KIRKLAND LAKE -Timiskaming is
sitting on an under explored rock type that could have great potential.
For years it has been recognized that there
are many showings of lamprophyre in the Kirkland Lake, New Liskeard and
Cobalt areas, but the only real significance given to it was a special
relationship between lamprophyre and gold mineralization.
Gary Grabowski, Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines district geologist, said lamprophyre is very
prolific all over the Canadian Shield, and was recognized in the early
days of the camp.
Traditional thinking, Grabowski said, was
that diamonds were only found in kimberlite, but that thinking started to
change about 20 years ago with the discovery of diamonds in the Argyle
Pipe in Australia, which was in Lamprophite, a cousin of
lamprophyre.
Prior to 1970, diamond exploration
concentrated entirely on kimberlite, because diamond production in South
Africa came solely from pipes. This changed with the Australian discovery
of diamonds in lamproitic rocks and by 1996 diamonds were reported in
lamprophyre dikes in the Wawa area.
The diamond interest in Wawa, started when
prospector Mickey Clement found a diamond while panning for gold. This
resulted in the search for a kimberlite source.
This interest continued when Sandor
Surmacz, who had recognized a diamondiferous lamprophyre dike in the
arctic, noticed similar rocks in Wawa. He then staked ground and found
diamonds.
Grabowski went on a field trip earlier this
year to Wawa and observed that visually the lamprophyre in Wawa is very
similar to lamprophyre in Timiskaming.
To follow up on this observation Grabowski collected
45 samples of lamprophyre from dikes in the Kirkland lake and Cobalt
areas. These samples were then sent to the MNDM lab in Sudbury for
chemical analysis.
This testing revealed that there are
similarities between the lamprophyre in Timiskaming and the diamond
bearing lamprophyre in Wawa,
Because of the similarities an argument can
be made for diamond exploration in this area, said Grabowski.
Another positive for diamond exploration is
the fact that there are diamond bearing kimberlite pipes, and the
lamprophyre dikes are similar to the kimberlite pipes in that they are
found in cross structures to the main structural zone.
As well as the potential for finding
diamonds in lamprophyre dikes, Grabowski said, there is still potential
for finding more kimberlite pipes.
Grabowski reports that many lamprophyre
dikes remain to be samples in the area and that location and descriptions
can be obtained from published OGS-ODM reports.
CANADIAN
MINING NEWS