OSLO, Norway, Jan. 15, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Crew Minerals ASA (OSLO:CMI) is pleased to report it has successfully consolidated a nearly 200,000 ha area in West Greenland, covering the entire Maniitsoq Kimberlite Province, and that all samples from the 2006 sampling so far analysed, have returned diamonds. Eight samples from three different dyke systems returned a total of 34 diamonds larger than 0.106 mm, two of which are larger than 0.425 mm, with one to eight diamonds recovered from each 50-kg sample. Results from twelve samples are still pending.
In late 2006 Crew filed applications with Greenland's Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum for a 1,746 km(2) exclusive exploration licence and for a 17 km(2) enlargement to its initial 180 km(2) licence, and thereby consolidated a total area of 1,943 km(2) in Greenland's second-largest Kimberlite province. The area was known from exploration work in the 1990s and subsequent government investigations to have diamondiferous Kimberlites in three widely scattered localities, but very limited follow-up had been conducted.
In August 2006 Crew conducted a first sweep sampling of the Kimberlite dykes in its initial exploration and prospecting licence areas and submitted the samples to a Canadian ISO 17025 accredited laboratory (Thunder Bay Diamond Services) for caustic fusion and diamond identification. Twenty 50-kg Kimberlite samples were collected, and included new Kimberlite dykes identified by Crew as a result of follow-up on Kimberlite indicator minerals from till samples.
The preliminary counting and sizing results of eight of the twenty 50-kg Kimberlite dyke samples completed so far are encouraging, as all samples are diamondiferous, and the known diamondiferous Kimberlite occurrences now include four major dyke systems and one boulder field, suggesting that Kimberlites throughout the province have sampled diamondiferous lithosphere. Diamond extraction results from a fifth dyke system in the central part of the province, discovered during the August 2006 field work, are still pending. It is interesting that the Kimberlite dykes and indicator minerals trains appear to be aligned in three to four parallel lineaments through the undisturbed Archaean craton segment.
In the search for new Kimberlites we have noted a high degree of correlation between Kimberlite occurrences and presence of Kimberlite indicator minerals in regional till samples (Map 1), but have also found that some Kimberlites in the 'down-ice' direction of nearby till sampling points are not reflected in the regional till samples. This, and the fact that Kimberlite dykes are notoriously difficult to locate using airborne geophysics, has emphasised the need for intense ground traversing in order to discover new Kimberlite occurrences.
Crew is encouraged by these initial results and will continue its exploration for diamonds in the Maniitsoq region, focusing on diamond distributions within the known, major Kimberlite dyke systems as well as on the search for additional new Kimberlites. The known dyke systems are 2 to 6 km long, and having seen they are all diamond-bearing, we will now endeavour to examine internal variations within the dyke systems in order to locate possible local, greater concentrations and sizes of diamonds, as has been a recent outcome of exploration in Greenland's other major Kimberlite province in the Sarfartoq region 150 km to the north.
Crew Mineral's CEO Hans Christian Qvist comments: "The find of diamonds is highly encouraging as we only set out to examine whether previously untested Kimberlite dykes in the area were diamond-bearing. The fact that not only did we find new dyke systems, but also that the preliminary results suggest a presence of diamonds in individual dyke systems more than 50 km apart are indeed very exiting and promising for the ongoing work."
The content of this press release has been reviewed by S. M. Jensen, Ph.D., and qualified person pursuant to NI 43-101. Dr. Jensen is Chief Geoscientist for Crew Minerals ASA and not an independent person.
To see Map 1, visit www.crewminerals.no.
Hans Christian Qvist
President and CEO
Crew Minerals ASA
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