Dr. Fipke Suggests Metalex and Arctic Star Are Zeroing-In On
High-Grade Diamond Pipes

By Marc Davis, Managing Editor
November, 2003

"If Mr. Fipke has found a decent sized diamondiferous pipe within the main Attawapiskat area that is largely blind to airborne magnetic surveys, it would have staggering implications for the region."

This bold statement was made by renowned diamond exploration expert and newsletter writer John Kaiser in late September. It proved to be a compelling insight only four weeks prior to the October 23 announcement that the joint venture partners Arctic Star Diamond Corp. (TSX.V-ADD) and Metalex Ventures Ltd. (TSX.V-MTX) had struck kimberlite on their expansive James Bay area Ontario property.

This milestone announcement could not have come a moment too soon for shareholders of both companies after seeing Metalex's famed chairman, Dr. Chuck Fipke, spend over Cdn. $6 million on the Attawapiskat diamond project during the last two years. During that time, his exploration efforts were so shrouded in secrecy that anxious investors saw Dr. Fipke measure out meaningful news releases about as often as Christmas comes around. But now that Metalex and Arctic Star have apparently staked what they believe to be all of the most geologically prospective ground in Attawapiskat, Dr. Fipke has been a little more forthcoming as of recently. At the Metalex annual general meeting in Toronto on October 30, he stood before a gathering of about 100 investors and enthusiastically elaborated a little on the breakthrough developments that gave rise to the initial kimberlite discovery.

First of all, the pipe itself was intersected beneath five metres of overburden by an auger drill rig that Metalex and Arctic Star used to grid sample an area where traditional airborne magnetic surveying techniques had proven unsuccessful in finding anomalous kimberlite targets. A similar kimberlite prospect in an area underlain by abundant indicator minerals was also announced just prior to the Metalex AGM. Both of these prospects are associated with five important indicator mineral trains that Dr. Fipke has discovered which he proclaims offer "exceptional diamond inclusion compositions typically present in kimberlites with substantial grades."

Whether or not the one proven kimberlite pipe and the other likely contender are in fact the end of the rainbow for any of these tantalizing mineral trains remains to be seen. Dr. Fipke was coy on this point at the AGM. In true Fipke style, he is almost certainly keeping an ace card up his sleeve. And that probably concerns his specialty - analysis of diamond indicator mineral chemistry. In this esoteric scientific field, Dr. Fipke is considered to be among the best of the best. Now he claims to have developed a proprietary indicator mineral analysis protocol that could revolutionize the diamond exploration business. Simply stated, if it actually works (which only Dr. Fipke knows the answer to) then it would allow Metalex and Arctic Star to determine the diamond potential of kimberlite pipes before they are even drilled. Or in other words, it would allow Dr. Fipke to pass over lesser pipes without the need for systematic exploration in favour of the ones that exhibit exceptional telltale geochemistry (translating into high diamond content with real economic potential).

In the 1.2-million-acre Attawapiskat region that sits at the heart of the world's largest Achaean craton (a continental building block that is synonymous with diamond emplacement), this scenario would offer Dr. Fipke a shot at finding several or more economic diamond pipes. If they exist (which Dr. Fipke is confident to be the case), they are also likely to be equal to or better than the high-grade Attawapiskat Victor diamond pipe that De Beers is moving towards production readiness. That's the big picture that has attracted some heavyweight investors into Metalex and to a lesser extent, Arctic Star, in recent months. But with a 12-month old $0.40 (pre-split-basis) Metalex private placement becoming free trading just before Christmas, Dr. Fipke must hope that these investors also "get" the big picture. Regardless, his personal reputation is riding on this diamond play. He's already very rich from his personal ten per cent ownership of Canada's lucrative Ekati Diamond Mine. So, he's not in it for the money. Those who know him well will attest to the fact that he wants to prove to the world that his discovery of the US $2.5 billion Ekati mine was not mainly due to good luck, as has been suggested over the years by some market pundits.

There are plenty of shrewd observers of Dr. Fipke's dedication to this new quest of his who believe that he may now be fast zeroing-in on one or more very significant finds. Again, John Kaiser is one of them.

"The October 30 news release has given a major boost to hopes that Fipke is on the verge of making another major diamond discovery in Canada," he said in a recent edition of his Kaiser Express newsletter.

Now that Fipke appears to have unlocked the secret to finding kimberlite pipes by using his ground gravity-oriented ground geophysics/auger drilling approach to the region's enigmatic geology, the near-term prospect of more kimberlite discoveries appears very real. Or as Dr. Fipke, himself, suggested with regards to his first kimberlite discovery in Attawapiskat.

"The foregoing intersection is most encouraging for it suggests that other kimberlites undetected by airborne magnetics could be present on our joint venture claims."