Tres-Or Resources recovers 10 microdiamonds at Guigues, Quebec

Tres-Or Resources Ltd. [TRS-TSXV; TRSFF-OTC] reported the first recovery of microdiamonds from the 100%-owned Guigues kimberlite pipe in the Notre Dame du Nord area of western Quebec, using modern microdiamond methods at the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratories Diamond Services (SRC).

A total of 10 microdiamonds were recovered by SRC from 207 kgs of Guigues kimberlite drill core, with the largest microdiamond remaining on a +300 micron (0.300 mm) square mesh screen.

Eight of the 10 microdiamonds are described by SRC as “White/Colourless, Transparent” and no or minor inclusions.

Three additional samples of approximately the same sizes but from distant parts of the Guigues pipe are currently being processed for microdiamond content at SRC with results to be announced upon completion.

The Guigues Kimberlite pipe became a high-priority diamond exploration target for Tres-Or due to its substantial size (5 to 7 hectares), excellent local infrastructure, and most importantly highly encouraging indicator mineral chemistry similar to De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine to the north in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. Now, with recovery of microdiamonds from Guigues, Tres-Or believes it has established another important similarity between Guigues and Victor Mine diamonds

Furthermore, microdiamonds in the range of 1 per 20 kg may also point to potential in the case of Guigues. For comparison, the U2 kimberlite near Victor reportedly yielded 127 diamonds >0.106 mm from 3,821 kg processed for a ratio of ~1 per 30 kg, and U2 is said to be similar to Victor, which is reported to have a “paucity of microdiamonds”, requiring larger than usual samples to model potential grades (Fowler et al., 2002).

In addition to the microdiamond tests from SRC, Tres-Or reported on new microprobe results from three samples of Guigues drill core sent to C.F. Mineral Research in Kelowna, B.C. The analyzed indicator minerals include eclogite and pyropes garnets, chromite, chrome diopside, picroilmenite, and olivine recovered from different parts of the pipe. The new microprobe results support Tres-Or’s previous interpretation of a mantle indicator mineral signature comparable to the Victor kimberlite, especially in regards to having numerous eclogitic and lherzolitic garnets with compositions similar to diamond inclusions at Victor. C.F. Minerals also examined sample residues for microdiamonds, recovering 5 natural stones, all less than 106 microns in size.