The Kennady North project is an advanced diamond exploration project that surrounds Gahcho Kué Mine. The Kennady assets include three kimberlites for which resources have been estimated. These kimberlites are less than ten kilometers from the Gahcho Kué Mine. Kennady North is 100%-owned and operated by Mountain Province through its subsidiary, Kennady Diamonds Inc.
The Kennady North Project is located in the Northwest Territories of Canada, 300 km east-northeast of Yellowknife, on the traditional territories of Tłįchǫ, Dene, and Métis people. The site lies on the edge of the continuous permafrost zone in an area known as the barren lands, due to the absence of forests. The ground surface is characterised as heath/tundra, with occasional knolls, bedrock outcrops, and localised surface depressions interspersed with lakes.
A thin, discontinuous cover of organic and mineral soil overlies bedrock, which typically occurs within a few metres of surface. Small stands of stunted spruce dot the area. Numerous lakes cover the landscape. The Kelvin and Faraday Lakes cover the uppermost portions of the Kelvin and Faraday kimberlites, respectively.
Although the Project is permitted to allow summer road construction, in these early stages all of the major exploration is conducted in winter on snowpack and on roads made of ice. Supplies are shipped on ice roads in the darkest period of winter, and field work begins in March when sufficient daylight begins. On most clear winter nights, the northern lights are visible over the small exploration camps.
The Kennady North Project has been the focus of exploration by numerous operators since 1992. Limited drill intersects of kimberlite being named Kelvin, and Faraday 1, 2, and 3 were discovered late in the history of exploration in the area, but not proven out at the time. Exploration by Kennady Diamonds, employing detailed geophysics and drilling, resulted in the discovery of significant tonnages of kimberlite at both Kelvin and the Faradays. They are now indicated and inferred resources under the definition of NI 43-101.
The Kelvin and Faraday kimberlites differ from the more common, vertically-sided kimberlites that occur in the GKJV area and elsewhere in the world. A plan view and 3D image of the Kelvin and Faraday assets is shown below. The 3D image is looking to the north, with blue-purple colors indicating hypabyssal kimberlite and other colors indicating kimberlite breccias. The tilted shapes of the kimberlites are unusual when compared to the vertically-sided kimberlites at Gahcho Kué. The distance from Kelvin to Faraday 1-3 is roughly three kilometers.
There is also kimberlite that occurs as thin, shallow dipping sheets within the Kelvin-Faraday area. The sheets are very abundant at Kelvin and their geometry has been defined by drilling. Although a resource estimate of the sheets is not feasible, these kimberlite sheets will add to the Kelvin asset in an open pit operation. A plan view of the Kelvin kimberlite sheets relative to the Kelvin body is shown in the image below, with the sheets shown in pale purple.
The Kennady North Resources have been developed and are 100%-owned by Mountain Province Diamonds. Presently, there is no formal agreement between Mountain Province and De Beers to incorporate these resources into the Gahcho Kue mine plan.
The summaries provided above are designed to gain an overview of the assets at the Kennady North Project. For more detailed information, please access the NI 43-101 Technical Reports on www.sedar.com, or download them from the links provided below.
Kennady North Project NI 43-101 Technical Report - May 10 2019
Kennady North Project NI 43-101 Technical Report - November 16 2017
Kennady North Project NI 43-101 Technical Report - January 24 2017
Sign up to our Newsletter for the latest news and press notifications sent directly to your email.
Natural diamonds from Canada’s North, creating value and respecting the invaluable.