JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Paragon Diamonds’ wholly owned Botswana subsidiary, Kopje, has secured a prospecting licence for precious stones over a 442 km2 region in the Kgalagadi district of southern Botswana.
The group announced in a statement on Monday that the licensed area covered part of the Tsabong kimberlite field, which had been hailed as “remarkable” owing to many large diatremes, including M1, which at 180 ha was one of the largest kimberlite bodies in the world.
The tectonic setting of the Tsabong kimberlites was said by Paragon Diamonds to be the same as that of the Orapa diamond field, which hosts several major kimberlite mines.
Historical work in the western area of the licence showed kimberlite indicator minerals, including G9 and G10 garnets and ilmenites, and had resulted in the recovery of a 0.5 mm diamond.
“The award of this licence will complement our holdings of historical kimberlite discoveries. I am very familiar with this area and the era of work having been part of the team that discovered the Lekgudu kimberlites to the south-west in the 1970s,” said executive chairperson Martin Doyle.
The recovery of a diamond in widely spaced soil sampling, less than 5 km from undrilled magnetic anomalies and on the margin of the extensive Tsabong kimberlite field, was “highly significant,” he noted.
“This work was completed at a very broad reconnaissance level and there is considerable scope to follow up these results. In addition, aeromagnetic surveying has identified ten targets that have not yet been drilled,” he added.
Paragon planned to continue its strategy of applying modern-day sampling protocols to historical discoveries to correctly assess grade and diamond values.
The company said it would embark on a thorough review of the historical results and existing data, including extensive geophysical and mineralogical results on open file with the Geological Survey of Botswana.
The three-year licence, expiring September 30, 2016, could be renewed twice for two-year periods, provided 50% of the area was relinquished at each renewal.