Mtn.Province Diamonds Completes Kennady Lake Winter Drilling

摘要

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc., Ontario, CA has notified De Beers Canada Exploration Inc., its joint venture partner and a wholly-owned subsidiary of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., that the planned winter 2001 bulk sample program has been completed at the Hearne and 5034 kimberlite pipes at the Kennady Lake diamond mine in the Lac de Gras region of Alberta, Canada, 115 km southeast of the producing Ekati diamond mine of Dia Met Minerals Ltd.A crew of ice engineers was mobilized to the camp in December to thicken the drill pads, which required 95 inches of ice to support the large drills. Several pads were ready by mid-February but the unseasonably warm winter in the Northwest Territories resulted in the ice road from Yellowknife via Lac de Gras to Lupin being opened about two weeks later than planned. This delayed the transport of the drill to Kennady Lake and as a result the drilling began in about mid-March. A drill with a diameter of 24 in., compared to 12-in. Drills used in the 1999 sampling program was used to drill to depths of up to 250 meters. The drill method was a flood reverse system that is both"diamond friendly"and on average produces larger chips of kimberlite than in the 1999 program.