PR Newswire
LONDON, United Kingdom, April 23
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Karelian Diamond Resources plc
(«Karelian Diamonds» or «the Company»)
23 April 2026
INITIAL REVIEW INDICATES POSITIVE RESULTS FROM DRILLING AT ANOMALY 5
· Winter drilling programme completed at Anomaly 5 diamond target, Kuhmo,
Finland
· Probable olivine lamproite breccia intersected in two drillholes
· Diagnostic rock types in drill core indicate proximity to olivine lamproite
intrusive complex
Karelian Diamond Resources PLC (AIM: KDR), the diamond and natural resources
exploration company focused on Finland and Ireland, is pleased to provide an
update on its drilling programme at the Anomaly 5 diamond target, located within
the Company’s Kuhmo project area in eastern Finland.
The Company has completed a three-hole drill programme, totalling c.334 metres,
at its Anomaly 5 target in Kuhmo. Under an exceptionally thick (35 metres) layer
of overburden, two drillholes intersected rock material provisionally
interpreted to be olivine lamproite, a rock type associated with diamond-bearing
kimberlite provinces globally, including the world-class Argyle and Ellendale
diamond mines.
The intersections of olivine lamproite were made in drill hole KD-26-02 at a
depth of approximately 73.40 – 81.40 metres, within an interval of 8 metres, and
drill hole KD-26-03 at a depth of approximately 42.90 – 46.80 metres, within an
interval of 3.9 metres. The latter hole started with highly weathered olivine
lamproite straight from the bedrock surface. All of the olivine lamproite
intersected occurs as breccia and is highly altered.
Doctor Hugh O’Brien, kimberlite expert and consultant to the Company, commented:
«Identical variegated red brick and blue-green coloured clay-rich breccias were
dominant in dike intersections from Joutensuo, roughly 30 km to the North
-Northwest along the same or parallel structures in drill core from a previous
drilling program now held at the GTK Loppi drill core repository. Additional
drilling during that programme adjacent to the breccias, produced coherent
olivine lamproite packed with mantle material.
Furthermore, our experience with diagnostic rock types at the Company’s
Seitaperä project, an olivine lamproite blow, which also occur in these Anomaly
5 breccias, including granularized granite (essentially a pseudosandstone formed
by the explosive force of gases released during emplacement of the gas-rich
lamproite magma) and crackle breccias developed as a profusion of anastomosing
calcite veinlets in the granitic country rocks, allow us to infer the present
drill programme is on the peripheries of a larger intrusive system».
Next steps will include a limited ground electromagnetic geophysical survey to
better define the conductive signature developed due to the abundant clays shed
from the breccias visible from the GTK (the Geological Survey of Finland)
regional aero geophysical data. This will allow for more precise control of
drill targeting once conditions permit mobilisation of the drill rig. A test
drill hole under the lake at the head of the A5 anomaly will be a priority.
Continued work on this project is warranted based on the exceptional
compositions of the mantle minerals in the A5 kimberlite indicator mineral
train, indicative of sampling from a wide diamond-window in the mantle, and the
previously announced and described green diamond discovery.
Drill core samples are being prepared for detailed petrographic and geochemical
analysis to formally classify the material and assess its diamond-bearing
potential. Discovery of several picroilmenite xenocrysts in the altered
lamproite (see photo) provide strong evidence that this or closely related
intrusions could be the source of the Anomaly 5 indicator mineral train.
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The drillholes were targeted in a swampy area only accessible in winter, to test
a diatreme-shaped electromagnetic anomaly previously identified in a semi
-airborne electromagnetic survey by the Company (as announced by the Company on
24 January 2025), up-ice of the existing kimberlite indicator mineral train and
the green diamond previously discovered in glacial till by the Company. The semi
-airborne electromagnetic anomaly was most likely due to the exceptionally thick
overburden and the clays found in the breccia. The drilling occurred very close
to a lake, which has yet to be tested and lies at the head of the kimberlite
indicator mineral train.
The current drill programme has concluded prematurely due to the early onset of
the spring thaw.
Maureen Jones, Managing Director of Karelian Diamond Resources plc, commented:
«The intersection of what appears to be lamproite rock at Anomaly 5 is a
significant and encouraging development for the Company. Olivine lamproite is a
rock type of considerable interest in diamond exploration and combined with the
exceptional compositions of the mantle minerals we have identified within the A5
indicator train, gives us confidence that we are close to a potentially
diamondiferous olivine lamproite intrusive complex.»
This release has been approved by Kevin McNulty PGeo, who is a member of the
Company’s technical staff and holds a BSc/MSc in Geology and Remote Sensing, in
accordance with the guidance note for Mining, Oil & Gas Companies issued by the
London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM Companies, which outlines standards of
disclosure for mineral projects.
Further Information:
Karelian Diamond Resources plc +353-1-479-6180
Brendan McMorrow, Chairman / Maureen Jones, Managing Director
Allenby Capital Limited (Nomad) +44-20-3328-5656
Nick Athanas / Nick Harriss
AlbR Capital Limited +44-20-7469-0930
Lucy Williams / Duncan Vasey
Lothbury Financial Services +44-20-3290-0707
Michael Padley
Hall Communications +353-1-660-9377
Don Hall
http://www.kareliandiamondresources.com
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