Notch Kimberlite Yields Additional High Quality Commerical-Sized Diamonds
January 18, 2017 – Vancouver, BC, Canada. – Dunnedin Ventures Inc. (the “Company” or “Dunnedin”) (TSX-V: DVI) is pleased to report additional diamond recoveries from the Notch kimberlite. A third, 43.78 kg sample of Notch returned 4 commercial-sized stones (+0.85 mm) totalling 0.43 carats, for a sample grade of 9.72 carats per tonne. The largest recovered diamond was a 0.16 carat clear and colourless elongated octahedron. Results are provided in the table below along with Dunnedin’s previous results, and an image of the largest diamond.
Table 1: Diamonds recovered from the Notch kimberlite
Sample | Weight in Dry Tonnes | TotalNumber of Diamonds Recovered (+0.425 mm) | Total CaratWeight (+0.85 mm) | Endecott Sieve Size (mm) | |||||||
0.425 | 0.60 | 0.85 | 1.18 | 1.70 | 2.36 | Sample Grade(cpt) | Largest Diamonds(carats) | ||||
Notch 1 | 1.02 | 278 | 0.66 | 175 | 67 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0.65 | 0.10, 0.08, 0.05 |
Notch 2 | 1.30 | 318 | 1.29 | 179 | 90 | 33 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0.99 | 0.23, 0.17, 0.09 |
Notch 3 | 0.04 | 9 | 0.43 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9.72 | 0.16, 0.08, 0.01 |
TOTAL | 2.36 | 605 | 2.38 | 359 | 157 | 61 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 1.01 | – |
Figure 1: Image of the largest diamond recovered from the third Notch sample.
Chris Taylor, Dunnedin’s CEO, said, “Dunnedin has three main diamond exploration goals for 2017. First, we aim to define 10 million carats of Inferred Resource at an average grade of more than 1.0 carat per tonne through additional drilling of the Kahuna and Notch kimberlites. Second, we plan to bulk sample the Kahuna, Notch and PST kimberlites to assemble a package of commercial sized diamonds for valuation purposes. Third, we plan to drill a number of new diamond indicator mineral sources that have been identified through till analysis which may represent new diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes and dikes.”
Current Notch results are from a sample randomly partitioned for additional geochemical study, which was visually similar to other samples of Notch, despite the very high sample grade. Most of the Notch diamonds recovered by Dunnedin are clear and colourless variants of octahedra. The Notch sample was treated through an autogenous mill-fusion circuit located at CF Mineral Research Ltd. of Kelowna, British Columbia, using a lower size cut-off of 0.425 mm. Unlike standard DMS recovery methods, the circuit can recover nearly all diamonds present in a kimberlite to the predetermined cut-off size, along with associated indicator minerals.
The Company has also granted an aggregate of 1,260,000 stock options to directors, advisors and consultants of the Company, exercisable at $0.21 per share for a period of five years.
Mr. R. Bob Singh, P.Geo, Exploration Manager, is the qualified person responsible for the technical content of this news release.
For further information please contact Mr. Knox Henderson, Investor Relations, at 604-551-2360.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Dunnedin Ventures Inc.
Chris Taylor
Chief Executive Officer
About the Kahuna Project
Kahuna is an advanced stage high grade diamond project located near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Dunnedin is now recovering diamonds and indicator minerals from a series of kimberlite and till samples collected during two seasons of field work. An Inferred Resource released by Dunnedin showed over 4 million carats of macrodiamonds (+0.85 mm) at a grade of 1.01 carats per tonne had been defined along the partial strike length of the Kahuna and Notch kimberlite dikes through shallow drilling. The largest diamond recovered was a 5.43 carat stone from the Kahuna dike which was a piece of a larger diamond that had been broken during the sample preparation process and was reconstructed as having an original size of 13.42 carats. Recent results include a 0.82 tonne sample of the PST kimberlite dike which returned 96 macrodiamonds totalling 5.34 carats (+0.85 mm) and a 2.36 tonne sample of the Notch kimberlite which returned 89 macrodiamonds totalling 2.38 carats (+0.85 mm). The Kahuna project is located adjacent to the development-stage Meliadine gold project of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd and also hosts gold mineralization in metasedimentary units.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “expects” and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company’s future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.