U2 Kimberlite Results

A 1.25 carat, clear white diamond with a few minute inclusions has been recovered from hole U2-RC-06.  A picture of the diamond is presented on the Company's website (www.metalexventures.com).  This diamond exceeds the two 0.72 carat diamonds previously reported.

Primary recovery of diamonds from the fifth and sixth holes is now complete.  U2-RC-06 and U2-RC-07 contain 170 and 115 commercial sized stones (greater than 0.425mm) respectively.  Both holes intersected several blocks of limestone within the kimberlite which diluted the diamond grade over these sections.  These limestone blocks are interpreted to be large pieces of wall rock that fell into the kimberlite pipe at the time of eruption.  If U2 were to be mined, these limestone sections would be consigned to the waste dump.

The geology and diamond results for U2-RC-06 are presented in the following table: 

The geology and diamond results for U2-RC-07 are presented in the following table:

 

Audit sample results from fine DMS tailings have been received from holes U2-RC-03 and U2-RC-04 where one and six diamonds were recovered respectively.  The additional diamonds recovered from U2-RC-04 increase the grade to 18.4 cpht and the number of diamonds to 87 from the 135 to 240 meter interval (initial diamond results were reported in a March 11, 2011 news release).  Audit samples have not yet been tested for holes U2-RC-05 to U2-RC-07 and these results could further improve the grade of these holes.

The size distribution of the diamonds is very coarse with a high proportion of the diamonds being in the large size categories.  This is important for a high average carat value.  The following table contains the size distribution of the diamonds recovered and described to date:

RC-04        29           96        68        21        10         2           1     

RC-05        58         137        65        30          6         3           1     

RC-06        27           66        50        19          4         0           1     

RC-07        21           50        30        13          1         0           0   TOTAL      250         554      348      145        37        12          4

Characterization of the colour of all natural diamonds recovered and described to date from the first four holes are are presented in the following table:  

             White    Yellow   Green   Pink   Brown   Grey    Total 

                #          #          #        #        #         #         #  

RC-02      97        20          2         0       40        70      229

RC-03     121       26           1        2       84        68      302 

RC-04     134       14           0        3       20        56      227     

RC-05     172       25           2        0       35        66      300      

RC-06     100         5           0        3       13        49      170 

RC-07       44         6           0        0       31        34      115

TOTAL    670        96           5        8      225      346    1,350     

To date, as presented in the above table, 49.6% of the diamonds are white; 25.6% are grey; 16.7% are brown; 7.1% are yellow; 0.6% are pink and 0.4% are green.  The proportion of white diamonds continues to improve with increasing diamond size.  Of the 53 largest diamonds (greater than 1.7mm), 37 are white, 1 is yellow, 10 are grey and 5 are brown.  By weight, white diamonds comprise 61.8% of the parcel and yellow, pink and green diamonds comprise 6.0%. 

T1 Kimberlite Results

Results are now available from the final hole at T1.  Hole K06-05 intersected kimberlite from a depth of 140 meters to 326 meters.  From 326 meters to the end of hole at 335 meters granite was intersected which is interpreted to be the wall rock of the kimberlite. 

The sample from the depth of 290 to 293 meters contained 249 diamonds greater than 0.425mm in size weighing a total of 0.70 carats whereas three meter samples from the remainder of the hole averaged 9 diamonds.  Most of the diamonds contained in this sample are of similar colour and show breakage surfaces, suggesting that a large diamond was broken either during drilling or processing.  It is important to note that many of the pieces of the broken stone would have been smaller than 0.425mm and thus would not have been recovered. (Please refer to the website for complete results of this hole). 

A total of 20 holes comprising a bulk sample of 410 tons of kimberlite have now been processed.  From these 20 holes 12,446 commercial sized diamonds (greater than 0.425mm) have been recovered totaling 67.32 carats.

The summary of the size distribution for the 20 hole bulk samples from T1 is presented in the following table:

                        
Sieve Sizes (Through/On)

            0.6mm   0.85mm 1.18mm 1.7mm 2.36mm 3.35mm 4..75mm             0.425mm 0.6mm 0.85mm 1.18mm 1.7mm 2.36mm 3.35mm

Characterization of the colour of all natural diamonds recovered are presented in the following table:  

              White    Yellow   Green    Pink    Brown   Grey      Total 

                #          #          #          #         #         #          #   

TOTAL   3,718       6        142       13     5,072    3,468   12,446       

As presented in the above table, 29.9% of the diamonds are white, 1.1% are green, 0.22% are blue, 0.1% are pink and 0.05% are yellow.

Five samples of -2.0mm DMS tailings from T1 were submitted for audit analysis at the CF Mineral Research Ltd. laboratory to test whether or not all of the diamonds were being recovered by the plant from the T1 kimberlite.  No diamonds were recovered from two of the samples (weighing 181kg and 391kg respectively); two diamonds were recovered from each of two samples (weighing 159kg and 208kg respectively), and one diamond was recovered from a 180kg sample.  One diamond was a gem quality -1.18mm +0.85mm oval (tetrahexahedron) and the other four diamonds were -0.6mm +0.425mm in size. Three of these were brown and one was white. 

Metalex is now considering reprocessing +1.0mm or +2.0mm DMS tailings from T1.  Diamonds recovered would add to the overall diamond grades and possible economic viability of T1.

Metalex is most encouraged as many of the large diamonds recovered to date from the very large 9.3 hectare U2 kimberlite are spectacular..  The results continue to support Metalex's belief that U2 contains a very high quality coarse diamond population.  Metalex looks forward to the diamond results from the remaining five 22cm diameter reverse circulation drill holes.

Metalex is a Canadian based exploration company with strategic Canadian and international projects.

The Company has recently completed two 400 tonne bulk samples on two large kimberlite pipes located within 70 kilometers west of DeBeers' Victor Diamond Mine in the James Bay lowlands of Ontario. Processing of the T1 bulk sample is complete while processing of the U2 bulk sample is underway.
 
In Metalex's Attawapiskat Joint Venture, white microdiamonds have been recovered from a newly discovered kimberlite pipe located 7 kilometers south of the Victor Diamond Mine.
 
Near Wawa, Ontario the Company has a joint venture focused on discovering economic quantities of diamonds in conglomerates and also to locate their primary kimberlite sources. Drill results to-date have discovered the presence of coloured stones within the conglomerate.
 
In northern Quebec the Company has two joint ventures.  The first is for base and precious metals while the second is focused on diamonds.  The diamond joint venture has claims over 395 square kilometers where significant diamond quantities have been found in preliminary outcrop samples from conglomeratic rocks. Of significance is the presence of coloured stones including a purple macrodiamond in these samples. 

Internationally, the Company is exploring the headwaters of the highly diamondiferous Cuango River and has discovered 50 kimberlites. In Morocco, Metalex has an exploration license covering 25,000 km² over one of the few unexplored cratons in the world.  High quality G10 garnets recovered from sediment samples suggest that the source kimberlites could be high grade.  In southwestern Greenland, abundant G10 garnets have been found in glacio-fluvial sediments around Smile Lake and work has focused on finding the kimberlite source of these high quality diamond indicators..The Company also has exploration licenses in northern Mali where anomalous gold and base metals have been found in stream and soil samples.