Shore revisits Orion Centre
News Desk
by Will Purcell
Shore Gold Inc. is wrapping up core logging at Orion Centre that
should allow the diamond explorer to figure out the potential tonnages
in the third Orion kimberlite cluster using its standard kimberlite
classifications. The company also plans to relog drill cores obtained
in earlier programs along a line of pipes just west of the Orion
cluster. Orion Centre is a likely candidate for mini-bulk testing over
the next year or two and some key pipes along the western line could
factor in the company's plans in future years.
The plan
Shore's senior vice-president, George Read, said that relogging the
drill cores would also allow the company to apply the earlier diamond
recovery results to specific kimberlite units. That work could show
the company which of the kimberlite phases offer the best diamond
potential. Mr. Read said the core reassessment "was not done in a
twinkling of an eye," as Shore's system of classification requires a
high standard of logging.
Nothing Shore is doing these days happens quickly, much to the chagrin
of shareholders who are watching their stock slip well below the
exuberant high of $8.75 set just three months ago. Mr. Read
acknowledged the unhappy shareholders but said Shore was "doing a
phenomenal amount of work in a short period of time." As a result,
delays are to be expected.
In fact, Shore is bearing the bulk of costs incurred in two huge
exploration programs. The Star project carries a $60-million budget,
and the work planned on Orion and the other joint venture pipes will
cost a comparable amount. In all, Shore Gold and Newmont Mining Corp.
of Canada Ltd. will be spending about $125-million on the Saskatchewan
diamond hunt in less than two years. "This is the largest exploration
program on the planet," said Mr. Read.
Disgruntled investors are awaiting word of the diamond recoveries in
the third bulk sample at Star from the remaining 11 large diameter
drill holes at Orion North, as well as four new large diameter holes
completed at Orion South and from the remaining big holes completed
into the Star pipe.
Much of the processing is complete, but investors will still need
patience, as Mr. Read said diamonds could not be picked in a hurry.
Even with the slow pace, Shore believes it will keep to its
prefeasibility schedule at Star, having the study wrapped up by the
end of the year, despite having diverted the big Bauer rigs to the
Orion pipes on occasion.
The encouragement
Orion South remains the key joint venture pipe, especially after the
first nine large diameter drill holes into Orion North were apparent
flops. Shore apparently deems Orion Centre as needing a look primarily
because of its location, as the earlier results were unimpressive.
The most recent crude estimate pegged Orion North at about 100
hectares, with the potential to hold about 180 million tonnes of
kimberlite. The central body contains two kimberlites. The southern
one, No. 145, commences just northwest of Orion South, and the
northern pipe, No. 219, adjoins the southeastern end of Orion North.
As a result, if Shore has a mine at either end of the Orion cluster,
it would probably have to treat the Orion Centre rock as either waste
or ore.
The former might seem more likely, based on the earlier results.
Shore's most recent diamond counts from Orion Centre fell short of the
result elsewhere and earlier mini-bulk tests completed by De Beers
Canada Inc. yielded modest results at best. Still, the results of the
company's relogging and diamond correlation exercise could highlight
any richer regions within the big kimberlite, and that would
necessitate some new mini-bulk tests.