Star Diamond has recovered 2,517 diamonds weighing 120.1 carats recovered from its first bulk sample trench excavated on the Star Kimberlite, in Canada.
These results are from the first of 10 bulk sample trenches that were excavated by Rio Tinto Exploration Canada (RTEC).
Star said the average diamond grade from this first trench is similar to historical diamond grade results detected from the underground bulk sampling and large diameter drilling completed on the Star Kimberlite between 2004 and 2009.
The results are also similar to the overall weighted average grade of 14 cpht reported in Star Diamond's Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Star and Orion South kimberlites.
It said the three largest diamonds recovered are 3.27, 3.03 and 1.73 carats, respectively and were all recovered from Early Joli Fou (EJF) kimberlite.
The EJF is the dominant kimberlite unit within the project in terms of ore volume and diamond grade.
“Individual EJF kimberlite samples in this first trench exhibit a range of grades (4.88 to 23.34 cpht), which are as expected for the EJF kimberlite," said Star senior vice president exploration and development, George Read.
To date, kimberlite material from four trenches have been processed by RTEC through the on-site Bulk Sample Plant with concentrates forwarded to the Saskatchewan Research Council for final diamond recovery and reporting.
Meanwhile, Star Diamond said it currently expects that all or substantially all of the bulk samples from the 10 sample trenches collected during 2019 will be processed by RTEC during calendar 2020, provided that there are not any unexpected material delays in this process including issues arising from COVID-19.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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