Brixton Metals is an explorer in cobalt, nickel and silver, but late this summer (2018) they discovered a new kimberlite diamond project and have recently released kimberlite intersections on numerous drillholes.
This is the news release they provided -- 2018-11-29
Here are some excerpts:
Expansion:
"The new drilling seems to expand the kimberlitic body to a minimum 20 hectares in size."
Infrastructure:
"The kimberlite intersections are located on patented land, road accessible, and near power, rail and local infrastructure."
Here is a cross section of the kimberlite intersections with some theoretical horizontal layers.
Interpretation:
On the initial 2 kimberlite intersections, my initial thought was to lean to a rather thin single sheet of kimberlite. After the gravity survey, there was a chance of a nice 10+ hectare traditional pipe. Now it looks like neither are true and there is some other method of emplacement of the kimberlite. The current thought is that a feeder pipe (or pipes) came up to surface and then (following the path of least resistance) found some horizontal structures that were weakened and fed directly into those. More drilling is required to confirm this type of theory as there are a lot of question marks in the image above. The good news is the highest layer has reasonable thickness in the magnitude of 20 to 70 metres and is near surface with not too much overburden. This is definitely mineable for an open pit as compared to a thin single sheet. There will need to be a bit more dilution added to any analysis as compared to a traditional kimberlite pipe.
Here is a plan view of the drilling.
Interpretation:
This absolutely confirms the gravity survey was well worth the money as the near surface intersections of kimberlite is spread out among the area. The target area has now been raised to 20 hectares in size and may increase with further drillholes. The expanse of the kimberlite at depth will need some more drilling to confirm as the gravity survey will only be reflective of near surface difference in densities and less reflective of material deeper into the earth. The key point is that future gravity or magnetic surveys are probably unnecessary and the drill bit will obtain valuable information.
Here is a view of some of the core log.
Interpretation:
That are a lot of different kimberlite textures in the core. One has to ask if there are multiple emplacements of kimberlite, multiple events. An ancient volcano will follow the path of least resistance to surface. A subsequent ancient volcano is likely to follow a similar path and that might be what we are seeing.
That diamond fragment found earlier is still very key as it implies that the magma deep into the earth made diamonds a couple of billion years ago and each eruption will be able to source this material even if those eruptions are a good chunk of time apart.
The future:
Caustic results of these varying kimberlite textures will go along way to figuring out if there is any hope of economics on this project. Close to infrastructure, near surface, now they just need to find some economic diamonds. It looks like the company is more then willing to let someone else spend $$'s on this project in exchange for an earn-in. There are probably a few companies interested. Most of these companies are probably more then happy to let Brixton pay for and release some caustic results before attempting to buy into the project.
