For those of you who don't know, Birchbark lake is just north of highway 55, a few miles north of the FALC deposit, and along the same geological trend line. To give scale, from the center of Star, the east side of that lake would be about 25 miles (40km) north. Draw a NNW line through the center of Star and the Orion cluster, and extend that line NNW. Birchbark lake.........
So, Rio is doing detailed aero-mag survey AND has also done some drilling in that area. Why? Sorry, that should be obvious. They are looking for diamond bearing kimberlite.
I guess I should ask why NOW? Is it that they have lost interest in the FALC project, and seek alternate ground, OR that they have decided to develop FALC, and need to see if there is a "bigger" picture for the future? FALC alone is a huge deposit. Far, FAR larger than just Star and Orion South. These 2 bodies represent maybe 25% of the known FALC kimberlite within OUR CLAIM BLOCK alone!
I wonder where that big trench cutter will be used next? Have the results from Star been enough to compare against our old results such that a reliable "factor" can be applied to Orion South negating any need to drill there at all? Is Rio in a position to settle with SDC, and to unquestionably acquire and develop a mine in FALC now, without any additional data? Star and Orion South will keep a large processing mill and mining activity running for many years. There will be lots of time to decide future ore feed into the mill, but early exploration today seems a worthwhile effort. Future potential just makes the current decision even more compelling?