The province of Lapin Lääni has been of interest to the Company for a number of years. Lapin Lääni covers an area of 98,946 km². There are 21 municipalities in this region and the largest city is Rovaniemi. The majority of this region is above the Arctic Circle and is sparsely populated with 186,917 inhabitants (2003) but with excellent infrastructure.
The area is easily accessible via the E75 and E8 euro-routes, and hosts several established mining operations serviced out of regional centres such as Sodankylä, Kittilä and Ivalo. Domestic flights and/or rail connections serve the major centres.
Prospectivity:
The Company’s highly prospective area of interest in Lapland covers 25,130 km². The Company has been active in this area for a number of years and has identified the area as highly prospective.
Across the Russian border, a diamondiferous kimberlite has recently been discovered in the Rubachy Peninsula by the Geological Institute of Kola Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, further adding to the prospectivity of the general area. The Rubachny Peninsula is located only 40 km from the Norwegian border, and circa 150 km northeast of the Company’s areas of interest in eastern Lapland.
Work to Date:
Karelian Diamond Resources has, under its predecessor, Conroy Diamonds and Gold Plc, identified 67 geophysical targets from the regional geophysical survey undertaken by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK).
As a follow-up to this interpretative work, the Company undertook a kimberlitic indicator mineral (KIM) survey, collecting 121 regional till samples, which included positive KIM results. The Company has had an active interest in this area for a number of years.