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Orientation: Approximately 250km west of Johannesburg
Location: Situated within the Lichtenburg Diamond Fields
Project Areas: Patsema area
Licence Type: Prospecting Right
Development Status: Exploration
Licence Area: 168.74 km² (additional 188km² pending approval)
Licence Expiry Date: July 2010

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Patsema Area

History
The Bakerville Project is located within the Lichtenburg Diamond Fields. The Lichtenburg section of the diamond fields was “officially” discovered in 1926, although it is thought that diamonds were being recovered from the area for at least two years prior to this.

Total recorded production from the Transvaal alluvial diamond fields, up to 1989, was 10.8Mcts, of which 7.5Mcts (70%) came from the Lichtenburg field. Of the Lichtenburg production, 6.9Mcts (92%) came from the Grasfontein-Welverdiend runs and potholes.

Production reached a peak in about 1931, and gradually tailed off since then. In the late 1970’s, approximately 30 small-scale diggers were recovering about 650cts per year.

In the early 1980’s, interest in the area was renewed with the release of a government survey report which indicated that undiscovered diamondiferous gravels may occur beneath sand cover within sinkholes and channels outside of the known major runs, which are located on eight farms. This period saw the arrival of foreign and local mining and exploration companies to the area.

Under the previous South African mineral laws, the mineral rights over many of the prospective properties in the area were held by the large mining houses, indefinitely neutralising those farms from exploration by outside parties.

The new law has “unlocked” previously neutralised property, providing exploration opportunities for new entrants, such as PDF.

Local Geology
The alluvial deposits of the Lichtenburg area all rest on an irregular bedrock of Transvaal Dolomite, (Lyttleton and Monte Christo Formations) comprising dolomite inter-bedded with chert units. The gravels occur as patches and “runs”, representing an ancient drainage system. The runs are often punctuated by large sinkholes or potholes filled with gravel, which can be as much as 70m deep. Individual runs may be as much as 140m wide, and are often traceable for several kilometres, with diamondiferous gravel up to approximately 3m thick, with a reported average of 1.0-1.5m thick.

The gravel deposits owe their preservation to differential solution of the dolomite bedrock, which weathers less rapidly beneath the gravel “armour”. This, together with the more luxuriant vegetation cover, protects the gravel from erosion. The gravels are made up of a chaotic mixture of water-worn pebbles, mainly of agate, quartzite and chert, with angular blocks, often large, of locally derived chert, in a sandy to clayey matrix, often rich in manganese and iron oxide pellets.

Stratification of the gravels is uncommon, but where fully developed, comprises, from the bottom up, a small-pebbled yellow gravel, overlain by coarse gravel, followed by the so-called “red gravel”, with a pale ferruginous gravel above this. In sinkhole fillings, the stratification exhibits steep dips, and even overturning in places, indicating that solution subsidence was active during and after deposition of the gravel.

The basal yellow gravel and the red gravel are generally the richest in diamonds, but stones may be found anywhere in the sequence.

The Patsema Area is located approximately 20km north of Lichtenburg. It consists of four farms, or portions thereof, including Houthaaldoorns 2 IP, Zamenkomst 4 IP, Geluksdal 337 JP and Welverdiendt 361 JP.

Access and Infrastructure
The infrastructure in the district is good and the Patsema Area is readily accessible by well maintained tarred and gravel roads. Electricity is supplied via the national grid. Although there is adequate water supply for domestic and agricultural purposes, water for mining operations requires pumping from the underground reservoirs using boreholes, which requires government approval.

Recent Exploration
An area covering approximately 85 km2 in the northern portion of the farm Zamenkomst was subjected to a ground gravity survey, this was followed-up by geological mapping, identifying and confirming potential gravel runs and potholes delineated from the gravity survey.

An IKONOS™ image covering the area of interest was obtained.

Various potential diamond-bearing gravel runs and potholes on the northern half of Zamenkomst have been drill tested.  Potholes and runs identified by this drilling programme have been the focus of a bulk sampling programme now in progress. Large diameter (2.5m) Bauer boreholes (26) were drilled into the potholes. A bulk sampling plant consiting of a scrubber, 20tph DMS with grease recovery unit was established on Zamenkomst 4 IP which is currently treating the bulk samples.

Future Exploration
Samples from the potholes and gravel runs identified within the northern half of Zamenkomst are being treated in the bulk sampling plant. The geological mapping of Houthaaldoorns will be completed, targets identified during this exercise will be drill tested, followed by bulk sampling.

Management and Staff
An on-site geologist is responsible for the geological mapping, borehole logging and management of the drill and bulk sampling contractors. It is envisaged that as the exploration effort intensifies, an additional geologist and/or geo-technician will be employed on site.