Diamonds North Shifts focus on Victoria Island
VANCOUVER, January 25, 2006 - Diamonds North Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: DDN) announces that Diamonds North and Teck Cominco Limited have mutually agreed to terminate the Blue Ice Agreement on Victoria Island in Nunavut and Northwest Territories.
Over the life of the project, including the Teck Cominco option period, the exploration focus has been to define and test large kimberlite targets in search of an Ekati or Diavik scale mine. A total of 31 kimberlites have been discovered on the Blue Ice property, including 4 new kimberlites discovered during the option period. To date these kimberlites have not met Teck Cominco's size criteria.
The termination of this agreement, prior to Teck Cominco earning a 30% interest in the project, will enable Diamonds North to concentrate on the known kimberlite bodies on the property and explore the potential for high value deposits offsetting the necessity for large tonnage.
Diamonds North now holds 100% interest in a total of 39 kimberlites on its Victoria Island claims. More than 80% of the Victoria Island kimberlites are diamondiferous and several bodies have returned significant diamond counts with favourable stone size distribution; illustrating the potential for smaller high value deposits. Examples of small diamond mine opportunities in northern Canada include Tahera Diamond Corporation's Jericho deposit (in-situ value of more than $US600 million based on 5.5MT grading 0.85 ct/t)* and the De Beers Canada Snap Lake deposit (in-situ value of $US3.78 billion based on 18Mt grading 1.46 ct/t)**. A 680kg sample from King Eider kimberlite returned 1.6ct/t, including a 0.74 carat diamond. Based on 5 drill holes and geophysical interpretation, Diamonds North estimates on a preliminary and conceptual basis, the King Eider kimberlite has the potential of attaining 4 to 5 million tonnes (This is not a resource estimate and should not be relied upon as insufficient exploration has been carried out to delineate a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource).
President Mark Kolebaba stated, "We are excited to start exploring Victoria Island from this new perspective. Based on the diamond results to date, we think this project has the potential to deliver multiple Jericho size deposits and possibly a Snap Lake style deposit."
The diamond results for the 2.1 tonne sample from King Eider that was submitted by Teck Cominco in 2005 remain pending and are expected within the next few weeks. On termination of the Blue Ice Agreement, Diamonds North initiated the submittal of an additional 2.0 tonnes of King Eider kimberlite for diamond analysis. The majority of this additional sample was collected during the summer field program by Diamonds North to augment Teck Cominco's sample, bringing the total weight to more than 4 tonnes.
Diamonds North plans to focus on mini-bulk sampling several kimberlite bodies on the property in an attempt to initiate the development of a resource. King Eider, SE Galaxy trend, and Snowy Owl kimberlites are candidates for this evaluation. The Snowy Owl kimberlite pipe, which did not fall within the Blue Ice Agreement with Teck Cominco, is one of the largest bodies on the property.
Detailed plans and budget for the upcoming 2006 exploration program on Victoria Island will be released shortly. The company is well financed for an aggressive program on its projects in 2006. Mr. G. Gill (P. Geo) will continue to act as the qualified person on this project.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, employees and shareholders, I thank Teck Cominco for their commitment to the project over the last 3 years.
Diamonds North is a dynamic successful exploration team focused on strategically advancing diamond opportunities and is determined to discover Canada's next diamond mine.
On behalf of Diamonds North Resources Ltd.
Mark Kolebaba
President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
Corporate Communications: Nancy Curry
Diamonds North Resources Ltd.
Telephone:
Facsimile:
Website: www.diamondsnorth.com
Email:
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
* www.tahera.com
** www.debeerscanada.com