Australian miner Merlin Diamonds has commenced a fresh programme of drilling at its Merlin Diamond Mine focusing on 40 priority targets out of 74 potential ones to identify undiscovered kimberlites on the Merlin Mine Lease in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Company said it would be conducting a 3,500 metre RC drilling programme using the drill rig that has been recently brought to the site.

Stating that the Merlin Mine Lease has been largely underexplored, with only 11 kimberlite pipes discovered so far within the Lease, the Company said that the geological team was of the opinion that the lease has the potential to host many more undiscovered kimberlite pipes.

Merlin also said that a recent extensive study of all exploration data based on a significant historical database comprising airborne and ground geophysical, soil geochemical, diamond and indicator mineral datasets compiled by the previous owners of the lease and some fieldwork, has identified 74 potential additional targets for more kimberlite pipes.

The proposed drilling programme at 40 priority targets is based on each target’s similarity to the geophysical and geochemical signatures of known Merlin kimberlite pipes, the Company said, adding that any discovery that materialises will be followed with further RC drilling to delineate the size of the discovery, and thereafter, diamond drilling to determine the depth of the discovery.