Pangolin Diamonds (CVE:PAN) says it has recovered "mantle-derived indicator minerals" from the Magi kimberlite at its Tsabong North project in Botswana.
The company told investors that pyrope garnet, forsterite and chromite, with mantle chemistries, were recovered from kimberlite at 44 to 58 metres inclusive, as well as from the overlying sandstones from 15 to 37 metres depth.
Pangolin said the pyrope garnets are similar to the 45 mantle-derived garnets previously reported from standstone overlying the Magi kimberlite, having high-pressure compositions associated with "diamond stable conditions in the mantle".
The company said Tuesday that the results collectively confirm the Magi body is kimberlitic in nature, and has sampled the mantle at depths conducive to diamond formation.
The results were based on 14 samples collected from vertical drill hole Magi-001, while intervals of sandy tuff from drill hole Magi-002 and Magi-003 were also sampled. Pangolin said that 13 additional core samples from the Magi-005 drill hole were also selected for microdiamond analysis.
"We are pleased with results and progress at the Magi kimberlite," said chairman Dr. Leon Daniels in a statement Tuesday.
Pangolin, which has four exploration properties in the world’s leading country for diamond production by value, is focused on Tsabong North, which is about 100 km north of the town of Tsabong in southwestern Botswana. The diamond explorer has found more than 50 drill-ready targets in the area, several of which have surface areas greater than 20 hectares.
The Magi discovery at Tsabong North late last year was welcomed with open arms by shareholders, who pushed up the stock some 64% in mid-October after the company announced that it modeled Magi at 270 hectares, making it one of the largest kimberlites in the world.
In December, shares of Pangolin spiked even further after it said it drilled a new hole at its Magi discovery that intersected kimberlite from 35 metres depth to 94 metres.