Karelian announces extension to Riihivaara kimberlite body

Karelian Diamond Resources announced a 100 metre extension to the North West of the Riihivaara kimberlite body on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said the extension was indicated by the results of a series of till samples taken by the Geological Survey of Finland on behalf of the company.

It said samples taken along trend to the North West of the known kimberlite body showed high concentrations of Kimberlite Indicator Minerals, indicating a further 100 metre North Western extension to the known 250 metre kimberlite body extent.

The Riihivaara kimberlite body remained open in both directions along strike and to depth.

Karelian said the KIMs included 47 purple to red peridotitic garnets, 18 orange mantle garnets and 64 chromite grains - in the 0.25 to 0.5 mm size range - plus 2 purple to red peridotitic garnets, 4 orange mantle garnets and 5 chromite grains, in the 0.5 to 1.0 mm size range.

The results of samples collected in an up-ice direction from the kimberlite body returned low counts of chromite grains indicating that the Riihivaara kimberlite body is the probable source of the KIMs, Karelian’s board explained.

All samples would undergo further analysis by scanning electron microscopy to classify them.

“This further extension of the Riihivaara kimberlite body taken in conjunction with the recent discovery of a diamond in a till sample adds to the diamond prospectivity of the Kuhmo region,” said Karelian chairman Professor Richard Conroy.