Hey red, look what I found on the SUF site. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Winspear pulled something like that out of the bulk sample. Poor miniman, he would definitely have to commit himself then.
teevee, can you guestimate how many pink macros are likely in the sample?
In late 1996, SouthernEra entered an agreement with Sphere Trading Limited to participate in operations at a number of alluvial concessions. The concessions are located in the diamond-rich Lunda Norte Province, where some of the largest and highest quality diamond in the world have been found. Prior to the agreement, Sphere produced over $48,000,000 worth of diamonds, or approximately 50,000 carats at an average of US$940 per carat on one of these concessions. One 28 carat flawless pink stone was sold for US$20 million. This low capital operation has running costs of about US$3 million per year.
DEBEERS in Canada
Message 5242364
Diamond mines-chart U.S.$ per tonne
Message 5238698
How long does it take to build a diamond processing plant?
Beginning in October 1997, SouthernEra erected a 2,000 tonne per day Dense Medium Separation processing plant on the farm Modderfontein in record speed. The plant is modular and can be expanded as necessary. It uses state-of-the-art diamond recovery technology, including primary and secondary crushing and re-crushing circuits, 2-stage scrubbing and a dense medium cyclone section with sophisticated water and ferrisilicon recovery systems. Final recovery includes X-ray technology and hands-off diamond sorting through glass -enclosed glove boxes. The plant was commissioned on March 2 1998, beginning with material from the bulk sampling program on the two fissures, followed by material from the Sugarbird Blow.
How much kimberlite is enough to justify building a plant?
The M-1 pipe, located on the Marsfontein farm, was discovered in 1997. In June 1998, SouthernEra (40%) and De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited (60%), formed a joint venture on Marsfontein. Under the agreement, diamond from Marsfontein as well as those from Klipspringer will be marketed through De Beers' Central Selling Organization. Mining authorization was received on July 23, 1998, to commence mining on Marsfontein. The M-1 pipe contains a in situ reserve of about 640,000 tonnes to a depth of 100 metres. Recovered grades are estimated to be 225 cpht at an average value is US$150.00 per carat. The indicated average value of the M-1 pipe is one of the highest recorded in the world at US$335.00 per tonne. The following chart outlines value (US$) per tonne of kimberlite processed for diamond mines worldwide. |
