercial production. The C$25m (€17.1m) pre-feasibility study was regarded as a key component of any decision to give the project the green light.
Mountain Province Diamond's share price spiked from C$2.15 to C$2.79 last week before settling back at C$2. Jan Vandersande, its president and chief executive, attributed the fall to a bout of profit-taking. De Beers owns 51% of the project and Mountain Province Diamonds has a 41% stake. The company also has an option on gold-mining prospects in Finland. Desmond owns 28% of the equity, which makes the stock worth following.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. To Be Listed On The American Stock Exchange
ONTARIO, California -- Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (the Company) (TSX:MPV - News; OTCBB:MPVI - News) is pleased to announce that its application for listing on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) has been approved. Trading of the Company's shares on the AMEX will start on Monday April 4. The new stock symbol will be "MDM".
Elizabeth J. Kirkwood, Chairman & CFO stated, "We are very pleased with the listing on AMEX and believe that shareholders will benefit from, among other things, improved liquidity in the stock and a higher overall profile for the Company."
Separately, De Beers is on schedule with the pre-feasibility/feasibility in-depth project study. The conclusion of the study is expected in June of 2005.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. is a company developing a diamond deposit in the NWT of Canada. The AK mining leases, located in the Northwest Territories of Canada are now held 44.1% by Mountain Province Diamonds Inc., 4.9% by Camphor Ventures (TSX VENTURE:CFV - News), and 51% by De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. As reported in its news release on March 7th, 1997, Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. and its partner entered into a joint agreement with De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. formerly known as Monopros Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited) under which De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. has the right to earn up to a 60% interest in the AK property by taking the project to commercial production. Carl G. Verley, P. Geol., a director, is the qualified person for the Company.
Investor Information:
Jan W. Vandersande, Ph.D., President & CEO, (909) 466-1411
De Beers says potential for new N.W.T. diamond mine
Last updated Jul 5 2005 08:51 AM MDT
CBC News
International diamond giant, De Beers, says it is now looking at building a second diamond mine in the Northwest Territories at Gahcho Kue, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Lutselk'e settlement. De Beers Canada says the results of a $25 million pre-feasibility study are "encouraging," and it's now drawing up a budget and timetable for getting development permits. While the company closed its exploration offices in Yellowknife, a few months ago, at the time, it said there would still be a focus on mining development in the territory.
FROM APRIL 21, 2005: De Beers no longer seeking new N.W.T. diamonds
De Beers went into the study looking to improve its estimate of ore available, which would determine the life of the mine. Those estimates haven't been made public. Gahcho Kue contains three diamond deposits that are located under Kennady Lake. It's unclear whether De Beers would process the ore from Gahcho Kue at its Snap Lake mine, located 80 kilometres southeast, or whether it would build a separate processing facility. De Beers owns Gahcho Kue jointly with Mountain Province Diamonds and Camphor Ventures.
VANCOUVER -- Nearly 10 years ago, Toronto-based Archangel Diamond Corp. and its two Russian partners discovered the Grib Pipe, believed to be one of the biggest diamond deposits ever found in western Russia.
But no one knows its size for sure because a licence dispute between Archangel and its partners has stalled work on the deposit since 1998.
And as the wrangle drags through international arbitration panels and American courts -- where Archangel in 2001 filed a lawsuit claiming more than $1-billion (U.S.) in damages -- the company can only stew and count its mounting legal bills.
"Frustrating as this is for the long-suffering shareholders of Archangel, it must also be a concern for the Russian government, a government that continues to maintain that it is keen to encourage foreign direct investment," president and chief executive officer Ray Clark wrote in a letter to shareholders this spring.
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"In this regard, Archangel's long-running dispute with its joint venture partners . . . cannot be a helpful signal for sending to the world."
Exactly what kind of signals Russia is sending to the world, and to foreign investors, is a hot topic in the global resource sector. The recent conviction of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on fraud, tax evasion and other charges -- widely seen as a slap from Russian president Vladimir Putin to a would-be political rival -- raised questions about Mr. Putin's commitments to political and economic reform.
But where some companies see warning flags, other companies see a welcome mat, or at least a country so rich in resources it is too important to ignore.
Vancouver-based Bema Gold Corp. has jumped wholeheartedly into Russia, where the company has built one mine and is working on another.
Bema CEO Clive Johnson said concerns about Russia have been overblown, pointing out that international banks recently lent Bema $150-million in bridge financing for its Kupol project and are in talks to finance the rest of the mine.
Canada's biggest gold producer, Barrick Gold Corp., is also keen on Russia. Barrick opened a Moscow office this year and has bought stakes in two London-listed mining companies that have Russian assets.
Kinross Gold Corp. struggled through legal quagmires of its own in Russia in the 1990s.
New chief executive officer Tye Burt, who joined Kinross in March, had been pondering whether to turn the lights out in Russia after the company's Kubaka mine winds down this year. He recently decided to stay put.
"We like Russia, we understand the business environment and Kinross has a long-term track record there. And we don't want to allow that to dissipate," Mr. Burt said.
Kinross plans to explore around its current operations in the hopes of finding new deposits and is also open to working with other players on joint ventures, he said.
Toronto-based High River Gold Mines Ltd., which bought a stake in a Russian gold producer in 1995, has since increased its holdings and is building a new mine in Siberia.
Other companies, however, wouldn't touch the country with a barge pole.
At a mining conference in New York earlier this month, Pierre Lassonde, president of Denver-based gold giant Newmont Mining Corp., cited Russia's reputation for "bandit capitalism" and said Newmont would, for now, put its money elsewhere.
Vancouver-based Pan American Silver Corp., the poster company for Russian troubles during the 1990s after it lost control of the rich Dukat silver deposit, is spending its money in Argentina and Mexico.
Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., the new million-ounce producer on the gold scene since acquiring the former Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. earlier this year, is focusing on development projects in Mexico and Brazil.
A string of international companies have run into problems in Russia, Goldcorp CEO Ian Telfer said.
"I'm sure at some point they will get it sorted out, but we're likely going to wait a little bit longer," before getting involved, he said.
Patience, and a powerful backer, are helping Archangel keep up its fight for rights to the Grib Pipe.
Archangel's controlling shareholder is a subsidiary of diamond giant De Beers SA, which has provided financial support to keep Archangel afloat.
One of the parties in the Grib Pipe dispute is Russian oil company OAO Lukoil, which is also wrangling with Calgary-based oil producer PetroKazakhstan Inc. over assets in Kazakhstan.
Russia's enticing frontier
Russia is considered one of the most resource-rich, underdeveloped mineral regions of the world. Drawn by that potential, an increasing number of foreign investors, including Canadian companies, are venturing into the country. Here's a snapshot of some of the projects.
The Grib Pipe
Diamonds
Discovered in 1996
Undeveloped
Archangel Diamond Corp. and its Russian joint venture partners have been in a legal dispute since 1998.
Julietta mine
Gold
In production since 2001
Majority-owned by Bema Gold Corp.
Kupol project
Gold
Discovered in 1995
Expected start-up by 2008
Flagship project for Bema Gold Corp.
Sukhoi Log deposit
Gold
A major deposit, but plans by the Russian government to put it up to tender have been repeatedly postponed. Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. and Russia's Norilsk Nickel, which has been boosting its gold assets, have been named as potential bidders.
Dukat mine
Silver
The world's third-biggest primary silver deposit and for year the cautionary tale for would-be foreign investors. Pan American Silver Corp. spent millions on the project in the 1990s, but lost control of the mine in a legal battle and wrote off its $37-million (U.S.) investment in 2000.
But last year, Pan American sold its remaining 20-per-cent stake to its Russian operator for $43-million and is to receive up to $22.5-millio in future payments from the project - meaning its Russian adventure wasn't as disastrous as it might have been.
Kubaka mine
Gold
Discovered in 1979
In production since 1997
Scheduled to close by year-end
Owned by Kinross Gold Corp., which has been thinking of getting out of Russia but recently decided to boost exploration there, hoping to find more minable deposits.
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