Diamond Fields International Ltd. has made the first discovery of kimberlite on its 1,095-square-kilometre Grand Cape exploration licence in western Liberia. Based on recovery of G10 garnets and high-kimberlitic ilmenite counts from samples taken in closed drainages, reconnaissance stream sediment sampling on the Grand Cape property has so far located 10 high-priority targets for detailed follow-up with about 45 per cent of the property covered by reconnaissance sampling so far. A sampling grid measuring one kilometre by one kilometre was established over a swampy depression suggesting the structure of a pipe of about three hectares in size from which G10 garnets had been recovered.
Further exploration by the company’s geologists led to the discovery of an outcrop of suspected kimberlite on the margin of the swampy ground. The discovery of kimberlite was confirmed by mineralogist Sophia Napier of Nexo Labs in South Africa. A second nearby grid was sampled resulting in the identification of a nearly continuous three-kilometre trend of kimberlite indicator minerals suggesting a source which is probably a dike or series of subparallel dikes of as yet unknown widths. Samples from both grids arrived in the lab just before Christmas and DFI anticipates further results by mid-January. Follow-up work on these grids is planned to include ground geophysics and drilling.
Gold prospects
Also on the Grand Cape property the Henry Town gold showings, which have returned visible gold in reconnaissance sampling, are now the target of artisanal miners recovering coarse gold from the weathered regolith which is up to 15-metre-thick in this area. DFI’s geologists will continue to explore what appears to be a shear-hosted gold system with reconnaissance soil, grid and trench sampling. The objective is to develop drill targets as soon as possible to test the grade and dimensions of this mineralization.
The Barteajam artisanal workings on the 718-square-kilometre Grand Gedeh property in central Liberia have been continuously active since 1945. Located east of the Cestos shear zone, a crustal-level feature extending into Mali and host to numerous gold deposits including the Syama mine, the Grand Gedeh property has the potential to host a multimillion-ounce gold deposit based on the extent of artisanal working to date. Initial results from DFI’s work on the first detailed sampling grid of 100-metre-spaced lines with samples at 50 metres along the lines has so far shown a semi-continuous 1.6-kilometre-long gold anomaly in soils. Sample processing is continuing as is the work in the field. This target area is extensive, covering an area of more than five square kilometres. The property also requires reconnaissance sampling as the Barteajam area covers less than 1 per cent of the total concession area. Initial reconnaissance sampling work has already recovered visible gold in samples from the northwest corner of the property, closer to the Cestos shear.
Diamond Fields’ exploration team comprises geologists seconded from the Liberia Department of Minerals and Energy. The stream sediment samples were jigged in the field to create approximately one kilogram of heavy mineral concentrate and picked by Sophie Napier, a mineralogist with more than 10 years of industry experience at Nexo Labs of Kyalami, South Africa (ISO-14001 accreditation has been applied for), and probed at the analytical facility of the University of Johannesburg (a merger between Rand Afrikans University and Wits University). The results of the stream sediment sampling program 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.
