New Nadina Eager For Spring
September 22, 2008
by Will Purcell
New Nadina Explorations Ltd.,struggling on at 21 cents, plans a spring drill program to test someintriguing targets within Lac de Gras, says the company's head, EllenClements. The Monument property, once a favourite of her late husband,George Stewart, saw its biggest drill program so far this year. Thework produced three new kimberlites, and one of the finds suggests NewNadina will have more success next year. Meanwhile, the company and itspartners have sent over 2,200 kilograms of kimberlite off to the labfor diamond recovery.
The plan
Monument has been yielding new kimberlites regularlysince Ms. Clements revived the play as a tribute to her late partner.She started as Mr. Stewart's bookkeeper nearly 30 years ago, andinitially planning to turn the company over to someone else after hedied in 2005. Instead, she kept the top job, figuring she knew best whyMr. Stewart thought the area 40 kilometres southwest of Diavik andEkati could contain an economic deposit. He was not alone in thattheory. New Nadina has two well-known partners, Dr. Stu Blusson and Dr.Chris Jennings.
One of the new kimberlite finds, Trio, providesencouragement for at least two other nearby targets. New Nadina pickedthe name because the drilled target was just one of three similaranomalies in the area, but it could not get to the other two thissummer, as they lie under water.
The untested anomalies undoubtedly intrigue Dr.Jennings, as the former South African has long believed the best pipeslie within Lac de Gras. Since the summer of 2006, he and his wife,Jeanne Jennings, have been paying their 22-per-cent share of the costsout of their own pockets. Dr. Blusson is paying about one-fifth of theexploration costs through his Archon Minerals Ltd.
Ms. Clements said the partners drilled 3,500 metresin 38 holes over a five-week period and the bills are still driftingin. The cost of the program could approach $1-million, although thepartners think the scale of the program allowed them to control thecosts.
That is perhaps more important to Ms. Clements thanto her well-heeled partners, as New Nadina would face dilution if itfails to come up with its share of the budget. So far, the company iskeeping up, and it recently completed another private placement thatfetched just over $750,000.
Nearly one-half of the kimberlite at the lab camefrom the Trio kimberlite, and some good diamond counts would boostinterest in the spring drilling program. The partners will be testingabout 300 kilograms of rock from Sparky, and 350 kilograms of materialfrom Gemini, along with about 200 kilograms from each of Sonja andDD-39. The Genie kimberlite contributed 120 kilograms of rock.
The encouragement
Both Mr. Jennings and Dr. Blusson find encouragementin the diamond distribution patterns exhibited by the previously testedMonument pipes, led by the RIP and DD-17 pipes. The coarse sizedistribution could trump the modest stone tallies, but to prove thepoint, the partners will need larger samples.
Apparently, Dr. Blusson has convinced Ms. Clementsthat a mini-bulk test of at least one body is a worthy next step. NewNadina plans to collect a larger sample next year, once it gets therequired permit. The size of such a test is likely to be between 10 and50 tonnes, given New Nadina's modest treasury, but a larger test willyield a more reliable result.
So far, the Monument partners have tested 4.4 tonnesof kimberlite from RIP and DD-17. The rock contained 44 gems largerthan a 0.85-millimetre sieve. The largest gem weighed 0.45 carat, andthe entire parcel likely weighed nearly two carats, suggesting a samplegrade of about 0.4 carat per tonne. A larger test could improve on theresult.
New Nadina closed up a penny to 21 cents Friday on 10,000 shares.