Diamonds potential untapped.

• Author: Louiseize, Kelly
• Position: Mining

For the last 10 years a plethora of diamond kimberlite exploration has been occurring in Northern Ontario and the main impetus behind large- and small-sized mining company exploration is the presence of De Beers in the James Bay Lowlands, says Ann Wilson, Timmins district geologist.

Currently, De Beers is pursuing a feasibility study on its Victor project to determine the viability of a diamond mine in Attawapiskat.

"(Be Beers) has spent I do not know how many millions of dollars, but they would not have spent this much money if they did not have some glimmer of hope," Wilson says.

Spider Resources has also been in the James Bay Lowlands for almost as long as De Beers.

Approximately two years ago Spider signed an agreement with De Beers to allow them to do some exploration on their kimberlite pipes, Wilson says.

"They have not been quite as active as De Beers," Wilson attests, "but they have still been up in the area doing some initial drilling and some mini tests."

Testing is taking place approximately 100 kilometres west of Attawapiskat, Wilson says.

"That area is pretty much virgin territory."

However, the main area of extensive research is in the north and south of Attawapiskat, Wilson says.

Metalex Ventures and Arctic Star Diamond in collaboration with Big Red Diamond Corp. are drilling in the areas south of Attawapiskat, with Canabrava Diamond Corp., Condor Diamond and Superior Diamond also establishing their presence.

"When De Beers went to this desktop feasibility stage, that was a big push to do some staking," Wilson says.

Right now, the Attawapiskat area holds the greatest hope for Canada's first mine in Ontario, but recent findings in other areas of the North have also sparked interest among diamond companies, Wilson says.

"We have a locus of exploration going on in the Wawa area, where we have Pele Mountain Resources Inc, Kennecott Canada Exploration in co-operation with Band-Ore Resources, (and) Spider Resources is there, (plus) we have Arctic Star Diamond in cooperation with Oasis Diamond Exploration Inc.," Wilson explains.

Just recently, a diamond measuring .72 carat was pulled from the Wawa bedrock. This has fueled potential exploration in the older rocks throughout Canada and the world, Wilson adds.

For instance, a Kapuskasing structure stretching north, northeast from the shore of Lake Superior just north of Sault Ste. Marie and ending near Attawapiskat has intrigued geologists for years, since the formation and mineral...