Newfield has recovered 110.58 carats of diamonds from the 108 dry tonnes processed during the exploration programme on the Peyima Kimberlite located within its Tongo Mine concession area, in Sierra Leone.
This resulted in a recovered sample grade of 102.37cpht at a +1.2mm cut off.
The largest stone recovered was a 5.07-carat near-gem stone, while the diamonds were categorised as a gem (49%), near-gem (25%) and industrial (26%) quality.
“This first assessment of the Peyima Kimberlite diamond grade and quality is highly encouraging and supports the further work which will include the processing and analysis of a 182kg micro-diamond sample to better assess the grade potential of the kimberlite,” said Newfield executive director Karl Smithson.
“Initial independent valuation of the recovered diamond sample confirmed diamond value consistent with the Kundu and Lando Kimberlites in the smaller sieve classes.”
He said the success of the exploration programme supports the company’s confidence that Peyima holds the potential to expand the global diamond resource at Tongo which currently stands at 8.3 million carats hosted in just 5 of the 11 kimberlites on the concession.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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