Diamond Fields International Ltd. has released geochemical sampling results from initial reconnaissance work on a gold property adjacent to the Cestos shear zone in central Liberia and additional stream sediment sample results from the Grand Cape diamond prospect in western Liberia. Positive results of soil samples collected over artisanal surface workings in the Barteajan area on the Grand Gedeh property include visible gold seen in five concentrates, a value of 17.7 grams per tonne gold in one sample and more than one gram per tonne gold in two other samples. Highlights of the Grand Cape diamond project include identification of a further 117 kimberlitic garnets and 606 kimberlitic ilmenites in stream sediment samples, of which nine G10 garnets were identified by microprobe analysis.
Grand Gedeh gold exploration
The Grand Gedeh property is underlain by predominantly Archean-aged rocks of the Guinea shield interpreted to include greenstone remnants within an extensive granitic and gneissic shield-type terrane. The 718-square-kilometre property includes the extensive Barteajan workings, an alluvial site that has reportedly been active for over 70 years. Diamond Fields may earn a 70-per-cent interest in the Grand Gedeh property from Liberian-based Ducor Minerals Inc.
Thirty-nine soil and three stream sediment samples have so far been collected adjacent to areas with evidence of artisinal digging. The Barteajan area produced a 17.7-gram-per-tonne Au anomaly and two samples that graded greater that one gram per tonne Au. Five samples had visible gold in field concentrates and a further 26 samples were anomalous, with Au averaging 0.2 gram per tonne within a five-kilometre-by-one-kilometre envelope open in all directions. Initial exploration work included soil sampling over areas where artisanal workings occur. Further work will include grid sampling to better define the trend of mineralization and its strike extent. Regionally, additional soil sampling and stream sediment sampling will be continued to evaluate the untested areas of the concession. The bedrock target is anticipated to be shear-zone-hosted quartz veins.
Grand Cape diamond exploration
The remaining three stream sediment samples from the Camp Alpha prospect on the Grand Cape property (first announced in the company’s Feb. 1, 2005, news release in Stockwatch) have been processed. Kimberlitic indicator counts from those three samples include 117 kimberlitic garnets and 606 kimberlitic ilmenites. In addition to the G10D garnet reported earlier, probing of 50 of these additional garnets produced nine microprobe-confirmed G10 garnets. Of these, one plot in the high-interest G10D diamond stability field and another two are calculated to be G10D garnets when compositions are adjusted for MnO content (after Grutter, Guerney et al., 2004).
Ilmenite compositions continue to build on initial indications, suggesting two source kimberlite bodies. An additional 606 ilmenites have been visually identified as kimberlitic, with none of the three samples being picked to completion. Of these, a further 20 per sample have been probed and all but three have been confirmed to be kimberlitic. The ilmenite plot also indicates a good diamond preservation potential for the source kimberlites. To view these plots, visit http://www.diamondfields.com/i/misc/dfi-feb082005-1.gif.
A single chrome diopside has been recovered so far. The MgO and Cr2O3 content of this grain plot it in the world diamond inclusion field of Fipke et al., 1995.
Further work on the Camp Alpha prospect will include completion of reconnaissance stream sediment sampling and collection of loam samples on a grid over the indicated source terrain between the two drainages sampled to date. Regional exploration on the Grand Cape property is also continuing.
Diamond Fields’ exploration team is composed of Liberian geologists seconded from the Department of Minerals and Energy. Stream sediment samples for diamond indicator minerals were jigged in the field to create approximately one kilogram of heavy mineral concentrate, sent to Nexo Labs of Kyalami, South Africa (ISO14001 accreditation has been applied for) and picked by Sophie Napier, a mineralogist with more than 10 years of industry experience. Indicator minerals were then microprobed at the analytical facility of the University of Johannesburg (a merger between Rand Afrikans University and Wits University). Stream sediment and soil samples for gold are screened to remove oversize material, dried and shipped to the Anglo American Research Laboratory in Johannesburg, where they are pulverized and analyzed via ICP and fire assay with a gold detection limit of 20 parts per billion. The results of the sampling programs have been reviewed, verified (including sampling, analytical and test data) and compiled by the Diamond Fields’ geological staff supervised by Randal Cullen, PGeol, a qualified person as indicated under National Instrument 43-101.
