RE: 2 1/2 inch drill From the Mar 2001 NR. Same size drill,,,twice as many holes.
De Beers plans to begin the 2001 program with a ground magnetic and electromagnetic survey over the area containing the pipe to help establish the pipe size and to select drill hole sites. This will be followed immediately by HQ (63.5mm diameter) core drilling using a Boart Longyear LF-70 rig. A minimum of five holes are planned. The program is designed to delineate the size and the internal structure of the Knife pipe and provide additional information on diamond content.
The Knife pipe is situated on a 1024 hectare (2530 acre) claim in Nunavut, approximately 80 km south of the Coronation Gulf. Rhonda owns the property 100% and has granted De Beers the option to earn a 70% interest by expending $10 million on the claim. Rhonda will retain a 30% interest carried to production.
The discovery of the Knife diamondiferous pipe by De Beers and nearby discoveries by other companies have focused attention on the area. Rhonda recently undertook additional staking, expanding its 100% owned Inulik property to over 80,000 acres. Rhonda's plans for its 2001 program on the Inulik property include glacial till sampling, prospecting and airborne geophysics. Rhonda has already reworked existing geophysical and geochemical data from the area and identified a number of potential kimberlite anomalies on the Inulik property.