Street Wire: SWY plans Timiskaming drillinglink: https://www.stockwatch.com/swnet/newsit/newsit_newsit.aspx?bid=Z-C:SWY-1390522&symbol=SWY&news_region=C
Stornoway plans Timiskaming drilling
2007-07-18 15:11 ET - Street Wire
by Will Purcell
Stornoway Diamond Corp. plans a drill program to test prospective targets in the Timiskaming district of Northeastern Ontario this year. The company's president, Matt Manson, says he believes there are several kimberlites awaiting discovery in the region, and signs point to at least some of them lying on Stornoway's ground. Mr. Manson was formerly the head of Contact Diamond Corp., which discovered and mini-bulk tested the best of the area kimberlites, the 95-2 pipe.
The plan
Contact Diamond was a big spender in the region since it revived the Timiskaming hunt in 2002, but Stornoway appears less enthused about the play since it completed a friendly takeover of Contact last year. Nevertheless, the merged company still plans to spend several hundred thousand dollars in the area again this year. Exploration programs are much cheaper in the Timiskaming area, compared with Stornoway's other projects, and a budget that could reach $1-million would allow the company to complete a considerable amount of sampling and drilling.
Contact appears to have tested most of the worthy targets in the area surrounding its 95-2 pipe, but Mr. Manson's latest enthusiasm covers ground farther to the north. He said there were a number of discrete kimberlite indicator mineral trains with unknown sources in the area west of the Lapointe pipe, which Tres-Or Resources Ltd. plans to mini-bulk test later this year.
A good result from that program would give the area play a boost, as the body lies about 50 kilometres north of 95-2. The area northeast, northwest and west of Lake Timiskaming contains a large cluster of kimberlites and although most are diamondiferous, only 95-2 produced a measurable grade of commercial diamonds. A second promotable result would spark new interest.
That could be important, as Mr. Manson believes there are at least seven undiscovered pipes in the region based on indicator mineral data, although not all of them may be on Stornoway ground. The geophysical data from the area is noisy, making target selection a challenge, but Stornoway's president said the company would focus on the heads of the known mineral trains and then it will "drill opportunistically."
The encouragement
The last drilling on Stornoway's Timiskaming property occurred last fall, when Contact was technically still an independent company. That program yielded a new find, on the Quebec side of the lake. The Baby kimberlite did not yield any diamonds but Stornoway may still poke a few new holes before it declares the pipe stillborn, as signs suggest a second phase of kimberlite exists.
Most of the new effort will go to the western side of the geological feature that runs northwestward through the lake, suggesting Stornoway will concentrate its effort in Ontario. That is encouraging, as the bulk of the kimberlite finds and most of the diamonds have come from that area.
Mr. Manson is still not giving up on 95-2, although he concedes diamond prices will have to rise significantly to make it economic on its own. The 650-tonne mini-bulk test yielded a grade averaging about 0.10 carat per tonne, but the central and eastern portions of the pipe had an average grade of about 0.15 carat per tonne, with even higher grades near the top. Mr. Manson believes the 95-2 diamonds could be worth $100 (U.S.) per carat.
There are signs that Lapointe could have a richer zone capable of matching 95-2. Tres-Or only found one larger macro in its limited microdiamond testing, but the best counts came from one particular part of the huge pipe. Further, most of the stones were broken, suggesting a much larger gem may have fractured in the testing process.
Stornoway closed up two cents to 97 cents Tuesday on 114,600 shares.