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Next Diamond Exploration 'Hot Spot' Already Heating Up

By Marc Davis, Managing Editor
October/November 2002

One of the most fertile Canadian hunting grounds for diamonds that has yet to show up on investors' radar screens is northern Ontario's Attawapiskat region. That's about to change.

Located in the James Bay Lowlands, this isolated, sparsely-populated area has to date revealed a cluster of 18 kimberlite pipes, of which 16 are diamondiferous. (Kimberlites are the large cone-shaped rock structures where diamonds are typically found). All of these pipes have been found by De Beers Canada Exploration Inc. And the relative lack of news flow to come from the De Beers camp is typical of the notoriously secretive global diamond marketing cartel. However, De Beers hasn't been able to hide the fact that one of its discoveries, the Victor twin-pipe (two pipes that coalesce at the surface), may be a diamond mine in the making. A multi-million dollar pre-feasibility study is underway this year to determine if this large diamond deposit is rich enough to make the grade. But as De Beers abandoned its public listing in 2001 to revert back to being a very private company, investors won't be able to profit directly from any future ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Instead, investors will have to follow the fortunes of the tiny handful of publicly-traded junior exploration companies in the area. Among them is Metalex Ventures Ltd. (TSX-MTX). As mentioned in my September article, Metalex is a very serious player. It is run by the Bill Gates of Canada's diamond exploration industry, Dr. Chuck Fipke. A decade ago, in a gripping rags-to-riches saga, he defied staggering odds to discover Canada's first-ever multi-billion dollar diamond deposit. Fipke is a real-life Indiana Jones figure whose dogged determination in the quest for buried mineral treasures in many of the world's most inhospitable environments is the stuff of folklore. And he is now regarded by many as the world's pre-eminent diamond hunter.

For three years now he has been using new ground-breaking exploration techniques in the field of geochemistry (his specialty) to zero-in on possible drill targets in the Attawapiskat region. In diamond hunting, geochemistry involves the scouring of hundreds of acres of terrain for tiny diamond-indicating minerals. The closer one is to a diamond deposit, the more concentrated these colorful, glass-like stones become. This methodology (which is far more complicated than it sounds) was the key to Fipke finding the $2.5 billion dollar buried treasure that is now the Ekati Diamond Mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.

This time around Fipke is confident that the Attawapiskat region holds as much promise as the site in the frozen tundra where he made his initial epic discovery. His company Metalex and its joint venture partner Arctic Star Diamond Corp. (TSX-ADD) have to date spent $600,000 each on exploring Attawapiskat. (Metalex holds an 80 per cent stake in the venture while Arctic Star has a 20 per cent interest). By correlating the geochemistry findings with geophysical anomalies, Fipke has already identified a number of compelling drill targets. Geophysics is a science that allows explorationists to 'see' geological features beneath the earth's surface. Kimberlite structures typically show up on geophysical surveys like knots on a sheet of wood.

Having spent $1.2 million to date (a lot of money for junior companies), Metalex and Arctic Star have clearly demonstrated that they mean business. And it is believed that a further $2 million is earmarked for the next exploration phase, which strongly suggests that they are hot on the trail of something very significant. Accordingly, this upcoming program will almost certainly include the drilling of top-priority kimberlite targets. Thus, the upside for the thinly-traded Metalex and the more liquid (and much cheaper) Arctic Star could prove to be very impressive as events unfold.