Tres-Or digging up diamonds in Temiskaming.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: TEMISKAMING REGION

With sub-zero temperatures finally bringing some much-needed firmness to the clay-laden ground, drilling is now underway to take a closer look at the largest diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe in Ontario.

One drill began turning in late January at Tres-Or Resources Limited's Lapointe Discovery located 80 kilometres southeast of Timmins. This work represents the extraction of a 50-tonne sample from a depth of 220 metres as part of a large-tonnage test.

"You start off to give yourself confidence that the information you've compiled is worth pursuing," Laura Lee Duffett, president and CEO of Tres-Or, says.

Forages M. La Freniere Inc. of Nedelec, Quebec recently drilled the vertical, 275-metre guide hole to test the overburden and to better gauge the kimberlite body in advance of the large-tonnage test. This work indicates that the central part of the Lapointe body is covered with 73 metres of soft clay.

Although the sample was initially due to be removed following the completion of the guide hole in November, three straight weeks of rain delayed the move.

"There was no way that the 66,000-pound drill was going to be sitting on 70 metres of clay without shifting," Duffett says.

Discovered in 2005, the Lapointe Discovery pipe stretches across 21 hectares. That total may grow as further testing remains to be done on the body's northern wall.

Just four tonnes of kimberlite of the projected 100 million tonnes said to be on site have been tested to date. Released in late 2006, these results recovered 440 diamonds with the largest being a 0.00665-carat clear, white firey gemstone.

While many were broken, studies of more than 100 of the recovered diamonds determined they were not fractured naturally but rather, as part of the recovery process, either during drilling, transportation, or preparation for testing.

This included 70 stones measuring 0.5 millimetres in two dimensions, measurements which qualify them as macrodiamonds.

Through the interpretation of this and other information over the last year, the company has determined the Lapointe kimberlite most likely features coarse-size distribution. This means the micro-diamond content of the body won't provide a solid basis for economic studies, requiring this large-tonnage test to better understand the pipe.

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If a similar level of macrodiamond discovery is made in this newest test, the company may see the possibility of moving forward to a full-blown bulk sample, which would...