Division Road - Beautiful but Treacherous
Photo by Shirley Collingridge
Division Road - Beautiful but Treacherous
Photo by Shirley Collingridge
As the sandy sea known as "Division Road" spills into a clearing Project Manager Adrian Berryman steps out to greet us, eager to show off his site. Shared among De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. (42.25%), Kensington Resources Ltd. (42.25%), UEM Inc. (carried 10%) and Cameco Corporation (5.5%), the Project's kimberlite bodies form one of the largest diamondiferous clusters in the world.
Berryman, pointing to rows of core samples, "That green stuff's kimberlite and that's what holds the diamonds in this area. We're just drilling through these sediments to find out . . . if the kimberlite extends any further and . . . what was going on when [it] first was emplaced or blew out onto the surface."
The current targets are large diameter drill holes in the 140/141 kimberlite body, which brought good results last year. "We've discovered sample grades of about 16 carats per 100 tonnes which, for Fort à la Corne, is quite reasonable," said Berryman. "It's lower grade than . . . the Northwest Territories but we generally have much more of it."
The material can be challenging to access. "We have to remove at least 100 metres of overburden before you can get to the interesting stuff," said Berryman, adding, "The economics . . . depend not just on the grade and the value of the stones, but also on how much of it there is. We've got a ballpark figure in terms of what this is worth - dollars per tonne, so we roughly know . . . what we'll get. If it's big enough then we'll put some bigger holes in and get a better feel for the diamond value and the grade. But if it's not, we would have to re-evaluate our strategy. We'll find out fairly quickly this year."
"We've got three others that we're starting work on, with a view to doing more work next year," said Berryman. "There are 63 kimberlites on the field, so there's no shortage."
"Some of this material might be sectioned and sent off to microdiamond work to give us a better feel for the overall grade of this particular kimberlite unit. We'll get a geological model at the end of the day for those other three kimberlites we've been looking at," he said. Then a big rig will make two or three foot diameter holes "- big ones - so we can rip out a lot of material and test that for the [macrodiamonds]," he added.
In the process, says Berryman, the company wants to leave as small an environmental footprint as possible. Fuel sites are containerized in oil-resistant linings to catch potential leaks. The camp is situated directly atop the kimberlite, as directed by Sask Environment.
"Everything we do is cleared by Sask Environment," said Berryman. "Mostly we try to use existing logging tracks. There are enough of them around so that the amount of construction we do is quite minimal."
"I think [Division Road] was put in by Sask Environment. It's probably been there for over 80 years. The forest . . . is managed by SERM but to some extent, when we come in we must upgrade the roads," he said.
"The drill is currently located within the 1975 Henderson Burn, so part of the bush has been cleared out by fire," said Berryman, pointing to one of the rare holes where they had to pull out timber. When that happens, "We clean it up and we send it to the mill," he said. "We take a big loss doing it, but it's not a problem."
Roads are shared with loggers. Rounding one of several blind corners, Berryman warns, "If you don't drive slowly, you're likely to wind up bug dust under truck tires. This radio is on the frequency of the logging trucks so it gives us a sporting chance."
Around the bend is an open area drilled in 2000; in 2001, it served as a lay-down area. "In 2002, we brought in a big rig," said Berryman, "drilled three 36-inch diameter holes to pull as many diamonds out of the kimberlite as we could, to get a feel for diamond value. We pulled out about 700 tonnes from these three drill holes - about 50 carats."
Those drill holes now resemble mini-sand dunes with sticks poking out the top. To prevent caving, large diameter holes are monitored, piled with sand, the topsoil dragged back into place and stabilized with vegetation.
Berryman, an Australian, is in awe of the local vegetation - blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and Saskatoons. "I couldn't think of a better life than being a bear up here in Fort à la Corne forest," he said.
The company is committed to preserving the environment for all those berries and bears. Drilling is chemical-free. Water, environmentally-friendly clays and drill bits are the Project's main tools. "De Beers is ISO 14000 accredited so we have an environmental management system in place," said Berryman, adding that the camp will be audited, "We have to be doing things right."
At about 250 hectares, the area is massive. "Most of the kimberlites on the Ekati diamond mine are less than five hectares," said Berryman. "This is, if not the biggest, one of the biggest diamond kimberlites in the world. It's huge. In terms of tonnage [this] means . . . you can mine something of a much lower grade because you're pushing so much material through a mill. It takes a lot of work, a lot of money, and a lot of drill holes."
The company brought in geophysicists to remove some of the guesswork. "If we can map it using geophysical techniques," said Berryman, "then we can save a lot of money. Our drill holes are expensive - about 20 thousand dollars plus, for the little ones. Those big 24's or the 36's are 200 thousand plus. You don't really want to make a mistake and put a 200 thousand dollar hole in the wrong spot."
At the drill site, the mud mixer prepares Bentonite to lubricate the bit and hold the hole open. "It sticks to the walls of the borehole and keeps everything in place - stops it from caving," said Berryman.
One rig is currently operating, with two more planned. "Each rig could do about one or two holes every week. We've got 45 holes to drill so if we don't get the three rigs we'll need the woolies on by the time we finish. As it is, with three rigs we'll probably be finished near the end of November."
When the core barrel comes up sandy, Berryman makes the call to move the rig to a safer spot. "Sand tends to clog up and pack on the bit and on the rod, so we're getting close to the point where it may be a little too risky to keep drilling. We already know we're out of the kimberlite but this is just to see what it was like, under the kimberlite. There's no point getting everything stuck just for that. We'll move across the road there where we've got a big site."
Much depends on chance. "The diamonds are randomly distributed throughout the kimberlite so you can drill a huge hole . . . and get nothing at all," said Berryman, "and you can drill a tiny little hole right next to it and . . . find a nice stone sticking out of it. There is an awful lot of rock between the diamonds in this kimberlite."
Successful or not, the diamond hunt is good for provincial coffers. "We're employing local Aboriginals from James Smith," said Berryman. "The rig and the personnel are all local. Even if we find nothing, we've helped the local economy with our services. That's not our purpose, but that's a fringe benefit."
The joint venture has "22,000 hectares under claim already, and 63 of these kimberlites to look at," said Berryman. "[In] the mineral industry, what isn't economical today might be economical tomorrow, so just because one can't make the grade and the value isn't good enough today doesn't mean it won't be economical tomorrow."
Nor does putting a project on hold mean the joint venture loses its investment. "In Saskatchewan, you have to spend money to keep the claims in good standing so the joint venture will have to keep spending money to keep the drilling rights," said Berryman. "Some of the claims . . . are protected for 20 years because of the amount of money we've spent on them. But others are coming up in seven or eight years. If we lose them, [that] is as it should be because if we're not spending money maybe there's another company who will . . . which is again good for Saskatchewan."
The operation runs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, for "two or three months, depending on how long it takes," said Berryman. "We run until we're done. Freeze-up slows us down and it makes it more costly to drill, but we can still operate."
The Project is located just 50 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert which allows activities to continue year round. The push is on to finish drilling so the company can review the results by early April, determine what worked and where to focus, and start putting in the big holes.
De Beers manages and operates the Project. A local company, T and J Enterprises, will perform the decommissioning at the project's end. For more information about De Beers, visit www.debeerscanada.com . For more information on Kensington Resources Ltd. and Cameco Corporation, visit Kensington Resources and Cameco Corporation.