VR expands its land position covering anomalies around its Northway kimberlite diatreme breccia and diamond discovery in northern Ontario
Press Release
October 24, 2023, Vancouver, B.C.: VR Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: VRR, FSE: 5VR; OTCQB: VRRCF), the “Company”, or “VR”, has expanded the number of claims covering an array of magnetic anomalies around its Northway kimberlite diatreme breccia property and diamond discovery in northern Ontario.
Figure 1. Location of the new Northway properties relative to local, provincial and national infrastructure.
The Northway strategy is now district-scale. VR now owns 1,567 claims in 16 separate claim blocks covering a total of 32,238 ha. All of the claims are owned 100% by VR. The strategy is expanded based on the three reconnaissance drill holes completed into the diatreme breccia pipe complex at Northway, most importantly:
1. Composition. The breccia is consistent with a kimberlitic diatreme sourced in a diamond-stable region of the upper mantle based on the composition of numerous different minerals, including high-Mg chromite, phlogopite and richterite, and;
2. Diamonds. There is evidence for diamond fertility, with clear, inclusion free and transparent fragments of larger diamonds in three different intervals within the breccia pipe complex.
VR began to stake and/or acquire claims covering magnetic anomalies around Northway in December, 2022. Based on the results from Northway, the anomalies almost certainly represent a new and previously unexplored field of kimberlite pipes in the northern Superior Craton in northern Ontario. The field is 300 km to the south of the past-producing Victor diamond mine at Attawapiskat on James Bay.
Figure 2. Location is important. It facilitates cost-effective exploration at Northway and the surrounding targets, and it provides important infrastructure necessary for any potential development in the future:
1. All of the properties are proximal to the active Ontario Northern railroad servicing northern Ontario; Northway itself is just 11 km to the west of the line;
2. Exploration can be based out of Otter Rapids, a hydroelectric facility on the provincial grid, with road access from Highway 634;
3. The properties are at, or near the southern extent of the Paleozoic Hudson carbonate shelf, lessening the amount of sedimentary cover on top of inferred pipes as compared to farther north.
From VR’s CEO, Dr. Michael Gunning, “Simply put, the three reconnaissance drill holes answered the two key questions necessary for advancing a diamond exploration strategy around the breccia pipe discovery at Northway, namely:
1. Is it the right composition for diamond stability in the kimberlite source area, and;
2. Is there evidence for diamonds? VR has now secured the land to advance that strategy, and the premise is well established: more targets within a field of kimberlite pipes simply increases the odds of discovering a pipe with economic diamonds.
The permitting process for our various exploration projects in the region with the Ontario Ministry of Mines starting in 2018 has been both transparent and efficient. It includes consultation with the Moose Cree and Taykwa Tagamou First Nations, which has been open and constructive. We will initiate the permit process for the field of new targets this fall, and it will be similar in scope to that for Hecla-Kilmer and Northway.
IBF4
