Notch Kimberlite Processing is Forty Percent Complete – Favourable Commercial-Sized Diamonds Recovered
March 21, 2016 – Vancouver, BC, Canada. – Dunnedin Ventures Inc. (the “Company” or “Dunnedin”) (TSX-V: DVI) reports approximately 40 percent of the 2.4 tonne Notch kimberlite sample collected during the 2015 field program has now been processed. To date, 278 diamonds (+0.425 mm) including 36 commercial-sized stones (+0.85 mm) have been recovered. Preliminary results are provided in the table below.
Weight in Dry Tonnes | Total Number of Diamonds Recovered (+0.425 mm) | Total Carat Weight (+0.85 mm) | Endecott Sieve Size (mm) | ||||||||
0.425 | 0.60 | 0.85 | 1.18 | 1.70 | 2.36 | 3.35 | 4.75 | Largest Diamonds (carats) | |||
1.02 | 278 | 0.66 | 175 | 67 | 26 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.10, 0.08, 0.05 |
Table 1: Diamonds recovered to date from the Notch sample.
Figure 1: Diamonds recovered between 0.85 mm and 1.18 mm.
“Early results from Notch confirm an attractive diamond population with most stones being clear and colourless variants of octahedra,” said Chris Taylor, Dunnedin’s CEO, “While we look forward to finishing this sample, we have requested that the lab immediately process till samples collected in 2015. We will then compare indicator mineral chemistry from tills with both PST and Notch to guide our upcoming work. The remaining 1.4 tonnes of Notch kimberlite, plus additional kimberlite from PST and other targets will be processed after completion of the till samples.”
Over 22 tonnes of kimberlite from Notch were historically processed for diamond recovery. Commercial-sized diamond counts (+0.85 mm) are higher in the current sample than expected from historical reports, however the current sample size is insufficient to characterize the body as a whole, and preliminary results from Notch do not constitute either a deposit grade or a completed sample grade.
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.
About the Notch Kimberlite
- Vertical diamondiferous kimberlite dike that is exposed at surface; historical and current samples were taken within metres of each other
- Defines the southern portion of an approximately 25 km long kimberlite-intruded structure, as supported by drilling and interpreted from geophysical extensions from drilled areas; the structure also hosts the Kahuna dike and is visible on satellite images as a recessive erosional feature
- The Notch/Kahuna structure contains kimberlite at all locations where drilled, however only 7 km of this feature have sufficient drill density to define Inferred Mineral Resources at Notch and Kahuna, and diamond content of kimberlite can vary along strike
- Dunnedin published a NI 43-101 compliant Inferred Resource for Notch of approximately 829,000 carats of diamonds at a grade of 0.90 carats per tonne (+0.85 mm), from 921,000 tonnes of rock. The resource was based on shallow drilling of typically less than 80 m depth across 2.6 km of strike (see Dunnedin news release of January 26, 2015), and remains open along strike and at depth
- Target for Future Exploration (“TFFE”) completed by APEX of an additional approximately one to four million carats of diamonds at Notch based on a range of potential grades and depths (see Dunnedin news release of March 31, 2015)
- Width is about 1.5 metres where exposed; generally varies from approximately 1 – 2 metres in true thickness where drilled
- One of several diamondiferous kimberlites discovered thus far within 2 km of Notch, including Killiq, 07-KD-24, and PST. 07-KD-24 is notable for having historically recovered 305 diamonds including 7 macrodiamonds (+0.85 mm) from a 2.2 kg (0.0022 tonne) drill core sample
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. Chris Taylor, M.Sc., P.Geo, CEO at 604 681 0084.
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 in summer 2015. 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 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).
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