To all:
The drills will be churning under Munn Lake in NWT around April 1 as SUF is planning 15 holes which Chris Jennings says he hopes will result "in achieving our aim of hitting our jackpot in Canada..." Dr. Jennings made the remarks today in a speech to the PDAC in Toronto. "Im pretty sure we have a source here" he said after SUF conducted EMs, lake-bottom samples, depth, etc... "We believe we have one or more pipes under the lake" which would be the source of the diamond-bearing boulders found earlier.
Dr. Jennings and Kim Freeman, chief mining engineer for SUF, spoke at the ACA Howe Intl Investors Forum. CJ also praised Howard Bird, geologist at the SUF site for years, and Bird's hard work in the Munn Lake project. (Bird replaced George Albino recently; Albino went to Sprotts as an analyst.)
CJ updated the group on the Luo Project in Angola where SUF is taking 150 to 350 carats per day from the river and flood plain despite the heaviest rains in years (thanks to El Nino). The average price is about $350US/k. The recently-found 106k stone is near-perfect, according to CJ. (A 23k pink found earlier by a previous operator fetched $4.5 Million US.) The work will pick up when the rain ends in the end of March; next river diversion will open a new area for mining in July.
SUF also started work on Camafuca; 7 holes; .25k per cubic metre; avg price expected $110US/k.
CJ talked about Klipspringer which went into production on March 2; a few days ago SUF discovered a totally new fissure system which may even be a pipe -- don't know yet. Stones from Klpsgr fetch $120-$150US/k; and extremely white in color which are the stones in demand.
Kim Freeman, chief mining engineer, showed slides of the M1 pipe (the slides were not too clear because of the lighting at the Convention Hall -- too bright...) and which is the centre of the dispute which will be heard in SA court next week. Hopefully SUF will get a favorable ruling very shortly after the hearing. When work is to resume on M1 (subject to the court) Freeman says we have a mine ready to go.
M1, extremely rich, is 1/3 hectars, expected to produce 600,000 tons to a depth of 200-metres+ with approx 300k per 100 tons at an average value of $142US per carat. This pipe will indeed provide a solid cash flow to SUF.
The Sugarbird blow, which was thought to be fissure-related, now appears to be a separate pipe of its own. It would produce 80-90,000 tons, to approx 60 metres depth.
The processing plant, which is now in operation at the rate of 100 tons per hour, was in fact put in place in 8 1/2 months -- quite an accomplishment. He showed slides of the DMS unit, crushing, scrubbing, etc. The unit will handle material from any ground they encounter at Klipspringer. He also showed slides of an array of stones recovered so far. And he concluded by saying that Klipsringer will be the centre of operations in SA for SouthernEra.
Observation -- self and a collegue were NOT the only ones taking notes at this session...Obviously there are many other interested parties...
Regards. Goalie. |
