RE:RE:Viljoenshof Diamond Project South Africa Diamonds = CACA - thanks to stockwatch .... Look up Mountain province or lucra if you want some motivation.
One of those is Chuck Fipke and Chad Ulansky's Metalex Ventures Ltd. (MTX), although the company is more of a hybrid these days, having morphed its James Bay diamond project into a scandium project. Nevertheless, the dogged Mr. Fipke, Metalex's founder and chairman, and his long-time fellow traveller, Mr. Ulansky, Metalex's chief executive officer, still carry their all but dormant Kyle Lake diamond project in Northern Ontario and the stalled Viljoenshof project in South Africa on the company's books.
The latter of those projects is the most recent acquisition and is arguably the most promising -- at least if the diamond sector should ever rebound. Four years ago, Metalex agreed to acquire a 70-per-cent interest in the Viljoenshof project through a four-stage effort. First, Metalex agreed to spend about $20,000 to convert the underlying prospecting licence to a mining lease. While the spending is complete -- Metalex shelled out about $24,000 -- the converting is not, and the company now sighs that the "process has not been completed" and the application for the mining right "is still under way."
Once the conversion occurs, Metalex would have a 20-per-cent interest, and it can boost its share by a further 15 per cent by completing an airborne geophysical survey and testing known kimberlites and new targets. Completing that rather vague requirement and paying $10,000 (U.S.) to the owner -- the payment has already been made according to Mr. Ulansky and his crew -- would increase Metalex's interest to 35 per cent.
A third stage would then kick in. Metalex can earn another 16-per-cent share by drilling a dozen holes to test kimberlite targets deemed to show economic potential. That, and yet another $10,000 (U.S.) payment -- one not yet made -- brings Metalex to 51 per cent and to the fourth but apparently-not-so-final stage. Metalex gets another 10-per-cent interest by bulk sampling one of the kimberlites and making a heftier, $100,000 (U.S.) payment.
After the four stages, Metalex would hold a 61-per-cent interest in Viljoenshof, still shy of the final tally. Finally -- curiously Metalex does not deem this to be a fifth stage -- the company gets the last 9 per cent by completing a feasibility study. Upon making a positive construction decision, the company will issue a final $100,000 (U.S.) payment to the current owner.
Mr. Fipke and Mr. Ulansky say little these days about their underlying enthusiasm for the project, although when pressed -- or when investors peruse the company's website -- one is regaled with tales of the area having long been a prominent producer of diamonds, yet with the property remaining underexplored over the past 60 years. (When last worked in a meaningful way by De Beers in the 1960s, explorers knew little about indicator minerals, so De Beers was looking for large kimberlites.)
Now, enthuse Mr. Fipke and Mr. Ulansky, "recent sampling has demonstrated that the project contains exceptional diamond indicator minerals." Those minerals, they cheer, have compositions consistent with similar minerals recovered from high-grade diamond mines. Better yet, several kimberlites have been located on the project, although with their dimensions uncertain. And so, Metalex says that drilling of these bodies to determine their size and diamond distribution will be the first work completed -- once that pesky conversion to a mining lease is complete, that is. Metalex closed unchanged at 2.5 cents on 118,000 shares today.