 | |
| |
| |
 |  | ||
| Corporate Profile
Corporate Directory
Board of Directors
Management
Corporate Governance
Investor Info – AIM Rule 26 |   Scientific studies have shown that diamonds are formed at high pressures and temperatures deep in the Earth's mantle, and can be preserved under older, colder parts of continents. The diamonds sit at this depth for eons after they are formed until they are picked up and brought to the surface by deep-seated magmas that erupt to make small volcanoes and craters. The most common of these diamond bearing magmas are called kimberlite. This volcanic rock type makes up most of the world's diamond mines. Kimberlites form dykes, pipes and craters, can vary in size from one metre to 2.5 kilometres across and usually occur in swarms. This means that where one kimberlite is found, one will usually find many others. Kimberlites have occurred throughout earth's history but tend to form in pulses. Once the eruption is finished and everything is cool and quiet, erosional processes take over and the minerals in the kimberlite, including diamonds, are dispersed. Most exploration companies look for minerals, called indicator minerals, occurring with the diamond rather than the diamonds directly as indicator minerals are of an order of magnitude more abundant and therefore less expensive to find. These minerals (pyrope garnet, picro-ilmenite, chrome diopside, chromite) were made at the same high temperatures and pressures as diamonds. Their chemistry is unique; no other minerals found on the surface of the earth share this chemistry. When these unique indicator minerals are found, it is considered direct evidence of diamond mineralization. In the Canadian Arctic, where Sanatana is exploring, there was, until some 10,000 years ago, a great ice sheet originating near Hudson's Bay. The ice movement caused by this sheet eroded the kimberlites and spread the indicator minerals and diamonds "down-ice" in a direction away from the centre of the ice. Sanatana has been exploring the Mackenzie Platform area for diamonds by sampling the glacial till for indicator minerals. The Company has found a number of areas from which these minerals seem to be originating. Once a source area of indicator minerals is isolated, the Company conducts geophysical testing from the air and on the ground looking for the pipe-like or circular features that may represent kimberlite. These features are then drill tested. If kimberlite is encountered during drilling, it is then assayed for diamonds. Given positive results, the process would then proceed to bulk sampling for grade and value, feasibility, permitting and then to mining. | ||
| |||