JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Stellar Diamonds on Friday announced a 35% increase in the Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant inferred resource for its 100%-owned Tongo kimberlite Dyke-1 project, in Sierra Leone.
The project’s Jorc-compliant inferred resource now stood at 1.45-million carats, with bulk sampling results further having led to a 37% increase in the project’s average diamond grade to 165 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht).
“The combination of high grades and high diamond values make this kimberlite one of the highest-value kimberlites in the world in terms of in situ value of dollar per tonne,” Stellar CE Karl Smithson commented.
The project’s in situ kimberlite value was estimated at between $239/t and $324/t, with an in situ resource value of between $214-million and $290-million.
Smithson noted that further resource potential existed from three parallel kimberlite dykes forming a part of the Tongo dyke swarm, including the 1-km-long Dyke-4, which had previously been bulk sampled and returned a diamond grade estimate of 110 cpht and an estimated average diamond value of $140/ct.
“Consistent with our focused strategy of accelerating our key kimberlite projects through the development pipeline and into production, as evidenced by the recent start of trial mining at our Guinean Baoulé project, a study into surface and underground mine development at Tongo is being finalised.
“In line with this, we are currently recalculating our financial model to reflect the resource upgrade and mine plan,” he said.