Hunt for diamonds extends to south
Bruce Johnstone
Leader-Post
February 2, 2005
While the hunt for diamonds is well underway in the Fort a la Corne area near Prince Albert, southern Saskatchewan has been barren ground for diamond exploration activity.
A Vancouver-based junior mining company is hoping to change that when it begins drilling for diamonds about 215 km south of Regina later this month.
Madison Explorations Inc., which is traded over the counter, will begin drilling at Scout Lake, near Rockglen, within three weeks. "We have a test drill program starting the week of the 21st (of February),'' said Kevin Stunder, president of Madison. "We have five targets right now.''
Stunder said the area was first explored by diamond mining giant De Beers in the early 1960s, while two junior companies, Better Resources and Pure Gold Resources, did some exploration work in the 1990s, but neither drilled for diamonds.
"To our knowledge, there hasn't been a whole lot of exploration in the area.''
Madison is focusing on a "dike structure'' -- a geological anomaly 13-km long, 500-metres wide and up to 50-metres deep -- that Stunder hopes is a kimberlite pipe -- the remnant of an ancient volcano that sometimes contains diamonds.
"It's our first foray into drilling to find out, do we have it or don't we, as a company,'' Stunder said. The drilling, which will take about a week and cost less than $50,000, should determine whether the Scout Lake site is worth exploring further.
"Our cost is about 10 per cent of exploring up north,'' Stunder said, adding "we can drive a pick up truck off the highway onto the field with a drill mounted on the back.''
Stunder said the Scout Lake site has lots of indicator minerals of diamonds, such as cobalt., but they're of indeterminate origin.
"It's a confusing piece of landscape. We know there are great indicators from the Alberta border to Weyburn and the size of the indicators suggests a local source.''
Once drilling is complete, the company will send the core samples to the Saskatchewan Research Council laboratory in Saskatoon for testing. "Hopefully, within a couple of weeks, we get the results back.''
If the "dike structure'' turns out to be kimberlite, the next step will be to determine whether its diamondiferous, that is, containing diamonds. The best case scenario would be to find a four-carat diamond sitting in the drill core, Stunder said.
"We're looking for a one-carat diamond in a tonne of material, that's commercial grade,'' he added. Failing that, Madison has a dozen other sites worth exploring in southern Saskatchewan, he added.
Lynn Kelley, a research geologist with the Saskatchewan Geological Survey, agreed that Madison is breaking new ground in the search for diamonds in Saskatchewan.
"It's the first drill test for diamonds in southern Saskatchewan,'' said Kelley, who wrote a paper on southern Saskatchewan's potential for diamond exploration last year.
He also agreed the area is confusing, geologically speaking. "It's not clear whether it's a neat geological puzzle or indicative of diamondiferous rock.''
But, like Stunder, Kelley said he looked forward to seeing the results of the drill test. "It's something that will help us solve this geological puzzle. You never know. It's always a bit of gamble.''
The Leader-Post (Regina) 2005
