De Beers Moves Ahead with Canada Exploration

De Beers will test specimens of kimberlite indicator material from a project in an underdeveloped part of Canada after completing sampling at the site in the Northwestern Athabasca basin.

The miner invested up to $15.6 million (CAD 20.4 million) in the joint venture with Toronto-listed CanAlaska, which staked claims to kimberlite-style targets at the West Athabasca project.

The exploration team of the De Beers Group has collected in excess of a 100 samples  of kimberlite indicator mineral, which will now be processed in De Beers laboratories to establish further evidence of kimberlite “intrusives” associated with the anomalies staked by CanAlaska.

A second phase of exploration will commence in the next few weeks for detailed magnetic mapping of staked targets and other significant features. An airborne magnetic survey by a specialized aircraft will define the targets in preparation for drilling.