Stellar Diamonds issues West Africa update

PUBLISHED: Jan 20 2014 @ 06:56 | Comments (0) |

Stellar Diamonds plc, the London listed (LSE:STEL) diamond development company focused on West Africa, has provided a positive operational update from its 1.1 million carat Tongo dyke kimberlite diamond project in Sierra Leone.

Highlights:

· Significant progress has been made in advancing the project up the development curve towards production with Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) underway

· 650 tonnes bulk sample already collected as part of the Dyke-1 feasibility study

· Sample processing has commenced using the Company’s on-site 5tph DMS plant

· Objective to recover a minimum 1,000 carat parcel for diamond grade and value confirmation

· First results expected to be reported in early February

· Previous results established a grade of 120cpht at $248 per carat from a 1,050 carat parcel

Stellar Diamonds Chief Executive Karl Smithson said, “We continue to make excellent progress in proving the inherent value of the high grade and high value 1.1 million carat resource of Dyke-1 at Tongo. Good progress has been made on the bulk sampling and I look forward to reporting processing results in early February. Our focus for 2014 is the completion of a DFS on which a production decision will be made. The project has already yielded attractive diamond grades and values and we remain confident that we have an exciting opportunity to crystallise value for shareholders by advancing Tongo, which is located in a highly prospective diamondiferous region, into production.”

Tongo Project Update:

The DFS of the 1.1 million carat diamond resource is on-going and aimed at ascertaining the economic parameters of the Tongo project. The grade and average modelled diamond value of Dyke-1 has been established at 120cpht and $248 per carat from a 1,050 carat parcel, with the current bulk sampling work geared to providing a larger diamond parcel for more robust diamond valuation work.

Bulk sampling of the Dyke-1 bulk sample started in October 2013 and has to date delivered 650 tonnes of material to the sample stockpile. Processing of this material has commenced today using the Company’s on-site 5 tonne per hour DMS plant. The plan is to process around 100 tonnes per week with initial results being available in early February.

Drilling and blasting of Dyke-1 will continue over the next few months, with the intention of collecting sufficient material to deliver a diamond parcel of between 1,000 and 2,000 carats for enhanced diamond value modelling. The whole process is expected to be completed by mid-year when the results will be handed across to the independent consultants selected for the feasibility study.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR FREE ON ADVFN, the world's leading stocks and shares information website, provides the private investor with all the latest high-tech trading tools and includes live price data streaming, stock quotes and the option to access 'Level 2' data on all of the world's key exchanges (LSE, NYSE, NASDAQ, Euronext etc).

This area of the ADVFN.com site is for independent financial commentary. These blogs are provided by independent authors via a common carrier platform and do not represent the opinions of ADVFN Plc. ADVFN Plc does not monitor, approve, endorse or exert editorial control over these articles and does not therefore accept responsibility for or make any warranties in connection with or recommend that you or any third party rely on such information. The information available at ADVFN.com is for your general information and use and is not intended to address your particular requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by ADVFN.COM and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any investment decisions. Authors may or may not have positions in stocks that they are discussing but it should be considered very likely that their opinions are aligned with their trading and that they hold positions in companies, forex, commodities and other instruments they discuss.