Canadian Exploration Yields Rubies
By Martin Stone

Diamond exploration has led to a new ruby discovery in northeastern Quebec, Canada.

New York-based Diamond Discoveries International Corp. said that samples taken during an exploration program have yielded more than 60 red rubies and over 900 pieces of pink corundum. Twenty of the red pieces have dimensions of at least 2 mm, with the remaining red and pink crystals measuring 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm. The samples came from a dyke traced for four miles which remains open for further extension.

The rubies were identified by Lakefield Research Laboratory in Ontario, the company said, adding that the findings were verified by the Gemological Institute of America Gem Trade Laboratory in New York. The company reported it has acquired six exploration permits covering almost 80,000 acres in Torngat, Quebec. Exploration has included surface prospecting, geological mapping, and microscopic studies of stream-sediment sample concentrates.

Sampling also located heavy minerals, including pyrope garnets and chrome diopsides, which identify the presence of kimberlite dykes. Company spokesperson Tom Franzone confirmed that extensive exploration to further evaluate the ruby and diamond discoveries is planned, and that if the rubies prove to be of gem quality, the company will take them to market.

Project manager Peter Ferderber said that more drilling will be done in the fall and next spring, but mining operations are still "a few years away." He explained that the mining season in Canada's far north is only 90 to 100 days, and that when extraction begins, "we will not only be mining the rubies; they will be second in line to the diamonds."

If the company does begin mining gem-quality rubies, it will be Canada's first commercial ruby deposit.

Posted: October 8, 2002