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The regional setting for Grizzly's Buffalo Head Hills properties is considered favourable for the presence of diamondiferous kimberlites. To date 38 kimberlite pipes have been discovered, of which 26 are diamondiferous, in the Buffalo Head Hills area. More recent results indicate that the Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite field does contain kimberlites that have excellent potential to host a population of commercial-sized diamonds and are approaching the threshold of being economic. As an example, Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. (2001a) have recently reported that a 22.8 tonne mini-bulk sample collected from the K252 Kimberlite (which is located approximately 21 km or 13 miles north of Grizzly's Smoky The Bear property) has yielded a grade of 55 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The mini-bulk sample results also indicate that the deeper breccia phase of the pipe yielded a grade of 85.4 cpht. If these grades and the quality of the stones persist through larger bulk sampling programs the K252 Kimberlite could be the first in a series of economic kimberlite pipes in the Buffalo Head Hills. At least three of the Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite pipes exist within 1.5 to 5 km of the northern boundary of Grizzly's Smoky The Bear diamond property. To date, a number of diamond indicator minerals have been recovered from limited sampling of glacial outwash gravel, recent fluvial gravel and till on all three of Grizzly's Buffalo Head Hills diamond properties. Geological Setting The Grizzly Diamonds Alberta diamonds projects are underlain by Early Proterozoic to Archean basement of the Buffalo Head Craton. The local bedrock geology and the underlying Archean to Proterozoic crystalline basement in association with deep seated, penetrative structures, such as the Peace River Arch, likely provided a favourable environment for the ascent of kimberlitic magmas in the Buffalo Head Hills. The regional cratonic setting is also considered favourable for the formation and preservation of diamonds in the upper mantle and their transport to surface in kimberlitic magma during periodic tectonic activity associated with movement along the Peace River Arch. | | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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