Interesting article indirectly related to KWGArctic Star set for Attawapiskat revival
2007-07-25 18:32 ET - Street Wire
by Will Purcell
Patrick Power's Arctic Star Diamond Corp. thinks the Attawapiskat property it shares with Chuck Fipke's Metalex Ventures Ltd. will soon get a new look. The Attawapiskat play was the story that pushed Metalex's shares to a high of $5.60 early in 2003, but the play fell silent a few years ago when a dispute broke out with the now suspended Big Red Diamond Corp. That spat is still unresolved and Mr. Fipke has been in no hurry to resume work, but Mr. Power believes some key targets on the Attawapiskat property will prove worth the wait.
The targets
Mr. Power said he expected the renewed effort at Attawapiskat will test a zone of green kimberlitic clay with a core drilling rig. The partners first encountered the green material in an auger drill program late in 2003, sparking considerable interest.
Over the next year, the partners completed auger holes over an area measuring about 700 metres by 400 metres and found variable amounts of the kimberlitic clay, along with some high indicator mineral counts and a small diamond. Metalex and Arctic Star apparently did drill a few core holes into the target during 2004, but found nothing at depth.
The main area of interest on the Attawapiskat property lies within an area measuring roughly 3,500 metres square, called the D6 fan. The partners found four potential kimberlites through a busy drill program before work halted in the fall of 2004.
Mr. Power remains an Attawapiskat believer and Arctic Star plans to contribute its 20-per-cent share of the exploration costs, once the issues are settled. The company's Vancouver-based president said he had no indication of how much Mr. Fipke would spend on the property, but Arctic Star is working on a new share sale to cover some busy plans of its own elsewhere. Mr. Fipke can be a big spender and Mr. Power believes he is on the verge of something big in the Attawapiskat region. As a result, a significant amount of Arctic Star's new cash could go to the Attawapiskat project.
Meanwhile, the Attawapiskat spat is dragging on. According to Big Red, the key issue is pertains to a 10-per-cent-carried interest in the project held by Mr. Fipke's private company, Kel-Ex Development Ltd. Big Red believes all it is responsible for is its 20-per-cent-working interest in the property, leaving Metalex and Arctic Star to foot the added bill.
If Mr. Fipke prevails, Big Red's share would be subject to an additional net carried interest of 2 per cent. Big Red is also challenging the appropriateness of a $90,794 expense charged by Kel-Ex for work prior to August, 2004. Both issues might seem minor, but the long wait makes the Attawapiskat project a tough tout, as Mr. Fipke seems willing to outlast Big Red.
At last report, Big Red believes the matter will go to arbitration, but the company is having a tough time of late. Big Red's shares were suspended from trading early this year by the TSX Venture exchange, for failing to comply with listing requirements, and trading remains suspended.
The encouragement
The project could prove worth the wait, as the main area of interest lies just south of the Victor pipe that De Beers Canada Inc. plans to mine within a year or two. That pipe also sat for several years and seemed of little interest because of paltry microdiamond counts, but the diamond giant completed much larger tests about a decade later.
The new effort paid off, as De Beers now projects a grade of 0.23 carat per tonne across nearly 30 million tonnes of kimberlite. The real story is the diamond value, which is well over $400 (U.S.) per carat, giving a rock value high enough to warrant the $1-billion cost of the mine.
https://www.stockwatch.com/swnet/newsit/newsit_newsit.aspx?bid=Z-C:ADD-1392527&symbol=ADD&news_region=C