Diamond Prospecting and Sampling

We organize and carry out diamond prospecting operations with sampling in any part of the world, for projects of any size. Our specialists have great experience operating in any environment, from polar tundra and taiga (Canada, Russia) to deserts (Arabia, Algerian Sahara) and jungles (Brazil, Venezuela, Angola).

Before going to the field, we usually make our interpretation of remote sensing data (satellite and airborne images, geophysical maps and profiles) to distinguish major bedrock and Quaternary features favourable for diamond deposits. Before starting our fieldwork we already have a map where some features are outlined. In the field, we do our prospecting (in the case of need with mapping) with visits to outlined areas, as well as through filling gaps between them. We do this on foot, examining the area in a good, old-fashioned way, with a hammer and a shovel. We always take samples during the fieldwork, which we pan at the site (if water exists) or at the camp.

Careful, pre-field evaluation and preparation allows us sometimes to identify diamonds and kimberlitic / lamproitic rocks even in the first season of operation. For example, we discovered kimberlites in the Wawa area and lamproites in the Marathon area, both in Northern Ontario, within the first month of fieldwork. We repeatedly identified diamonds in the field while working in Venezuela and Angola.

A great advantage of our sampling system is the use of a wooden Russian pan (photograph on the right). This allows us to concentrate, in the field, a sample from 30-40 kg to 200-500 grams. As a result:

  • there is no chance for inter-sample contamination, which is a permanent challenge even for the best laboratories,
  • we can identify large diamond and indicator mineral grains immediately in the field and correct or modify our diamond prospecting and sampling system accordingly, and
  • this system drastically (hundreds of times) reduces the cost of sample transportation (from the field to a laboratory), saving tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.