Lucapa confirms diamond-bearing pipe in Angola
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed diamond explorer Lucapa Diamond Company has confirmed that a large kimberlite at its Lulo diamond concession, in Angola, is a diamond-bearing pipe, after four diamonds were recovered from preliminary surface sampling of the kimberlite material.
Three diamonds weighing a total of 1.75 ct and described as being of “good shape and good colour” were recovered from the No 7 pit at the Se251 kimberlite pipe, while one diamond weighing 0.1 ct was recovered from the pipe’s No 6 pit.
The biggest of the kimberlite diamonds weighed 1.05 ct.
With a surface area of some 220 ha, Se251 was the largest kimberlite pipe identified by Lucapa within the 3 000 km2 Lulo concession.
The pipe had been considered a primary exploration target since the company’s geological team identified it as a likely source of the large and valuable alluvial diamonds being recovered from the other areas within the concession.
The preliminary kimberlite sampling programme followed the recent two-year extension of Lucapa’s kimberlite and alluvial exploration licences by the Angolan Ministry of Geology and Mines.
As announced on May 27, Lucapa had, to date, sold 867.5 ct of alluvial diamonds recovered from the exploration phase at Lulo for gross proceeds of A$6-million, representing A$6 960/ct.
Lucapa MD Miles Kennedy said in a statement on Friday that he was “delighted” that the company had recovered kimberlite diamonds within the first two weeks of kimberlite sample being processed through Lulo’s new dense media separation plant.
“I regard the recovery of these diamonds as extremely significant, as it established beyond doubt that this huge pipe is indeed diamondiferous.
“This pipe will undoubtedly contain many different eruptive phases and, like all big pipes, the diamond grade between these phases will vary,” he said.
Kennedy added that Se251 was only one of eight pipes identified by Lucapa as being proximal to where the company had recovered “magnificent” alluvial diamonds.
“We will now move on to conduct preliminary sampling of the pipe and the remaining pipes to see what results emerge.
“Once this is completed, we will prioritise our targets and begin systematic evaluation to determine the economics of any kimberlite diamond deposit,” he concluded.
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