Shear grabs more mineral claims around Jericho

Jimmy Haniliak of Cambrdige Bay eyes diamonds in kimberlite rocks this past Feb. 17 at a presentation by Shear Diamonds Ltd. at the Bathurst Inlet Lodge on the company’s plans for the Jericho mine site. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Shear Diamonds Ltd., owners of the Jericho diamond mine in western Nunavut, has staked mineral claims to 77,250 acres of Nunavut lands adjacent to Jericho, based on the belief that they’ll find more diamond-bearing kimberlite deposits.

“Shear’s ongoing review of historical datasets has confirmed compelling evidence of undiscovered kimberlites in certain areas outside the immediate mine area…” Pamela Strand, Shear’s president, said in a press release issued July 6.

Shear Diamonds bought the assets of the mothballed Jericho diamond mine in 2010. The company is now doing exploration and planning work aimed at bringing the property back into production.

One of their partners in that endeavour is Nunavut Resources Corp., an Inuit owned company that signed a partnership agreement with Shear this past February.

Meanwhile, Shear has been doing more test drilling aimed at expanding the site’s estimated diamond resource.

They now believe that “indicator mineral trains” in and around the area do not come from known kimberlite deposits.

These indicator mineral trains were scattered across the surface of the earth millions of years ago by the scraping action of glaciers.

Diamond hunters often find lucrative kimberlite deposits by following them to their point of origin.

Some of these indicator minerals near Jericho are special varieties of garnets with a high chromium content, which Shear says suggest “there may be undiscovered kimberlites in close proximity to Jericho that are likely diamondiferous.”

Tahera Diamond Corp., the previous owner of the site, also believed the area contained more diamond-rich kimberlites, but were unable to find any with commercial value.